Cary, N.C. – SBA Marucci and Stacked Baseball secured their spots into the 13U National Team Championship gold medal match after victories in their semifinal matches on Monday afternoon.

Stacked Baseball 6, Dirtbags 2

Stacked Baseball jumped on the scoreboard early with a pair of runs. The squad plated its first run thanks to an RBI single by Andrew Jimenez in the top of the first and tacked on its second run of the frame via a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded.

Kyle Plasman notched his first extra-base hit of the contest in the third, ripping a triple, and Jose Partida brought him home on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Dirtbags kept battling and scored in consecutive innings in the fifth and sixth to cut its deficit to one. Carter Beck stepped up with the bases juiced and was hit by a pitch to get his team on the baord. Hayden Walker worked a walk to open the sixth and Anthony Zezza drove him in from second on an RBI single to make it 3-2.

Stacked Baseball was not satisfied with the one-run advantage in the top of the seventh. Back-to-back singles gave the team life, and they pressured the Dirtbags defense by attempting a double steal to get into scoring position. The throw down to third sailed into left field and allowed Nolan Riesenberg to score to give Stacked Baseball a 4-2 lead. After a Jimenez walk, Plasman stepped up to the plate and blasted a 2-RBI double deep to right field to provide insurance. Plasman had a game-high two runs batted in and two extra-base hits in the win.

Jose Partida started the game and was extremely efficient for Stacked Baseball, dealing four shutout innings and yielding only two hits. Joshua Priest picked up the save, delivering three innings and kept the Dirtbags offense at bay. Vince Coker was handed the loss after walking three in the first inning and giving up two runs in 0.2 innings pitched.

Game Highlights

• Jimenez picked up the first hit for Stacked Baseball on a RBI single in the top of the first, scoring Tanner Brown. Stacked Baseball worked three walks in the inning in addition to an RBI hit by pitch for a 2-0 lead.
• Dirtbags got their first runner in scoring position thanks to Caleb Lynn collecting the team’s first hit of the game and advanced to second on a walk by Noah Price.
• Plasman sent a triple to right field in the third and came home on a sacrifice fly by Partida, pushing the lead to 3-0.
• With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Beck wore a pitch to give Dirtbags their first run of the contest.
• In the sixth a leadoff walk by Hayden Walker and a groundout put him on third, giving Zezza a chance to add a run with a runner in scoring position by lacing an RBI single for a 3-2 deficit.
• Zezza stole second with no one covering the base, but the catcher’s throw sailed into center field. Zezza attempted to advance to third on the throwing error, but Partida threw him out.

Notable Information

• Dirtbags came into the matchup averaging 6.5 runs a game, but Stacked Baseball’s pitching held them to just two runs.
• Dirtbags stole five bags in the game compared to Stacked Baseball’s two.
• Partida threw 72% strikes and needed just 43 pitches to get through four innings.
• Head Coach Drew Madrigal on the win: “It’s really good for these guys. It’s been a long, dragged-out weekend. These guys got marks and banged up bodies. I’m proud of them.”

SBA Marucci 8, Kangaroo Court American 7

A back-and-forth affair, SBA Marucci struck first in the bottom of the second on back-to-back RBI singles. Kangaroo Court answered in the top of the third with three runs of their own to take its first lead of the game. SBA Marucci was held scoreless in the bottom of the third and Kangaroo Court pushed another run across.

SBA Marucci broke out with another multi-run effort in the bottom of the fourth, plating four to extend the lead. Kangaroo Court added a run to the scoreboard for the third consecutive inning in the fifth, inching back closer to SBA Marucci.

With zeros being exchanged in the sixth, Kangaroo Court American entered the seventh down by one. They refused to go down without a fight and rallied for two runs, grabbing the lead from SBA Marucci. SBA readied themselves in the dugout to retaliate. Retaliate they did. An error and hit-by-pitch followed by another error loaded the bases. SBA drew a walk to tie the ball game., and then John Hucko stepped up to the plate with ice in his veins as he laced a single on the first pitch he saw to send his team to the gold medal match on a walk-off thriller.

Witt McCammon picked up the win in relief, shutting down the Kangaroo Court American bats with 0.2 innings and one strikeout. Hudson Sapp suffered the loss, despite allowing zero earned runs in 2.2 innings of relief.

Game Highlights

• Huck and Joseph Newell tallied consecutive RBI singles in the bottom of the second inning for a 2-0 lead.
• Hudson Sapp provided the first of three runs in the top of the third for Kangaroo Court American on an RBI double. Aidan Kearney followed that with an RBI groundout and then Alex Gomez singled to score Sapp for a 3-2 advantage.
• Kangaroo Court American made it 4-2 in the top of the fourth as Alan Zimmerman delivered another run on the Sapp walk with the bases loaded.
• SBA Marucci jumped on starter Wilson Shaw for four runs in the bottom of the fourth. After two walks put runners on base, Jaxon Haynes began the scoring with an RBI single followed by Newell’s RBI single. The inning was capped off with Haynes scoring on a wild pitch and Griffin McKain’s sacrifice fly for a temporary 6-4 lead.
• Ashton Cox trimmed the deficit to 6-5 for Kangaroo Court American on a bases loaded walk in the top of the fifth.
• Despite a strikeout to lead off the seventh, Kangaroo Court American recorded two consecutive singles before Zimmerman tied the game on an RBI single. The team would coordinate a double steal attempt to go up 7-6 with Leo Reina crossing the plate.
• Two errors and a hit-by-pitch would load the bases for Eli Webb before McCammon scored on the at-bat, tying the game 7-7 and Webb drew a walk to reload the bases.
• Hucko took the first pitch to center field for a base hit to end the game in walk-off fashion for SBA Marucci.

Notable Information

• Hucko (2-for-4) and Newell (2-for-3) delivered multi-hit efforts in the win for SBA Marucci.
• Gomez (2-for-4) and Sapp (2-for-3) paced the Kangaroo Court American offensively.
• Hudson Sapp threw 11 first pitch strikes to the 14 batters he faced.
• Both teams collected more walks than strikeouts.
• Kangaroo Court American out-hit SBA Marucci 9-8.
• Head Coach Collin Thacker on the win: “This group of boys has a character unlike any group I’ve ever seen. It’s a true joy to watch them on the field and off. I think that’s what makes the difference is they love each other as much off the field than they do on.”