CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball’s 18U National Team Training Camp Phase One continued on Sunday with matchups between Team Grey and Team Navy in the morning, followed by Team Red and Team Light Blue in the afternoon at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. Team Grey scored six unanswered runs to claim a 6-4 comeback victory over Team Navy to remain undefeated at 3-0, while Team Light Blue earned its second victory of the week after taking down Team Red 5-3 in a back-and-forth contest.
GREY 6, NAVY 4
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first four innings went scoreless as Chase Fuller and Camden Boehm tossed two blank frames apiece for Team Navy, and Isaac Vidal and Casen Reedy did the same for Team Grey.
- In the top of the fifth, Navy broke the deadlock and plated four runs. Brogan Witcher took first after being hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a groundout. He scored Navy’s first run of the inning by crossing home plate on a Harry Jones Jr. single.
- The next batter up, Devlan Daniel, took his base after being hit by a pitch, putting Jones Jr. in scoring position for a Connor Balazic line drive single, which plated Jones Jr. for the second run of the day and allowed Daniel to advance to third.
- Grady Grant then executed a squeeze bunt to score Daniel, giving Navy a 3-0 lead and advancing Balazic to second.
- With Balazic in scoring position, Caden Borcherding knocked a single to center field to bring him home for the fourth run of the inning.
- In the sixth, Team Grey plated its first run of the contest on a Dylan Seward solo homer to left field.
- After holding Team Navy scoreless in the top of the seventh, Team Grey scored two more runs in the bottom frame to cut the lead to 4-3. Leadoff batter Tyson Moore showed strong plate discipline, reaching base via a walk. He then turned on the jets to score Team Grey's second run of the day on a Malachi Butler double.
- After stealing third during Brandon Bush’s at bat, Butler scored Team Grey’s other run of the inning on a wild pitch.
- Heading into the bottom of the eighth down by one run, Team Grey’s bats came alive as it plated three more unanswered runs to take its first lead of the day. Seward led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a balk during Lubin Rincon’s at bat. Rincon later knocked a single to left field, advancing Seward to third.
- With two aboard, Caden Dawson launched a double to score Seward for the tying run and put two runners in scoring position for Moore. Moore then singled up the middle to drive in the go-ahead run plus an insurance run, giving Team Grey a 6-4 lead that it held on to for the remainder of the game.
NOTABLE STATS
Seward and Swanson led all hitters with two each.
Seward also led in runs scored with two.
Camden Boehm recorded four strikeouts in two innings of work, the most of all pitchers, while Vidal and Cooper Jones fanned three batters each in their respective outings.
Drake Hawpe, Lucas Waite, Justin Kirchner, and Jake Ivey all turned in scoreless innings in the contest.
LIGHT BLUE 5, RED 3
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first inning, Team Light Blue got on the board in the second with two runs. Drake McClurg drew a walk for Team Light Blue. He then stole second and advanced to third on a Joe Mendazona Jr. single. With runners on the corners, Kyler Meccage smashed a line drive to center field, scoring McClurg.
The next batter up, Blake Ragsdale, grounded into a fielder's choice to advance the runners before a defensive miscue allowed Mendazona Jr. to plate Team Light Blue’s second run of the inning.
To lead off the bottom of the second for Team Red, Brady Cunningham doubled to center before scoring on a Sebastian Wilson single to cut the lead in half.
J. Beckett Berg tossed a 1-2-3 top of the third for Team Red to keep the score 2-1 heading into the bottom frame.
Christopher Wall lasered a triple to center field before Taylor Dodd knocked a sacrifice fly to bring the tying run home for Team Red in the bottom of the third.
After back-to-back scoreless innings, Dodd led off the sixth inning with a line drive single up the middle before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Cullen Scott then singled to right, and with runners on the corners, Wilson brought Dodd home for Team Red’s first lead of the day.
The 3-2 lead for Team Red didn’t last long, as a McClurg walk followed by base knocks from Mendazona Jr. and Meccage plated the tying run for Team Light Blue in the top of the seventh.
A defensive miscue in the top of the eighth landed Juan Diaz on first base before a Graham Houston double drove him home to reclaim Team Light Blue’s lead at 4-3.
Jordan Kurz followed with a single to score Houston and extend the lead to 5-3, which Team Light Blue held onto for the final inning.
NOTABLE STATS
Wilson was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Houston also recorded three hits with an RBI and a run scored.
Team Light Blue held Team Red scoreless for the final three innings as Grant Sperandio, Axton Brewer, and Ryan Donahoe tossed one inning each, and combined for four strikeouts.
Mendazona Jr, Meccage, Dodd and Scott all recorded a multi-hit game.
ON DECK
Game action will continue on Monday, July 20, as Team Light Blue faces Team Grey at 10 a.m. ET and Team Red faces Team Navy at 1 p.m. ET at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
