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Tournaments  | Championship | 5/28/2026

ZT Doubles Up at Best of the Best

Hannah Jo Groves
Photo: ZT Elite 14u (Perfect Game)
ZT Run-Rules for First-Ever 14u Best of the Best Championship

The 14U ZT National Prospects sealed their title as the Best of the Best in a run-rule, 10-2 victory over East Cobb Astros 14U.

The championship game was played on the A-Quad of Boombah Sports Complex in Sanford, Florida. After a long, hot weekend, there was some relieving cloud coverage and soft breezes as family members cheered on their kids for the final game of the tournament.



East Cobb struck first, able to come in off a wild pitch. Despite that miscue, ZT showed its defensive strength and fluidity right away with Tucker Richardson making smooth plays at shortstop.

In the bottom of the first, Bryant Ju gave a needed jumpstart to ZT’s offense by blasting a 2-run triple to give his team the lead.

“I was just looking for my pitch and I got behind in the count 1-2,” Ju explained. “I was jumping on the fastball so, I got the fastball and drove it the other way and scored two runs…I was excited…We were down 1-0 at that point, and then, just to take the lead in the championship game - can’t ask for more.”

Ju played first base for the first few innings of the game. He and Richardson continued to work well together on defense through the second inning and catcher Landen Davis showed off his arm to get an East Cobb runner stealing second base - another play that Richardson contributed to. ZT was able to keep East Cobb off the board in the second frame, but East Cobb’s defense did the same to ZT, East Cobb was ending in a scoreless second inning.

ZT was a worthy opponent for this defensive battle, almost turning a double play for the first out of the third, then executing a double play for the final two.

This momentum is what helped ZT run away in the bottom of the third. Mark Thompson hit a nice-looking single, then tournament MVP Chris Cabrera blasted a ball way out to left-center field that brought Thompson across home plate. Cabrera was able to come home on a wild pitch, Fabio Fumai knocked a RBI triple and Micah Delos Reyes lined a RBI double to make the score 6-1 at the end of the third inning.

East Cobb wasn’t done fighting yet, as Whitten Percy singled, Colt Carter walked after a 10-pitch at-bat and Coleman Conner singled to load the bases with one out. Bear Richardson flew out to left field to bring Percy home and add a run to the board. But ZT pitcher Daniel Fernandez shut that momentum down, striking out the next batter to end the frame.

ZT continued to keep the pedal to the metal in the bottom of the fourth - with a lead-off single from Tristan Brown, a ground-rule double from Cabrera and a 2-run single from Davis.

East Cobb came up empty in the top of the fifth, and after a single from ZT’s Kade Valdivia, Brown’s RBI single was enough to seal the run-rule victory.

Right-hander Fernandez got the win - pitching 3 complete innings and striking out 4 with 50 pitches. His fastball topped out at 87 mph and he also showed off a mid-70s curveball in his outing.

ZT’s head coach, Omar Avila, said his message to his guys going in to the championship game was to stay on their toes.

“‘Don’t go through the motions,’” Avila said he told the team. “I think every team’s out here to try to beat us. We’re the number one team in the country for a reason and I think our boys sometimes come in a little flat and they overlook opponents. The main message was to continue to fight and understand that there’s gonna be teams that are gonna try to punch you in the mouth and we gotta continue to punch them back in the mouth.

Ju said that energy was the key to the team’s success this weekend and in the final game.

“At first, we had no energy at the start. We didn’t really start well, but then, these past semis and championship game, we really brought the energy and that’s when we showed what we can do…We got down, then we responded to our adversity.”

A big name to watch coming into the Best of the Best weekend was Cabrera. The tournament MVP, through the whole weekend, had 6 hits, 6 runners batted in and 2 home runs. He said even though he’s been putting in the work preparing for this tournament, everything is silent when he steps into the box.

“In the box, honestly, my mind goes blank. I just hit. I don’t even remember what I say or think…Hitting up with BBCor, pitchers are throwing harder, I was really focused on just hitting the ball hard, hitting through the field. That’s what really helped me out this weekend.”

MVPitcher went to right-hander Mason Pearce, who, through the weekend, pitched 4.1 innings, threw 88 mph and racked up 8 strikeouts. Despite these stats, Pearce said he wasn’t expecting to hear his name called.

“I was just, like, really surprised…I’ve been playing high school ball and my coach, he’s been really helping me getting over the front side and just finishing - making sure I can throw my strikes and command the zone and know what pitch to throw instead of just throwing the ball.”

Even with this MVPitcher award, Pearce said there’s still a couple other things he wants to accomplish this summer.

“I definitely want to get better at throwing all my pitches for strikes. Like, today, I couldn’t throw my changeup or my slider for a strike today, mostly just my fastball, but if I can learn how to do that, big stuff will come.”

Coach Avila mentioned other names that contributed to the team’s success this weekend; guys like Luke Skarda, Eiden OFarrill and John Sundburg. He said he hoped all the members of this team would remember this win throughout the rest of the summer.

“It’s travel ball, like, yes, it’s tough, yes, they’ve been here before but, it’s always work hard and play with heart. You know that at the end of the day, this game is tough and it’s going to continue to be a battle no matter what. If they go through the motions, you won’t go out there and win ball games. This game is about competing and having unselfish at-bats.”

Next up for this 14U ZT National Prospects team, they’ll be traveling back to Irvine, California for the 2026 PG 14U Ultimate Baseball Championship - West, which will be June 12-15.


ZT National Starts Big to Win 13u Best of the Best


The 13U ZT National Prospects had a huge start and a steady pace to outlast DK National 13U 12-5 in the championship.

In an explosive first inning, Christian Cicero took advantage of the bases being loaded with a ground ball to right field for a 2-run single. Lucas Diaz followed suit - blasting a triple to score two more runners. A single from Justin Hinojoza scored one more - and just like that, ZT had already put up 5 runs.

DK National were able to put up a run as Nolan Bingham grounded out to bring Princewill Njoku home - but that was all the offense could muster at that point.

After a scoreless second inning, ZT steadily put up one run in each of the following innings - aside from the top of the seventh, where they put up 3. Highlights of this consistent offense included a RBI singles from Aaron Kim, Lucca Giano and Ethan Palacios and RBI doubles from Palacios and Will Alfredo Arias Vallejo. Hinojoza and Julian Arenas were able to get additional sacrifice runs across the plate.

DK National 13U fought enough to avoid a run-rule victory - putting up a run in the fourth and sixth innings - even putting up 2 before the end of the game in the bottom of the seventh.

But ZT had already put enough distance to seal their Best of the Best championship.

In addition to going 2-3 in the batter’s box, Diaz was also impressive on the mound. In 6.1 innings of work, he threw 89 pitches, struck out 5 batters and only walked 1. His fastball averaged in the low-80s and he mixed in a low-70s curveball as well.

ZT National Director Carlos Avila reflected on the Best of the Best as his teams won 2 out of the 6 age divisions.

“We’re super lucky to be able to be a part of an event with the best teams in the country and be able to push our kids to become the best version of themselves. We feel like iron sharpens iron and to be able to be on the field and compete against these incredible teams is awesome and to be able to end up on top is even greater. We’re excited to be a part of this type of event for the up-and-coming years.

The identity for us is putting kids that are like-minded together to go and compete and grow so that they’re ready to face their next chapter of life… it’s important for us to start getting kids comfortable being uncomfortable at an earlier age so they’re ready for their opportunity.

We want to be able to compete and show people that we have a program that has kids that really have a bright future in their career…the environment that we’ve created has really helped kids blossom and the biggest reason is because of the coaches that we have in this program and the people that are invested in really bringing the best out of these kids. I think that people forget how important coaching is, and that’s something we value and are so appreciative that we have some of the best coaches in the country.”
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