President's Day NIT Recap - February 20th, 2013

Our wacky California weather can't seem to stay in one lane.  Two weeks ago we had ice on our cars, last week we had a late night downpour, and this weekend we were greeted with 80 degree days and loads of sunshine (though you don't see me complaining about that one).  Couldn't have been a better weekend for it too, with three days of baseball, it was a welcome temperature change

10-Under Red:
The path to the Championship in the 10-Under Red was a similar journey on both sides.  4th Seed El Monte Dukes won their quarter final game only to be pitted against the 1st Seed SGV Hustle.  The Hustle had beaten on the Dukes on Saturday.  The Duke weren't inclined on a repeat of their first encounter.  Already hot from their quarterfinal victory, their bats were unstoppable, putting up nine runs and advancing to the Championship Game.

3rd Seed Cal Select found themselves pitted against the team that handed them their only loss on Saturday too.  Also not looking to give in easily a second time, their pitching shut out the 2nd Seed Tomateros, advancing them to the Championship game to face the Dukes.

With both teams coming off big victories, their bats were excited and full of life.  A slugfest back and forth, Cal Select was just able to squeeze by with a 10-9 Championship Victory.

10-Under Blue:
Some weekends have a tie here or there, some have no ties at all, but the So Cal Shockers found themselves entering Monday's playoffs with a record of 1-0-2.  It would be only fitting that they would win their Quarterfinal and Semifinal games, just to face the OC Friars in the finals, the team they tied on Saturday.

Both teams put up 8 runs on Saturday, giving them both the draw.  They wouldn't be able to tie the Championship game, but you know it was going to be a close one.  Both teams hit the ball hard, but the Shockers were able to squeeze a couple extra runs out of their batters, giving them a 9-6 win, and a victory that took two games to finally get sorted out.

12-Under Blue:
With five of the six teams advancing to Monday's playoffs going 3-1, the 1st Place trophy was within reach for any of the teams playing.  Baseball West Coast rose to the Challenged.  Entering Monday as the 3rd Seed, they had to play an extra game if they wanted to advance all the way to the finals.  After winning a close Quarterfinal game, they woke up their bats and their pitching, outscoring the 2nd Seed 11-3 before advancing to the finals.

Once in the finals, they continued to play strong.  Outscoring the 1st Seed 10-2, they finished their seventh game of the weekend strong, and took home 1st Place.

Thank you to all the teams that spent their warm holiday weekend playing with us.   Here is a list of the Champions and Runner-Ups.

See you on the fields

-AC

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