CARY, NORTH CAROLINA – The first two days of action at the 15U/16U National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup are in the books, with all six regions battling for a spot in bracket play. The first two days featured many epic moments, including long home runs, a steal of home, and more. Catch up with all the action from the first two days in Cary!
JADERRYIAN WASHINGTON SHOWS OFF THE SPEED
The Northwest Stars beat the Southeast Stripes by a large margin on Thursday, partly thanks to the wheels of JeDerryian Washington. The speedster kept the offense going for the Stars in their big win, smoking a liner and sliding head first into third for a big triple.
DEUCE JENKINS HITS A BLAST
The Southeast Stars captured a 6-1 win over the Northwest Stripes on Thursday, and Deuce Jenkins played a big part in the victory. Already leading by a run in the top of the first, Jenkins turned on a 2-1 pitch and blasted it over the right field wall for a three-run homer that put his squad up by four en route to victory.
MIDWEST STRIPES WALK IT OFF
It was the at-bat everyone dreams of, as Joshua Campbell came to the plate in a one-run game with the bases juiced and two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Campbell delivered for the Midwest Stripes, smacking a single up the middle to plate the tying and winning runs and hand the Stripes a 2-1 win over the Southeast Stars.
RYAN FLOYD SWIPES HOME
The South Stripes vs. Southeast Stars contest got off to an exciting start on Friday, as the South provided plenty of entertainment in the top of the first. With the bases full and two outs in the inning, Ryan Floyd took off from third on a 1-0 pitch and slid home safely to give the Stripes a quick advantage.
BRADY ARMFIELD GOES YARD
The Southeast Stars went down early in the first inning on Friday, but Brady Armfield made sure that deficit did not last long. The Southeast outfielder clobbered an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left field–just over the outstretched arm of the left fielder–to immediately tie the game at one.
MIDWEST STARS WIN NAIL-BITER AGAINST SOUTHEAST STRIPES
The Midwest Stars picked up a big win over the Southeast Stripes on Friday to cap off the day's action, scoring three in the top of the seventh and holding on to win the contest. The Southeast Stripes put the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh in a strong comeback attempt, but the Midwest Stars picked up a big strikeout to lock down the win.
The 15U/16U NTIS returns to action on Saturday, with semifinal action set to take place in Cary. Follow along with all the action by following @USABaseballNTIS on Twitter and @USABEvents on Instagram. All NTIS games at the National Training Complex are streamed live on USABaseball.TV.
