CARY, N.C. - Entering Saturday, the Northwest Stars, Southwest Stars, Northwest Stripes and Southwest Stripes remained in the hunt for the 11U NTIS Champions Cup gold medal. At the end of the day, only two remained.
Northwest Stars put forth a complete team effort as seven different hitters contributed RBI hits, beginning the day by with a convincing 8-2 victory over Southwest Stripes to clinch the first spot in the 11U NTIS Champions Cup gold medal game.
Royce Pennington hit a double to right-center in the top of the first to drive in Chase Groves and give Northwest Stars the early 1-0 lead. Carlo Castaneda followed that up by hitting a double down the left field line later in the inning to bring in a pair, giving the Northwest Stars an early lead that they would not relinquish.
Seddrick Henderson III got the start on the mound and was masterful before turning it over to Kael Phillips to close out the game for the Northwest Stars, who tossed three scoreless innings to clinch a spot in the finals.
"I felt really good today. I threw three innings and did not give up any runs, struck out three guys, and also got a hit to help us win. I am excited and looking forward to playing in the championship game tomorrow," said Phillips.
The Northwest Stars will play in the 11U Champions Cup gold medal game at 11 a.m. tomorrow, where they will face the Southwest Stars who also turned in a powerful offensive showing in their semifinal victory over Northwest Stripes.
The Southwest Stars had no issues scoring in the contest as nine members of their starting lineup had a hit in the semifinal game. The offense was supported by starting pitcher, Andruw Giles, who set the tone for the game on the mound.
Giles, who returns to the Champions Cup for the second time, will play for gold once again after winning a title with the Southwest region in 2018. In the semifinal matchup, Giles threw four innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) while striking out a pair to get the victory. 
"Andruw [Giles] has been pretty good. He was with us last summer as a younger player and helped us win the gold medal last year. It helps us because he has some experience and he has been able to handle the overall experience here since day one," said Southwest and South NTIS Regional Director Andy Rojo. "Since the beginning, [the Southwest Stars] have been playing really good fundamental baseball. We have had good pitching and the defense has been really solid. The lineup has been moving the ball around too."
Northwest Stripes would rally back later in the game as they scored six runs between the fifth and sixth innings to cut its deficit to 9-6, but Southwest would ultimately respond and score three runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach.
"I told our guys we lost our focus for about an inning, but they are a good team, so they quickly realized that we have to stay focused. I just had to give them a quick reminder in the dugout and that was it," said Rojo.
The gold medal game will take place on Field Five at Thomas Brooks Park at 11:00 am ET Sunday morning.
"I told them to get some rest [heading into the gold medal game]. They are eleven years old so they have a good balance of energy; so, I think they'll be alright tomorrow morning for the championship game," Rojo continued.
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