MLK Recap

It's safe to say that even though we live in the golden age of technology, travel baseball is pushing on stronger than ever.  With so many tablets, tvs, smartphones, and video game consoles, there are plenty of distractions that Southern California's youth could spend their weekends glued to digital screens and remote controls.  Instead, 220 teams strapped on their cleats, and made the trek to fields all over Southern California for the MLK Dual Super NIT, and a shot to advance to the Elite World Series.

Major Divisions:
9-Under:
After two 3rd Place finishes earlier in the season (including one in the Thanksgiving Super NIT), the Pico Pride came into MLK with a mission.  With only 3 of the 5 teams advancing to Monday's playoffs, every game was critical.  After a tough 9-8 loss to the So Cal Shockers in Pool Play, the Pride advanced to Monday's playoffs as the 2nd Seed.

After shutting out the 3rd Seed in their Semifinal game, the Pride advanced to the Championship game against the 1st Seed Shockers.  Rather than having another close game, Pride's pitching buckled down, and shut out the 1st Seed Shockers, giving Pico a 1st Place finish, and a berth to the Elite World Series.

10-Under:
The San Diego Show program has continually produced some of the strongest teams in Southern California.  At Big League Dreams, they didn't blow any teams out of the water, but they always found a way to win.

With this being their first tournament of the year, they continually scrapped until they were on top, giving them a 6-0 record for the weekend, and pushing them on to the World Series at the end of the season.

11-Under:
After going 1-1 on Saturday, the San Pedro Pirates found themselves up against Diamond MVP in their first game on Sunday.  Diamond MVP, already qualified for the Elite World Series, is one of the scariest programs to face in the country.  The Pirates didn't give in though, continually fighting back to 9-9 tie in their first game of the weekend.

With a 1-1-1 record going into their last game of Pool Play, the Pirates needed a win if they wanted to advance to the Playoffs on Monday.   Facing another tough game, the Pirates held on for a 7-6 victory, clinching them the 6th Seed, and sending them to the playoffs.

Their close games wouldn't end there though.  Up against the 3rd Seed LV Rebels, they Pirates had to scrape by with another 1-Run victory to advance to the Semifinals.  After a Semifinal shutout, they advanced to the finals to face Diamond MVP.

After tying their first meeting, this game would determine who would be the top team of the weekend between the two.  Being the 6th Game of the weekend for both teams, all signs would point to a high scoring shootout, but that wasn't the case.  Instead, we got a 2-1 nail biter with the Pirates coming out on top.  We know these two teams will see each other again in the world series.

12-Under:
The SGV Hustle proved why they're on of the top teams in the country over the weekend.  Going 6-0, and scoring 60 runs over three days, they will definitely be a force to be reckoned with at the World Series at the end of the season.

13-Under:
Coming up just a hair short in the Thanksgiving NIT (to the eventual tournament winners), the PBA Renegades came back with a desire to win, and make sure that they won their qualifying berth.

Going 4-0 in Pool Play, they advanced to the Playoffs as the 2nd Seed.  Looking to leave no doubt about their playoffs games, they scored 12 runs in each of their next three games, making 36 total runs scored on Monday, giving them the 1st Place Finish.

Thank you to all the teams that played in the MLK Dual Super NIT.  Recaps of the AAA / AA Tournament and the Central California tournament will be posted shortly.

Here is a list of all the Champions and Runner-Ups.

AAA / AA Tournament Champions and Runner-Ups

Huntington Beach Tournament Champions and Runner-Ups

See you on the fields

-AC

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