MILWAUKEE- Thanks to a late-inning surge, the Stripes were able to outlast the Stars, 9-6, in the fourth and final game of the 2018 USA Baseball 17U National Team Development Program at Miller Park on Thursday.
Pete Crow-Armstrong tripled in the eighth inning, scoring two runs and breaking a 6-6 tie. Crow-Armstrong also doubled and scored twice in the win.
The scoring started in the top of the first when Nolan McLean singled to score Enrique Bradfield from second after he walked to lead off the game. Nate Clow would follow Bradfield with another walk and would come around to score when Alex Greene grounded out to third.
The Stripes would get themselves on the board in the first. It looked as though an early rally was building, but Brandon Fields was thrown out at home by Greene in right after a Dylan Crews single. Yohandy Morales was able to drive in a run on a single to right later in the inning to make the score 2-1.
Carson Tucker would extend the Stars lead to two in the third on an RBI single, driving in Greene following a walk.
Two more runs would come across in the fourth, when a bases-loaded walk to Kellum Clark would force in one. Mac Horvath grounded out in the next at bat to bring home the second and build the Stars lead to four.
Jack O'Dowd would help the Stripes get them back with a two-RBI single to right, scoring Carter Young and Jack Bulger.
The scoring would settle until the seventh, when Drew Bowser lined a double that scored Gavin Casas, but Bowser was thrown out on a great relay by Crow-Armstrong and Young trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
That play seemed to shift the momentum, as the Stripes would come back in the bottom of the seventh with three runs to tie the game. O'Dowd would score on a wild pitch before Aaron Nixon would line a single over the drawn-in infield to bring home Crow-Armstrong. Colten Keith would plate the tying run, Nixon, later in the inning on a ground ball to Casas at first.
The eighth inning would see Crow-Armstrong drive in the game winning runs, and Nixon would add another RBI single to score him, putting the score at 9-6.
Masyn Winn would walk two batters in the ninth, but would get a pair of ground balls to end the game. Winn earned the victory, tossing 1.2 innings in relief. He allowed no runs, no hits and just two walks, striking out two Stars.
Mick Abel pitched well in the start for the Stars, going 5.0 innings and allowing just three earned runs on six hits. Abel struck out two and walked four.
"It was fun working with this talented group," Stripes Manager David Pierce said. "To watch their development and their desire to get better was exciting. It was great that we could win the series, but it was much more about their development and how they progressed as they move forward."
The win clinches the 3-1 series victory for the Stripes.