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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/16/2021

Texas Twelve Overwhelms Field at 14u WWBA

Photo: Texas Twelves 14u Black (Perfect Game)
HOOVER, Ala. -- Over the past week, the best 14U teams in the country traveled to Hoover, Ala. and competed in the 14u WWBA National Championship. For seven days, 168 teams battled through the elimination tournament and on the final day, Texas Twelve Black was the lone team left standing after the dust settled.
 
The first semifinal game on Thursday featured Texas Twelve Black and Austin Horns DeSantiago, two teams from the Lone Star State that were eager to bring the trophy back home with them. After a scoreless first inning, the Horns got on the board first when Gus Begert brought in Jack Buerkle off a sac fly to score the first run of the game and put the Horns up 1-0. Texas Twelve was quick to respond, however, getting the offense rolling and wasting no time loading the bases in the very next inning. Blaine Bullard stepped up to the plate and hit a ground ball to center field, bringing in Jack Paris to put Texas Twelve on the board. Bullard himself would also score, giving his team a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth inning.
 
The Horns were stifled by a fierce Texas Twelve defense. Tommy Vandor had a stellar performance on the mound, picking apart the Horns offense and keeping the lead with Texas Twelve. The offense kept their momentum as well and went on another tear in the fifth inning. With runners on second and third, Bryce Wells stepped up to the plate and hit a sac fly to bring in Bullard for his second score and his team’s fourth score of the game. After Lucas Tinajero scored off of an error, Dane Perry continued his spectacular performance at the plate and launched a ball deep to right field to bring in Justin Michaelis, increasing the Texas Twelve lead to 5-2.
 
The Horns attempted to mount a much-needed comeback and scored another run after John Duran hit one deep to center to bring in Ryder Spencer. However, that would end up being their final run of the game. Thanks to Tommy Vandor and some excellent fielding performances, Texas Twelve stood up and kept the Horns offense grounded. After adding another two runs of their own, the final score stood at 7-2, sealing Texas Twelve's ticket to the finals.
 
In the next game, Canes National faced off against Wow Factor National Black for the chance to take on Texas Twelve in the championship tilt. Hunter McLemore got the start on the mound for Wow Factor and kept the high-powered Canes offense scoreless in their first trip to the plate. In the next inning, Wow Factor came out of the gates firing and unleashed an offensive barrage against the Canes defense that seemed to have no answer. Thomas O’Connell drove in Cole Huett for the first run of the game, and in the next at-bat, Matt Ponatoski brought in Quinn Bentley for another Wow Factor run.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Wow Factor was up 2-0 with the bases loaded and no outs. After a solid inning on the mound, Hunter McLemore stepped up to the plate and increased his team's lead even further. On the second pitch, McLemore launched the ball deep to the left field warning track, clearing the bases and giving Wow Factor a commanding 5-0 lead at the end of the first inning.  The Canes attempted an offensive response, but McLemore continued his great performance on the mound and kept the Canes scoreless once again.
 
The lead moved to 5-0 before Canes chipped away a bit to get it back to 5-3, where the score remained for three innings. After those three scoreless innings, the Wow Factor offense finally erupted and unleashed a second offensive barrage against the Canes defense. Parish was first to score off a wild patch and was quickly followed by O’Connell, who came in off of yet-another deep ball from McLemore.



Wow Factor led 7-3 and threatened to inflict even more damage. With one out, Bentley came back to the plate and ripped a line drive to right field, bringing in both McLemore and Ponatoski to give Wow Factor the momentum and a commanding 9-3 lead. The Canes offense would need to mount a tremendous comeback for a chance at advancing to the finals.
 
Canes fought back to get within two runs at 9-7, but Wow Factor held on to punch their ticket to the championship game.
 
Texas Twelve started the championship game on offense and appeared to pick up right where they left off, firing on all cylinders and coming out of the gate hot. They loaded the bases on the first three batters and scored twice from walks by Michaelis and Perry. Paris would ground a ball out to left field, bringing in Wells and putting Texas Twelve up 3-0. The offense wasn't yet finished either, and would add another run after Chad Gasper hit a sac fly to drive in Michaelis, giving Texas Twelve a 4-0 heading into the bottom of the first.
 
Wow Factor carried their momentum over from their last game as well, however, and quickly put themselves in scoring position. Barrett McKenney, who had won the game on the mound in the semifinal, showed his ability to contribute offensively as well by hitting a two-RBI line drive to center field and trimming the Texas Twelve lead down 4-2.
 
However, when Texas Twelve stepped up to the plate again, it became clear very quickly that they had not lost any momentum on offense. Michaelis continued his incredible outing at the plate and hit a ball deep to right field for a two-RBI single. The momentum continued into the next inning as well, scoring another run off a ground ball by Cade Bennett. By the bottom of the third, Wow Factor was staring at an 8-2 deficit, desperately needing a response on offense to keep them in the game.
 
They would do just that, and got things rolling after going scoreless in the second inning, once again putting themselves in scoring position early. With runners on second and first, O’Connell stepped up to the plate and continued his exceptional performance on the day with a deep ball to center field for a two-RBI double. He would score himself after stealing home, bringing back Wow Factor within three runs. The score sat at 8-5 heading into the fourth inning.
 
Despite the tremendous effort by Wow Factor to erase the deficit, the high-powered Texas Twelve offense proved to be too much for the Wow Factor defense to keep in check. Perry could not be stopped, and drove in Lucas Tinajero on a sac fly. Austin Carlisle got on the board as well after bringing in Wells to increase the Texas Twelve lead to five with three innings to play.
 
By the top of the seventh, Texas Twelve had amassed an insurmountable 14-6 lead. Wow Factor could muster only one more run in the bottom of the 7th against a fierce defense. Kai Hood went to the mound for Texas Twelve and finished securing the 14-7 victory.
 
After finishing the tournament undefeated and removing any doubt as to who the best team in the tournament was, the players of Texas Twelve lifted the trophy high and were officially the top dogs of the 2021 WWBA National Championship, winning the organization's third title. For his outstanding performance at the plate, Lucas Tinajero was declared the MVP for Texas Twelve Black. For Wow Factor, Zion Theophilus was selected as the MV-Pitcher.
 
-Maxwell Gault


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