TEMPE, Ariz. – After weather cancelled the first attempt, the 15U National Team played its first game on Monday against local AZ Sandlot and came away with a 7-5 victory.

A combination of smart at-bats, savvy base running and unselfish baseball secured the victory for Team USA. The victors recorded four stolen bases, drew five walks, and had two bunt singles on the night to go along with a sacrifice bunt and fly out. On defense, the pitching staff tallied six strikeouts with only three walks in 7.0 innings of work.

Grady Emerson singled over a charging first baseman to tie things up in the final frame and James Tronstein followed it up with a bunt single of his own and Sebastian Norman singled to give USA the 6-5 lead. Alex Harrington sent a sacrifice fly to center field to score what would be the final run of the game. Emerson ended the game going 2-3 with two RBI’s and a run scored.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• AZ Sandlot came out strong in the bottom of the first, loading the bases and capitalizing with a sacrifice fly. Chandler Hart settled in and recorded three straight outs to limit the damage to one run.
• In the top of the third, Brady Murrietta singled and advanced by a passed ball putting him in position to score when Ryan Mitchell reached on an error to tie the game 1-1.
• One batter later with Joshua Woodworth on base via walk, Coy James singled through the right side to give USA a 2-1 lead.
• In the top of the fourth, Andrew Costello singles and uses smart base running to help John Short reach on a fielder’s choice setting up an RBI-single by Grady Emerson to extend the lead to 3-1.
• Next batter, James Tronstein laid down a sacrifice bunt, scoring John Short making the score 4-1, USA.
• AZ Sandlot responded with a four-run bottom half of the inning to take back the lead, 5-4.
• In the final frame, Ethan Holliday kicked things off with a triple to the center field wall and after a John Short full-count walk, Grady Emerson used a bunt-single to tie things up at 5-5.
• Sebastian Norman broke the tie with an RBI-single a couple of batters later to give USA the 6-5 lead.
• Alex Harrington capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to center to give USA a 7-5 lead and Zane Burns closed the door in the ninth to secure the victory.

OF NOTE

• Grady Emerson led Team USA with two hits and two RBI’s.
• Andrew Costello led the team with two stolen bases and went 1-for-3 with a run scored.
• Ethan Holliday recorded USA’s only extra-base hit with a lead-off triple in the seventh inning
• Five different USA players recorded an RBI
• USA used seven pitchers in the game and recorded a total of nine strikeouts with only three walks
• Brady Ebel, Dane Perry, and Sebastian Norman each recorded two strikeouts in their inning of work.
• Zane Burns used two fly-outs and a strikeout to end the game

ON DECK
The 2022 15U National Team Training Camp will wrap up tomorrow with a morning workout before the team heads to Hermosillo, Mexico for the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup from August 26 – September 4.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Stay tuned to @USABaseball15U on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the 2022 15U National Team Training Camp.