Before the start of the 2013 Season, Southern California
Baseball showed the rest of the country just how good we are. In the 2012 Elite World Series, Southern
California teams by far did the best of all the states participating. In the 9-Under division, San Diego Show took
1st Place, Oakley Stingrays took 3rd Place, and So Cal Outlaws Elite took 5th
Place. In the 10-Under, BPA Rawlings
Elite took 2nd Place. So Cal met in the
finals in the 11-Under, with Oakley Stingrays taking 1st Place and SY Titans
taking 2nd Place. The 13-Under So Cal
Rebels took a well-deserved 3rd Place trophy. Team Phenom continued to show why they are the
best 12-Under team in the country. They
went undefeated, and outscored their opponents 86-7 over eight games.
Congratulations to all the Southern California teams for
their incredible performances in the 2012 Elite World Series.
Summer Blast – August 11-12, 2012
With families going on vacation, getting ready for the
school year, and recovering from the various World Series, August tournaments
are traditionally smaller. The Summer
Blast was the first tournament of the 2013 Season, meaning everyone gets bumped
up an age division. This means that
8-Under teams are now playing at 9-Under distances. The mound gets bumped back to 46’ feet, the
bases move to 65’, and all the sudden it’s a completely different game.
The small tournament, and the new distances didn’t take away
from the great baseball
9-Under - Fountain
Valley
The Summer Blast marked our return to Fountain Valley Sports
Park. Sunday’s games gave way to upsets
on both sides of the playoff bracket. 2nd
Seeds in both pools upset the 1st Seeds to advance to the championship
game. Beach Baseball and SC Sea Dogs
both had 1-Run quarter final wins before finding their bats and easily
advancing to the Championship Game.
Beach Baseball was able to keep their hot bats alive, and walk away with
a 13-8 Championship victory in the first 9-Under tournament of 2013
10-Under – Big League
Dreams
Moving up to 10-Under isn’t a disadvantage for new
teams. 9-Under and 10-Under teams play
at the same distance, so these teams are just picking up where they left
off. US Stars were one of the more
dominant 9-Under teams last year, and they continued to show that this
weekend. Giving up just 9 runs and
scoring 64, they cruised to an easy 1st Place trophy.
11-Under – Big League
Dreams
The move to 11-Under sees the mound moving back four feet,
and the bases back another five feet.
This little extra distance makes all the difference in how the game
plays out. The semi-finals saw three out
of four teams being undefeated. 1st Seed
So Cal Outlaws Black had to hold off a surging HB Toros with a close 6-5 win. 3rd Seed La Crescenta Thunder had to face
fellow undefeated Santa Maria Bombers.
They also had a tight 6-5 win to advance to the championship. La Crescenta kept their momentum alive, and
won the Championship game 9-1.
12-Under – Fountain Valley
Valley Thunder had perhaps the best upset of the
weekend. Corona Predators clinched the
1st Seed by giving up no runs on Saturday, and won their Semifinal game
6-1. Valley Thunder upset the 2nd Seed
with a 5-0 victory to head to the championship game. They kept their hot streak going, and scored
more runs on the predators than they had given up all weekend. When the game was over, Valley Thunder took
home a 7-4 victory, and the 1st place trophy.
13-Under – Big League
Dreams
Sunday’s Pool Play game between Ladera Grays American and So
Cal Venom would be merely a formality, as both teams had already qualified for
the championship game. So Cal Venom won
the pool play game 7-1, and was able to keep their undefeated weekend alive
with a 9-1 victory in the Championship game.
14-Under – Big League
Dreams
Possibly the toughest distance change for players is going
from 54’x80’ to a full sized baseball first.
That extra 6’6” at the pitcher’s mound and 10’ on the base paths makes
all the difference. OC Smash didn’t have
too much trouble adapting though. Going
undefeated all the way to the Championship game, they were able to hold off a
surging 6th Seed with an 11-1 Championship Victory.
Thank you to everyone that played in the first tournament of
our 2013 Season. We look forward to a great
season with all of you. Here is a list
of the Champions and Runner Ups.
See you on the fields
-AC
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