CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Rawlings Hitters are no strangers to the annual WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship, participating in the qualifying event every year since it's inception in 2003. They've taken home the championship trophy twice, most recently in 2007, and finished third in both 2012 and 2013.

Last year the younger of the two teams – Rawlings Hitters National Baseball Club 2016's – that Hitters founder R.J. Fergus brought to Cedar Rapids, Iowa won their pool, arguably the toughest in the entire field, but lost in the quarterfinals at the hands of the St. Louis Gamers. In fact, that marked the second time in as many years that the Hitters' championship hopes ended at the hands of the Gamers.

On Saturday on a cool yet brilliantly sunny day in Fairfax, Iowa, the Rawlings Hitters Navy team had a chance at redemption. They entered their 2:00 p.m. contest against the the St. Louis Gamers 17u Blue with a win already under their belt, taking their first contest of the day, 4-1, over the Minnesta Mash Black 18u at Duane Banks Field on the University of Iowa campus.

They did indeed take the second game as well, 7-2, finishing the day at 2-0 with one more pool game to play on Sunday morning. That game will be played against Cangelosi Baseball White 2016, who are also 2-0, a contest that will determine the pool winner and which teams advances to the playoffs for a chance at a paid invitation to Jupiter, Fla. for the WWBA World Championship.

This Navy team is nearly identical to last year's quarterfinal club, especially at the top of the lineup. PG All-American shortstop Gavin Lux continues to provide as steady of a glove as you can find up the middle while also serving as the team's leadoff hitter. Justin Lavey, who batted second last year, is in the three hole this year. And Rortvedt, yet another 2015 PG All-American, is now batting cleanup after batting third a year ago.

“It's great,” Rortvedt said prior to the Hitters second game on Saturday of playing on this Hitters squad. “I've known these (guys) for a while. Gavin (Lux) and Justin (Lavey), we've been playing (together) for a long time. And Jarred Kelenic is going to be really good as he's coming up. It's a lot of fun to play with a lot of your best friends.”

Rortvedt, who is currently ranked 21st in the nation and has committed to play for Arkansas, did his job in the cleanup role on Saturday. In their first game on Saturday he hit a double to lead off the fifth inning which began a three-run inning. He added another double in game two, this one driving the first run of yet another three-run inning in the opening frame.

Lux and Lavey also did their jobs, as each went 2-for-4 in that second game. Lux scored the first run on Rortvedt's double after leading off the game with an infield single and Lavey capped the scoring with a solo home run in the seventh. Kelenic enjoyed a 2-for-3 performance in the first game, as the four batters are collectively 9-for-23 (.391) through the first two games.

Kelenic and the other 2018 on the Navy team, Alex Binelas, yet another Louisville recruit, are proof that the organization from top to bottom, and the corresponding talent in the state of Wisconsin, is strong well past this year's class. Kelenic is currently ranked 10th in the class of 2018 and has quickly embraced a larger role with a team made up almost entirely of high school seniors and a handful of juniors.

“Justin Lavey is a really good leader. Obviously Gavin and Ben, all of the kids look up to them,” Fergus said of his impact performers. “But all summer long Kelenic, the 2018, has been the hitter. He had a big knock today, he's been light's out. He can really, really hit, in certain situations better than others, but he's been the one that took the zero off the board and put a one or a two up.”

The pitchers did their job as well. In the Hitters first game of the day Ryan Hoerter, Ben Dragani, Troy Hickey and Jacob Lindemann combined to one-hit the Minnesota Mash. In the afternoon contest, recent Oregon State commit Nathan Burns, a rising 2017, struck out 12 in 5 2/3 innings.

While Lux, Lavey and Rortvedt are the seasoned veterans on the team and the three players the rest of the squad turn to for leadership, the talent does end with that trio. Of the 17 players listed on the roster, 13 have commitments to Division I universities. This group of players has been playing together now for several years, and the talent they individually, and collectively possessed at a young age was evident.

“We knew when these kids were incoming freshmen that we had a really high level class,” Fergus said of his now upperclass squad. “They did really well at the youth levels. I talked with a few of the college guys around and I sat down with the parents and said “we're going to put these guys on the same U17 team travel schedule, playing U17 baseball, they're going to take their lumps but they're going to learn to play.” They really learned how to compete at 15-years old and what it takes to win.”

The more this team has played together they more they have won. Outside of individual showcase events, such as the National Showcase and the Area Code Games, this squad spent the majority of the summer with one another.

“This summer we had one of our most successful summers,” Fergus added. “When we were full strength, with everyone together, we went 29-2. They come in and work everyday. It's nice to have a bunch of committed guys chasing either pro money or to be prepared when they get to college, to continue our legacy. They don't want to go there and not play. They've chosen big schools and if they get there and they're not ready they're going to sit and watch.”

“You have an Arizona State at short, a Louisville at second, a Louisville at first, Arkansas behind the plate, Illinois, Louisville and Louisville or Jacksonville in the outfield. And an Oregon State guy on the mound,” Fergus said of his lineup on Saturday afternoon. “Since Gary Arndt played at Missouri we've had a shortstop at the major college level for 15 or 16 years.”

PG All-American Gavin Lux bats leadoff for the Rawlings Hitters Navy