Pool play has come to end at the 17U National Team Championships Arizona, and through each team's first four games of the tournament, perhaps no group has been more impressive than GBG Vegas.

After Wednesday's 3-0 win over Trosky Texas Scout Team, a game in which it took a no-hitter into the last inning, GBG Vegas sat at a perfect 4-0 record, assuredly earning a spot as one of the highest-seeded groups in the playoff bracket. The first three days have seen the team clicking on all cylinders, with the main catalyst behind its success being its stellar pitching.

GBG Vegas started off its tournament on the mound as well as it could have, recording shutouts in both of its games on Monday. In its first contest against Team Kado Hawaii, the tandem of Bryce McKnight and Brock Morrow combined their efforts to strike out eight opposing hitters while giving up just three hits, and directly after, Evan Festa went the distance while punching out four in a 10-0 run-rule victory over Trosky Southern California-Antelope Valley.

The team's consecutive scoreless innings streak ended at 13 when the EJ Sports Warriors put four runs up on the scoreboard on Tuesday, but a 15-run outburst by the GBG Vegas bats helped bring home another run-rule win despite that. The streak would pick right back up in the final tune-up game before the beginning of the playoff bracket as well, with Domonic Ostolaza and Brock Barlow teaming up to throw a one-hitter with eight strikeouts in the aforementioned win over Trosky Texas on Wednesday morning.

Needless to say, the GBG Vegas pitching staff is clicking at precisely the right time, which has been a very encouraging development for head coach Brian Dallimore. After wrapping up pool play, Dallimore spoke with USA Baseball about his team's performance on the mound so far and what he thinks they need to do to find success headed into their elimination games starting on Thursday.

Q: It was another good win today, which makes it 4-0 for you guys now. What did you think of the performance today in the last game of pool play?

A: I don't think offensively we were very good, but we did enough. It was an outstanding pitching performance from Ostolaza. That's a physical team right there, and they didn't have a hit until that last inning. He just dominated in the zone, throwing three pitches for strikes and kept them off balance. We played defense and did the little things well, and that's the kind of team we are. We usually hit better than this, but we're a team that prides ourselves on doing a lot of the little things, controlling games, playing defense, throwing strikes, and that's how we won today.

Q: You mentioned the pitching, that's three shutouts in four games for them now. What do you think has made them so effective so far?

A: We don't have the guys that light up the radar in terms of 90-91, but we have guys that are mid- to high-80s that throw strikes and have a lot of pitchability. They can throw multiple pitches for strikes, and that's a requirement for us. They're just throwing a lot of strikes, and we're defending well, we don't give extra outs. That's one of our staples is that we're gonna defend, and so far, that's what we've been doing.

Q: You guys are heading into bracket play now. What are you going to tell your guys as you move forward heading into the elimination games?

A: I just told them right here, every team from here on is real, including today. They're going to be very physical, and they're going to have good arms. Every pitcher we're facing is going to be that good or better, so we just have to get our approach better and understand how to hit the ball the other way. We have to put the ball in play more and put more pressure on some teams, and they know that. Our game is about doing all the little things, and then there are days where we show up and really hit like yesterday, and that's when we get big games. We'll be ready to compete.

Q: What do you think about your chances going against the tougher competition that you'll face?

A: We're playing one game at a time, and we don't look past anybody. Every team we play is good, and it's the game of baseball, so we just want to show up and compete and show well. Certainly our expectation is to win every ballgame we show up in, but all these things also have to happen for us to do that, and we know that. We don't think we're just going to show up in the dugout and expect to win. We know we have to do a lot of different things to win, but we like our chances. We're very well positioned for tomorrow pitching-wise, so we're in a pretty good spot.