Canes National 17U/NY Mets Scout Team held off Indiana Bulls Black in a dominant 3-1 performance and Elite Squad defeated Power Baseball 2024 Marucci/Blue Jays Scout Team in a 6-1 extra innings thriller to advance to the championship. The two teams will face off in the gold medal game to determine the winner of the 2023 17U National Team Championships in North Carolina.

CANES NATIONAL 3, INDIANA BULLS BLACK 1

Bryce Rainer went 2-for-3 with two singles and an RBI as Canes National (4-0-1) defeated Indiana Bulls Black (2-3-0), 3-1, to advance to the gold medan game at the 17U National Team Championships in North Carolina.

Canes National put all three of its runs on the board in the third inning. Luke Costello drew a walk to begin the frame, and was sent in to score two batters later as a result of a fielding error by Indiana Bulls Black. PJ Morlando then stepped to the plate and sent a ball to the center field wall that awarded him a triple and sent another run in to score. Canes third baseman Rainer followed up Morlando’s big play by sending him home to score the third run with an RBI single. Indiana Bulls Black put its lone run on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth, as Dylan Larkins came home from third due to a fielding error from Canes National.

Chase Mobley started on the mound for Canes National, striking out five and allowing one run on three hits in 3.1 innings pitched. Mavrick Rizy entered the game for Canes National in the third and shut the door, striking out five batters and allowing just one hit in 3.2 innings of work. Indiana Bulls Black center fielder Ahmaad Duff went 2-for-4 with two base hits and Christian Klug went 1-for-2 with a single and an RBI.

Canes National will face Elite Squad in the gold medal game at the 17U National Team Championships in North Carolina. First pitch is set for 11:15 a.m. at Coleman Field. The game will be streamed live on USABaseball.TV and live updates will be provided via Twitter @USABScores.

ELITE SQUAD BASEBALL 6 , POWER BASEBALL 2024 MARUCCI/BLUE JAYS SCOUT TEAM 1

Jason Marcos and Larry Rodriguez were heroes in the top of the eighth inning, hitting two singles to break open a scoreless game en route to Elite Squad’s 6-1 upset over Power Baseball 2024 Marucci/Blue Jays Scout Team (4-1-0) in the semifinals of the National Team Championships in North Carolina.

With this victory, Elite Squad broke the tournament win streak of Power Baseball and will play for the Gold Medal and the title of 17U National Team Champions at the USA Baseball National Training Complex this afternoon.

Ryan Ashford of Power Baseball held Elite Squad hitless for 6.2 innings, and racked up six strikeouts. His reliever, Maddox McDougall surrendered the victory with four earned runs on six hits in the top of the eighth.

The game broke open with a single to left center from Marcos, and was followed up immediately with a two-run single by Rodriguez to put Elite Squad ahead by three after previously being held hitless to start extra-inning play. The intentional walk of Michael Torres loaded the bases again, previously being loaded because of the international tie breaker, and on an error, Elite Squad plated two more runs to extend the lead to 5-0. Alejandro Ludeiro and Luis Suarez joined in on the hit parade with singles, with Ludeiro’s scoring Michael Torres. Power Baseball got one back in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Brodie Johnston, but it was not enough to overtake the lead.

The pitching dominated the game on both sides, as Ashford went 6.2 innings to render Elite Squad hitless and the combination of Power Baseball’s Torres and Alexander Garcia combined to limit Elite Squad to one hit in the eight-inning contest.
Elite Squad will face the Canes National 17U/ NY Mets Scout Team for the gold medal game in the 17U National Team Championships in North Carolina at 11:15 a.m. on Coleman Field. Power Baseball 2024 Marucci/Blue Jays Scout Team will play in the bronze medal matchup against Indiana Bulls Black on Field 2 at 11:15 a.m. Both games will be streamed at USABaseball.TV, and live updates will be provided via @USABScores on Twitter.