With a 7-5 win over the #2 seed Team Rawlings, #10 seed O.C. Sun Devils take home the championship in the Triple Crown Sports Las Vegas Fall Nationals! The Devils led the entire game and took home the 'ship against a team dotted with players from other teams playing for Team Rawlings this weekend.
The victory provided the Sun Devils with a small bit of redemption from last year's Fall Nationals where they took the #1 seed in Division 1 after pool play, then lost their first bracket game to get pushed to the consolation bracket (which they eventually won). This time the Devils floundered in pool play and snuck into the Division 1 bracket as the bottom (10th) seed.
The Devils lost their first pool play game 4-3 to the Inland Empire Elite Orange squad. The offense was extremely quiet and the defense made two key errors that allowed the decisive runs to cross the plate. The boys second pool play was against the Vegas Venom. (On a side note: Andre Agassi's son, Jaden was the catcher and #5 hitter for the Venom. I was not in attendance so cannot attest to an Agassi or Graf sighting.) This game was extremely tight until the top of the fifth when the Devils scored 3 and shut out the Venom in the bottom frame to secure a 7-3 victory as time expired.
Going 1-1 in pool play with the narrow one-run loss to Inland Empire allowed the Devils to sneak into the Division 1 bracket as the 10th seed. And the Devils decided to make the most of the new life this opportunity provided.
The Devils kicked off pool play with a 3-0 over a local Vegas team, the Thunder. The Devil defense was flawless and despite giving up 5 hits they did not allow a run to score. Which was important as the offense continued to struggle a bit as they only generated 3 runs across 6 innings of play.
The victory over the Thunder sent the Devils into a game against the #1 seed FCBA Cobras Black. (The Devils beat the Cobras Black 8-2 in pool play last week in California during the Triple Crown 9th Annual Labor Day Classic, but in two prior match-ups had coughed up the game late through fielding errors and poor defensive play.) The Cobras Black had gone 2-0 in pool play outscoring their opponents by an impressive 51-1 margin. But none of that mattered as the Devils offense roared to life in the first inning, staking pitcher Hunter Cope to a 4-run lead. The Devils defense put the clamps on and the Cobras never recovered as the Devils cruised to a 7-3 win.
The win over the Cobras propelled the Devils to a match-up against the Nevada Wildcats. The Wildcats eliminated the Devils 14-9 in the USSSA 13th Annual Memorial Day Super NIT. The Devils got some measure of revenge in the USSSA 2012 Mercury tournament as they mercied the Wildcats 13-2 in the championship game, but apparently it wasn't enough as the Devils again mercied the Wildcats 12-2 to gain a berth in the championship for the Fall Nationals.
Team Rawlings had cruised through pool play (2nd seed) and bracket play with an 11-1 victory over Inland Empire Elite Orange and a 9-1 win against On Deck Baseball Academy and had all their pitchers available for the championship game. Team Rawlings had been extremely impressive in the tournament, going 4-0 and outscoring their opponents a mind-boggling 67-4. The Devils, meanwhile had to expend pitchers and their innings just to reach the championship. Team Rawlings led with Kyle Kerr, an excellent left-handed pitcher who has given the Devils fits every time they have faced him. (The Devils and Team Rawlings have now played four times, with the Devils holding a 3-1 advantage against Rawlings included two championship victories and a win in an elimination game. The Devils only loss to Rawlings was a 4-3 loss in a pool play game at the beginning of the 9U season.)
The Devils' Hunter Cope had four innings left on his pitching card and used them to maximum effectiveness. The first inning ended 0-0 as neither offense could get on the board. Cope led off the 2nd inning with a deep bomb to right-center to get the Devils on the board, and the boys followed up with some key hits and took advantage of a Rawlings error to score two more runs in the inning to stake Hunter to a 3-run lead. Rawlings got a run back in the bottom of the 2nd, and both teams fell silent in 3rd inning. The Devils opened it up with a 4-run 4th inning and despite giving back 2 in the bottom of the frame, led 7-3 after four innings.
Rawlings relief pitcher Paul Sean Pasqualotto held the Devils in the top of the 5th and 6th to keep the game within reach. Hunter Cope gave way to Jake Lappin in the 5th for the Devils. Going into the final inning, the Devils led 7-3. Rawlings 2nd baseman Alex Seguine led off with a ground-rule double and Blake Pivaroff singled him home. Two batters and an out later, Pasqualotto singled home Pivaroff to close the gap to 7-5. But Lappin struck out Shane Robertson and induced a soft fly ball to 2nd baseman Will Rudy to end the game and seal the championship!
The O.C. Sun Devils are Jakob Ho, Connor O'Brien, Aidan Klimon, Hunter Cope, Jake Lappin, Trevor Klein, Jackson Ronningen, Jake Nadley, Will Rudy, Levi Murrietta and Matt McClure.
The Sun Devils are now taking off the 2011 Fall season while they play other sports and enjoy some rest. Look for the Devils to re-emege from hibernation sometime in early 2012 with a brand-spanking new team facility in Costa Mesa, CA!
