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Youth Baseball  | Tournaments  | 2/18/2019

Texas Spring Kickoff Champions

Jerry Miller     
Photo: Banditos Black (Perfect Game)

Powerful Alamo Drillers are the 12u champs

TOMBALL, Texas – The San Antonio, Texas-based Alamo Drillers started their 2019 spring season with an impressive weekend that eventually saw them capturing the first-ever PG 12u Texas Spring Kickoff championship over a very talented and competitive Banditos Black 12u squad by a score of 9-1.

The Banditos and the Drillers rode sound showings in the semifinals into the championship game on a breezy and cool afternoon at the Premier Baseball Complex in Tomball. The Banditos, behind Logan Horton (2025, Center, Texas), who went 7-for-10 on the weekend, and Tanner Galik (2025, Montgomery, Texas), who went 5-for-9 during the event, cruised by Hooks Baseball 11u in run-rule fashion, 12-3. The Drillers shut down a solid Hooks 12u team by a score of 5-1.

The Drillers used their dominant pitching, which allowed only seven runs in four games, and air-tight defense to set the tone for the championship game from the start. Behind the talented right arm of Masa Chilcutt (2025, San Antonio, Texas) the Drillers were never really threatened by the Banditos offense. Chilcutt worked four two-hit innings, striking out four and allowing only two hits and a walk, in shutting down a Banditos club that had scored 28 runs in three previous games.

The tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher (semifinal winning pitcher - 5 Ks, 4 hits, 1 walk in 5 innings), Kayson Cunningham (2025, San Antonio, Texas) was the offensive sparkplug for the Drillers in the championship contest and provided the win in the team’s semifinal victory by allowing only four hits and one walk over five innings with five puncouts. The lefty swinging leadoff hitter was 3-for-3 on the day, stealing a bag and scoring three runs.

The Drillers put away a very entertaining and well-contested ballgame with a five-spot in the bottom of the fourth inning. Terry Lawrence (2025, Willis, Texas) drove in the first two Driller runs of the inning with a booming two-run double to the left-center field gap. After Kayson Cunningham laced his third hit of the contest to left field, the Drillers two-hole hitter, Jd Crisp (2025, Cypress, Texas) picked on a 1-0 offering and drove it well over the left field fence. The big three-run homer gave the Drillers an eight-run lead and a walk-off, run-rule win.

Demarco Bandiero (2025, Orange, Texas) was the MVP of the 12u tourney and he certainly earned that recognition. The powerfully built, 5-foot-9, 190-pound lefthanded swinging cleanup hitter for the Drillers went 6-for-8 over the weekend, hit two home runs – one of which was a no-doubt grand slam in the semifinal win – and drove in 11 runs.


2019 PG 12u Texas Spring Kickoff champions: Alamo Drillers



2019 PG 12u Texas Spring Kickoff runner-up: Banditos 12u Black



2019 PG 12u Texas Spring Kickoff MVP and MV-Pitcher: Demarco Bandiero and Kayson Cunningham





Banditos Black dominates to capture 13u crown

TOMBALL, Texas – The 2019 13u edition of the Banditos Black squad will be one to watch through the spring and summer. A smothering offense that scored 48 runs in four games complemented a very capable pitching staff and an equally solid defense as the Tomball, Texas-based Banditos captured the 13u PG Texas Spring Kickoff tournament with a 4-2 championship victory. The Banditos got their only real test of the tournament in the championship game as an equally talented Crawdads by YETI Baseball Club from Austin, Texas battled to the last out of the contest.

Paced by the tournament’s MVP, Cade Arrambide (2024, Spring, Texas), the Banditos struck for a run in the bottom of the first inning. Arrambide singled to left with two outs and scampered home on a solid double down the right field line by Cage McCloud (2024, Robinson, Texas) to give the Banditos an early 1-0 lead.

The Crawdads, a club that also impressed all weekend with their offense (43 runs in four games), put their first marker on the board in the top of the third. Theodore Gillen (2024, Austin, Texas) doubled to open the frame and scored on a one-out single to left by Julius Ramirez (2023, San Juan, Texas) knotting the score at one apiece.

After the Banditos went quietly in the bottom half of the frame, the Crawdads took a brief lead in the top of the fourth. The Austin-based YETI club took advantage of a rare Banditos error to score an unearned run as Vinny Cano (2023, Pharr, Texas) drove a single to left plating Orlando Jose Gonzalez, Jr (2023, San Benito, Texas), who had reached on the error and stole second base.

The Crawdads lead would not last long, however, as the relentless Banditos offense came right back to recapture the lead. After Cage McCloud was hit by the first pitch of his at-bat to open the Banditos half, Bankston Lembcke (2024, Spring, Texas) singled to deep shortstop. Both McCloud and Lembcke advanced on a deep line out to right and then came home on a Joshua Olivo (2024, Hockley, Texas) pop single to left field, putting the Banditos back on top for good by a 3-2 count.

Cade Arrambide gave the Banditos a little breathing room in the bottom of the fifth when he chased home Sam Lee (2024, Montgomery, Texas) with a booming triple to the deepest part of right-center field. Lee, who had opened the inning with a sharp single to left, never let up rounding the bases as he scored a very important fourth run for Banditos Black.

Lefthander Raif Cobb (2023, Cypress, Texas) calmly sat down the potent Crawdads offense the rest of the way. Cobb posted a complete game, four-strikeout performance and allowed only one earned run, scattering seven hits and a walk in keeping one of the tournament’s better offenses in check.

The tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher was the Crawdads Joshua Atomanczyk (2024, Franklin, Texas). Without his sterling performance in his club’s second game on Saturday, the Crawdads would have never made it to the championship contest. He pitched four highly impressive innings, scattering three hits and striking out eight to help secure a very important victory for his team.

Earning Most Valuable Player recognition was the Banditos Cade Arrambide. All the athletically gifted Arrambide did for the weekend was go 7-for-11, with two doubles, two triples, five RBI and three stolen bases.


2019 PG 13u Texas Spring Kickoff champions: Banditos Black



2019 PG 13u Texas Spring Kickoff runner-up: Crawdads by YETI Baseball club



2019 PG 13u Texas Spring Kickoff MVP: Cade Arrambide



2019 PG 13u Texas Spring Kickoff MV-Pitcher: Joshua Atomanczyk





 Banditos Black impressive in 14u championship performance

TOMBALL, Texas – The Banditos organization had a great weekend placing three teams in PG Texas Spring Kickoff Championship games and coming away with victories in two of those. No team was more impressive on the weekend, however, than the Banditos Black 14u entry. All this Tomball, Texas-based club did was go undefeated (5-0), scoring 47 runs, while only allowing six.

Their dominance was most evident in their 10-2 championship game victory over a solid Performance Baseball Texas 14u club out of Kilgore, Texas. Performance had a great run to the finals, having scored 48 runs coming into the championship game.

As impressive as the offense was for both clubs throughout the weekend, pitching was the story in the finals. The Banditos staff allowed only two runs, both of which were unearned. Samson Pugh (2023, Montgomery, Texas) started on the hill for the Banditos and pitched into the fifth inning, allowing only four hits and three walks while striking out three. Ryan Host (2023, Pflugerville, Texas) followed Pugh to the slab and struck out two in his two-thirds of an inning on the hill.

The Banditos offense, which really needs no help in scoring runs, got a lot of it from the Performance club in the championship game. On top of the eight hits the Banditos posted they also walked 10 times, had two hitters hit by pitch and had another reach by error. When it was all said and done the Banditos had 21 batters reach base in a five-inning game that ended via the PG run rule.

Pacing the Banditos offensively was Tracer Lopez (2023, Rosebud, Texas) who banged out two hits and scored a run. Lopez went 6-for-11 on the weekend, drove in two and stole two bases. Ryan Host also picked up a knock in the finals and hit .462 (6-for-13) on the weekend while driving in five and swiping five bases.

The Banditos Conner Bennett (2023, Spring, Texas) was named the tourney’s MVP. Bennett had a big weekend at the plate going 8-for-14 (.571), hitting a home run and driving in seven.

Performance Baseball’s Elliott Foreman (2023, Diana, Texas) was named the tournament’s most valuable pitcher. Foremen pitched three-plus no-hit innings and allowed only three walks while striking out nine.


2019 PG 14u Texas Spring Kickoff champions: Banditos Black



2019 PG 14u Texas Spring Kickoff runner-up: Performance Baseball Texas 14u



2019 PG 14u Texas Spring Kickoff MVP: Conner Bennett



2019 PG 14u Texas Spring Kickoff MV-Pitcher: Elliott Foreman
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