Weekend Recap – June 12th, 2012
Southern California State Championships – June 9-10, 2012
The annual State Championships always bring out some of the best baseball of the year. Teams that have qualified for the Elite World Series in Florida have to participate in this event, so ever year the Major Divisions are war zones with some of the best teams in the country. This tournament is split into two weekends, with the 8-Under, 9-Under, 11-Under, and 13-Under playing for the State Championship the first weekend, and the 10-Under, 12-Under, and 14-Under playing on the following weekend.
8-Under – With a healthy mix of All-Star teams looking to play a couple more games before their All-Star tournaments begin and some of the best travel teams in Southern California, the 8-Under Division shaped up to be a great tournament. In the AAA Playoffs on Sunday, the 7-Under Chino Hills Thunder was looking for redemption. Losing two tough games on Saturday, both by only 1 run, they came into Sunday ready to show the big boys they came to play. They were on the winning side of two close games, and took home the AAA Playoff Championship. In the Major Playoffs, 3rd Seed Mid Valley Elite upset the 2nd seed to advance to the finals where they would face the red hot Charter Oak Gold. They were unable to keep the momentum up for their third game of the day, and Charter Oak Gold took home first place. We wish them good luck in their upcoming All-Star tournaments.
9-Under – The 9-Under Oakley Stingrays and San Diego Show will both be representing Southern California at the Elite World Series in August, although Oakley Stingrays played like they were already there. Outscoring opponents 42-8, they went undefeated all weekend to take home the 9-Under State Championship. Best of luck to both teams in Florida, we know you’ll represent Southern California with pride.
11-Under Major – After Saturday’s games, the 11-Under Major bracket was split perfectly. There were four 2-0 teams and four 0-2 teams. Sunday wasn’t quite as evenly split. Three of the four quarter final games were upsets, with an 0-2 team beating a 2-0 team. So Cal United and the SY Titans both upset teams that had beaten them on Saturday. The only team that didn’t get upset was the 1st Seed BPA Rawlings. They took that momentum all the way to the final game, where they kept their undefeated streak alive. BPA Rawlings outscored their opponents 39-3 in their 5-0 run to be crowned the State Champions.
11-Under – Six teams made the drive out to beautiful Birdsall Park in Temecula for the 11-Under mixed division. Xplosion had a wild ride leading to the finals. After winning their quarter final game, they upset the 1st Seed in Pool B with a wile 13-10 win. They would advance to face Temecula Gamerz, but the hometown heroes were able to hold off the surging Xplosion to clinch first place.
13-Under Major – Home Runs, Triple Plays, walk off hits, we saw a little bit of everything in the 13-Under Major this weekend. Battling the windy conditions down in San Clemente, these boys played some incredible baseball. Riverside Riot went into Sunday ready to cause some upsets. The 6th Seed beat the 3rd Seed in the quarter finals, and the 2nd Seed in the semi-finals to advance to the Championship game where they met Mizuno Coyotes. They were unable to keep the magic alive, and the Coyotes won the final game of the day. The Mizuno Coyotes are heading to the Elite World Series in August, and if they play like they did this weekend, we know they will do very well.
13-Under AAA – The Majors weren’t the only division playing great baseball in San Clemente. The AAA division was the most evenly matched of the weekend. Heading into Sunday it was anybody’s tournament to win. So Cal Bombers upset the 1st seed and advanced to the Championship where they faced the 2nd Seed Tustin Thunder. Tustin Thunder was able to hold off the Bombers with a 4-0 win.
13-Under AA – The High Desert Flames went into Sunday’s games with something to prove. After winning their quarter final game, they upset the 1st Seed with a convincing 7-3 win to advance to the finals. They faced the Menifee Bulldogs in the finals, who had barely edged them out on Saturday. The Flames were unable to avenge their Saturday loss, and the Bulldogs won the Championship 6-1.
Thank you to all the teams that played in the State Championships this weekend. Here is a list of the Champions and Runner Ups.
Summer Heat – June 9-10, 2012
Just because there wasn’t a State Championship for the 12-Under and 14-Under this weekend, doesn’t mean that they get the weekend off. Nineteen teams came out to give it their best and get warmed up for next weekend’s State Championships.
12-Under AAA – Some weekends everything goes according to plan. The top two seeds meet in the Championship game and you could have predicted how the weekend was going to turn out. Other weekends remind us why baseball is the most unpredictable sport, and that’s why we love it. This was one of those weekends for the 12-Under AAA. So Cal Storm, after losing both of their games on Saturday, got their revenge on everybody. They beat the 2nd Seed from Pool B in convincing fashion before advancing to meet the 1st Seed from their pool, T2 Black. T2 Black had beaten Storm on Saturday, but Storm wasn’t going to let that happen again. After going up early, the Storm cruised into the Championship game against the Diamond Dawgs. Diamond Dawgs had also won over the Storm on Saturday, and once again, the Storm had other plans in mind. Both teams were on their third games of the day, but that didn’t stop their match-up from being a hard fought game. So Cal Storm was able to hold onto a 4-2 victory, and cap off an incredible Sunday run.
12-Under AA – With only two teams that weren’t 1-1, the 12-Under AA was incredibly evenly matched. With upsets all throughout Sunday’s playoff games, only one team was set on not getting upset. 1st Seed So Cal United fought hard in their quarter final for a 4-3 win. After that their bats woke up for their quarter final and championship games, where they outscored opponents 27-6 in those two games alone. They went 5-0 on the weekend to clinch the 1st Place trophy.
14-Under – The 13-Under Lifeletics Fury Elite were unstoppable on Saturday. Going 2-0, and only giving up 1 run, no one would have expected their quarterfinal game. They faced Riverside Rage, who scored the only run Lifeletics gave up on Saturday, in a slugfest by both teams. Lifeletics gave up 10 runs, but scored a whopping 18 to win 18-10 and advance to the finals. They faced So Cal Brewers and couldn’t quite wake their bats up for the final game. The Brewers took home a 7-0 victory and the championship trophy.
Thank you to the teams that played in the Summer Heat tournament. Here is a list of the Champions and Runner Ups.
State Championships – June 16-17, 2012
The second weekend of the State Championships is coming up. The 10-Under, 12-Under, and 14-Under will have their chance at the Championship. As with last weekend, teams will receive State Level 1 Ranking Points, and the winners of each division will receive custom State Champions T-Shirts.
Click here for more information.
Legacy – June 23-24
The Legacy tournament will be played at Big League Dreams West Covina and Riverside. There are still openings available.
Click here for more information.
All-Star Extravaganza – June 23-24
The All-Star Extravaganza is our annual tournament for All-Star teams only. This is the perfect tournament to get a couple more games together before the All-Star season starts.
Click here for more information.
See you on the fields.
-AC
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