9-Under Major:
The Cali Gamers were eager for redemption after Thanksgiving. With a lead in the Championship game, play was suspended due to rain. When the makeup game happened, they couldn't recreate the dominant performance of the weekend, and fell to MVP.
With no rain in the forecast, the Gamers pulled out all the stops, and did not slow down all weekend. Outscoring opponents 44-12 in their four Pool Play games, they advanced to the Championship game as the 1st Seed. Having already been victorious over everyone in their bracket once in Pool Play, they knew what to expect in the Championship game. After another dominating performance on both sides of the ball, they took a 16-2 victory to a Championship victory.
10-Under Major:
With the top 7 Seeds out of 13 advancing to the playoff bracket, competition would be stiff across the board. The Pico Pride advanced as the 2nd Seed to Monday's playoffs. After losing their fourth Pool Play game to MVP 4-3, they two teams found themselves pitted against each other in the first round of the playoffs.
The two teams battled in another close matchup, with Pico Pride edging out MVP when it mattered most, 7-5. Pico Pride's close games wouldn't end there. Facing fellow 3-1 finisher PB Academy in the Semi Finals, the Pride had to edge out yet another close game with a dramatic 7-6 victory.
Now in the Championship game and running on adrenaline, the Pride weren't going to let their streak stop there. Facing yet another evenly matched 3-1 team, the Pride dug their cleats in, and fought like they had been doing all of Monday. Scoring just 5 runs, the Pride defense did what they had to do, and held the high scoring Blacksox to just 3 runs in the Championship game, earning the Pride a 1st Place finish and a World Series Berth.
11-Under Major:
A promising start to the tournament for Team California was quickly put in jeopardy on Sunday. After going 2-0 on Saturday, Team California suffered two tough losses, putting them at a precarious 2-2 record. Of the four 2-2 teams, only two of them were in the Top 6 seeds, advancing to the Monday's playoffs. Team California moved on as the 5th Seed and immediately had a chance at payback.
In their final game of Pool Play, Team California fell 5-2 to Sandlot Baseball from Arizona. Now onto the final day of the tournament, starting pitcher Jesse Bullard threw 5 strong innings, holding Sandlot to just two runs. Team California was able to take a 1 run lead, and take a 3-2 victory into the Semifinals.
Now facing the 1st Seed Easton Elite, the team that handed them their first loss on Sunday, Team California kept the stellar defense. Holding the 1st Seed to just 1 run, they scored 9 runs of their own, taking a 9-1 victory to the Championship game.
Now on their third game of the day and facing the 2nd Seed in the Championship game, Team California kicked their game into another gear. More stellar defense shut out their opponents, leading to a 6-0 Team California Championship victory.
12-Under Major:
MVP may have had a hiccup of a game on Saturday, giving up 12 runs in a 12-3, but after going 3-1 in Pool Play, they moved onto the Playoffs as the 4th Seed.
Once in the playoffs, MVP kicked their game into another gear, and their opponents didn't stand a chance. Stellar pitching performances by the Sheets brothers in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals led to back to back shutouts by MVP. By the time they made it to the Championship, their bats had slowed down, but their defense and pitching was as solid as ever, giving up just 2 runs and taking a 4-2 victory to 1st Place.
13-Under Major:
With bigger tournaments featuring Major ranked teams, even the 8th Seed can be a legitimate threat to the top seeds in the Playoffs. There are, however, some brackets where the top seeds are top seeds for a reason.
With two 4-0 teams headed into the playoffs, having the Championship game be between two undefeated teams wasn't surprising. The SGV Hustle and Las Vegas Rebels had virtually equal records and runs allowed in pool play with the Rebels giving up just 1 more run than the Hustle did.
This evenly matched Championship led to an incredibly close and white knuckled game. The SGV Hustle were able to hold off the Las Vegas Rebels with a 6-5 victory. One can only imagine that these two teams will face each other yet again in the World Series at the end of the season.
Thank you to all the teams that played in the MLK Dual Super NIT. Here are your Champions and Runner Ups.
See you on the fields
-AC
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