1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Top Tier Americans	1	3	3	0	0	0	1	8	8	3
Arizona National Baseball Academy	1	1	2	0	0	3	2	9	9	1

Win: D. Blinn Loss: K. O'Donnell Save: None

Box Score | Play-by-play

 

CARY, N.C. - After falling behind 7-2 in the third inning, Arizona National Baseball Academy rallied to defeat Top Tier Americans, 9-8, with a walk-off in the seventh inning to earn the final spot in the 2019 10U Futures Invitational Championship Game at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, North Carolina on Saturday.

Arizona National Baseball Academy will take on Elite Squad in the gold medal game on Sunday. Top Tier Baseball will move on to face Twelve Baseball in Sunday's bronze medal game.

Arizona National Baseball Academy's Dylan Blinn entered the game in the top of the fourth inning and threw four shutout innings of relief without allowing a hit to earn the win on the mound. Dylan Minatee started the game for Arizona National Baseball Academy and allowed six runs in 2.2 innings and three strikeouts in the no-decision. Kristopher O'Donnell was tagged with the loss for the Top Tier Americans after giving up the final two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Top Tier American's starting pitcher Darey Rodriguez allowed four runs on five hits while striking out four before exiting the game in the fifth inning with his team leading 7-5.

Minatee led Arizona National Baseball Academy at the plate with two inside-the-park home runs and four RBIs. Minatee, Franklin Miller and Blinn tied for the team lead with two runs scored each. Ricardo Hurtado led the charge offensively for the Top Tier Americans after going two-for-three with three stolen bases and crossing home twice. Jake Brande added a two-RBI home run and scored two runs of his own for the Top Tier Americans.

Key Moments:

• Ricardo Hurtado opened scoring in the top of the first after he reached base on a one-out single, before advancing to third on a single by Adrian Rosales in the next at-bat. Jose Bingochea drove in Hurtado an RBI-groundout to give Top Tier the early 1-0 lead.
• Arizona National Baseball Academy used an RBI-groundout of its own from Kayden Campbell to bring home Luke Gladchuck and tie the game at one-all.
• With runners on first and second, Kristopher O'Donnell hit a hard line drive that was misplayed by the Arizona National Baseball Academy third baseman, allowing Ryan Sanchez to score. In the next at-bat, Benjamin Martinez hit an RBI-single before O'Donnell stole home to give the Top Tier Americans a 4-1 lead.
• Franklin Miller responded in the bottom of the inning with a solo inside-the-park home run that flew to deep-center field and rolled to the wall to cut the lead to two.
• Hurtado began the top of the third by hitting a single to shallow right field and stole second and third before crossing the plate after tagging up on a fly ball in foul territory from Adrian Rosales. After Bingochea hit single in the next at-bat, Jake Brande hit a two-RBI inside-the-park home run to give the Top Tier Americans a 7-2 advantage.
• Dylan Minatee recorded his first inside-the-park home run of the day in the bottom of the third with a shot to deep left field that scored two and cut the lead to three. Minatee struck again in the bottom of the sixth with another two-run homer, this time to deep right field, to cut the Top Tier Americans lead to one. Following Minatee's second home run, Campbell and Rodrigues reached base on a pair Top Tier Americans' errors before Braylon Luster tied the game with a double to send the game into extra innings.
• With the international tie-breaker in effect, Brande scored on a ground out by Benjamin Martinez as the Top Tier Americans regained the lead.
• After a strikeout to begin the inning, Arizona National Baseball Academy loaded the bases on a single by Luke Gladchuck. Nathan Danzeisen tied the game on the very next pitch with a single of his own that brought home Luster, who started the inning at second. Drew Boyd earned the game-winning RBI the hard way as he was hit by a pitch that brought home Miller to send Arizona National Baseball Academy to the championship game with a 9-8 win.

 

Notable Information:

• Dylan Blinn (1-0) entered the game in the top of the fourth with Arizona National Baseball Academy trailing 7-2 and pitched four shutout innings of relief, while not allowing a hit, to earn the win on the mound.
• Kristopher O'Donnell (0-1) suffered the loss for the Top Tier Americans after giving up the final two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
• Arizona National Baseball Academy's Drew Boyd leads the tournament with nine hits through the first three days of play.
• Arizona National Baseball Academy improves to 4-0 at the 2019 10U Futures Invitational and will advance to play the winner of Elite Squad in the championship game on Sunday.
• Sunday's gold medal game will feature two of the highest scoring teams in the tournament as Elite Squad (12.5) and Arizona National Baseball Academy (10.5) average a combined 22.5 runs a game throughout the first three days of play.
• Top Tier Americans (3-1) suffered its first loss of the tournament and will face Twelve Baseball in the bronze medal game on Sunday.

 

On Deck:

• Arizona National Baseball Academy will take on Elite Squad in the 2019 10U Futures Invitational on Sunday. First pitch is set for 11:45 a.m. ET at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary, North Carolina.
• Top Tier Americans will face Twelve Baseball in the bronze medal game on Sunday. The bronze medal game will begin at 8:15 a.m. ET on field seven.
• Six consolation games will round out Sunday's schedule, beginning at 8:00 am ET. 

 

Social

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