CARY, N.C. – The 14U National Team Championships North Carolina kicked into full gear on Saturday morning with quarterfinal play. 5 Star National, the Cangelosi Sparks, MVP Hustle, and the East Cobb Astros all won their quarterfinal matchups to advance to Sunday morning’s semifinals. 

5 Star National 8, Scottsdale Dirtbags 0

5 Star National was the first team to punch its ticket to the semifinals with a convincing 8-0 win over the Scottsdale Dirtbags. The game started as a pitcher’s duel between the two squads as neither team was able to muster up a run until the bottom of the fourth. An RBI double off the bat of Angel Pichardo broke the scoreless tie and put 5 Star National up by a run.

It was all starting pitcher Luke Pappano would need. The southpaw threw a five-inning shutout, striking out six while allowing just four hits in the game. A clutch offensive showing by 5 Star National in the fifth inning then put the game away, as the team scored seven two-out runs to take a 6-0 lead. The exclamation point came on a two-run single from Kelvyn Paulino Jr., who had a multi-hit game in the quarterfinal.

Pappano appreciated the run support, even if it came late in the game to secure the win. 

“Confidence is key,” Pappano said. “I’m always confident out there, but when you have runs on the board you can trust your team to make the plays. You don’t have to try and strike everyone out.” 

Paulino (2-for-2) and Pichardo (1-for-3) each had two RBIs to lead the offense for 5 Star National while Bubba Coleman, Adrian Montoya, Jaiden Lo Re, and Miles Scott had Scottsdale’s four hits. Pappano got the win for 5 Star National while Nathaniel Shoemaker was credited with the loss for Scottsdale.

Cangelosi Sparks 3, Knights Knation National 2

The Cangelosi Sparks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning of their quarterfinal matchup on Saturday. An RBI single from Luke Mensik got the scoring started for Cangelosi who would then load the bases with one out. Enzo Infelise was then hit by a pitch to bring in a run before Jacob Parker came in on the mound to limit the damage for Knights Knation National.

An inning later, Knights Knation National got a run back courtesy of a Presley Courville two-out single. Courville was one of only two players in the game, along with Mensik, to record multiple hits.

Not wasting any time, the Sparks responded in the next half inning with what would end up being the deciding run when Filippo Baratta came across home for the second time of the game, this time stealing home.

Courville picked up his second RBI of the contest in the sixth to cut the Knight Knation National deficit to just one run, but they team couldn’t get any closer. Liam Arsich came in to close the game out for Cangelosi, picking up the final four outs and helping the team advance to the semifinals.

“We just have to come out and compete like we did this morning. We were ready to play. It’s time to compete,” said Mensik, looking ahead to tomorrow.

Mensik (2-for-4) and Courville (2-for-3) were the offensive leaders for their respective teams while Jack Wheeler earned the win on the mound for Cangelosi, throwing 5.2 innings and giving up two runs. Jack Ruckert started the game for Knights Knation National and took the loss while giving up two runs in 3.0 innings pitched.

MVP Hustle 5, Texas Twelve 0

Gavin Flores went the distance for MVP Hustle on Saturday to earn the team a spot in Sunday’s  14U National Team Championships North Carolina semifinals. The righthander bounced back after a tough relief outing on Friday to throw a complete game one-hit shutout on Saturday.

“Yesterday I came in and walked a bunch of people. Today I had to figure it out. The fastball was working and I was able to throw strikes,” Flores said.

And MVP Hustle was able to get their pitcher some support early, bringing their first run across in the second when Noah Malone reached on an error and Adrian Mendoza knocked a single into right to bring him in. In the fourth, MVP Hustle was able to strengthen their lead with a four-run inning. After taking advantage of a few Texas Twelve errors, Travis Friend brought in a run with a single into right that scored Brandon Gomez to make it 5-0.

Flores appreciated the support and described the team rallying around him as “beautiful,” but he didn’t let up.

“As a pitcher, you have to keep on going,” Flores said. “If you let them start hitting, getting on base, you let them get comfortable. I had to stay locked in.”

Gomez (2-for-4) and Friend (2-for-3) were the offensive leaders for MVP Hustle while Lucas Franco had Texas Twelve’s lone hit. Flores’ shutout earned him his first win of the tournament while Jack Mckernan suffered his first loss in his second tournament start.

East Cobb Astros 4, Canes National 3

In a tight quarterfinal matchup, the East Cobb Astros came away from the back-and-forth game with a 4-3 victory and a spot in the 14U National Team Championships North Carolina semifinals.

Neither team could get the bats going early, as the first runs of the game didn’t come until the fourth when East Cobb took a 2-0 lead. Maddox Monsour hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Jin Kasuya followed by Hunter Atkins driving in Mercer Hudson.

Canes National didn’t back down though, responding with three runs in the fifth to take the lead. A Dean Moss double that brought in Carson Quillen and Everett Johnson swung the momentum in the Canes favor and put them up 3-2.

East Cobb couldn’t get anything in the sixth but the Canes could not stretch their lead either and the Astros took advantage. Three walks would load the bases for the Astros in the seventh and Kade Kisz was able to drive in the tying run. A wild pitch in the next at bat would cost the Canes as Hunter Atkins came in to score the go-ahead run.

The Canes were able to get out of the inning without allowing any more runs to come across, but had no answer for the East Cobb closer. Jax Bishop got through the seventh in just 10 pitches to secure the come behind win for his team.

Moss (3-for-3) had a game-high two RBIs for the Canes while a team effort earned the win for East Cobb with Kasuya, Hudson, Atkins, and Kisz all having hits for the Astros. Bishop was credited with the win as David Shields was the losing pitcher for the Canes.

Semifinal Matchups

With these four teams advancing on Saturday, June 19, the semifinal matchups are set for Sunday morning. MVP Hustle will take on 5 Star National at 8:00 a.m. ET on Coleman Field while the Cangelosi Sparks and East Cobb Astros will square off on Field 2 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex at 8:15 a.m. ET.

Follow along on all the action on Twitter at @USABChamps_NC, GameChanger, or watch live on PlaySight (Coleman Field) and YouTube (Field 2).