PHOENIX — A crazy extra-inning affair highlighted a strong day of 17U bracket play action from the National Team Championships Arizona.

The field was narrowed down to just eight teams remaining in the winner’s bracket, as we break down some of the action from Friday morning.

Round of 32 — Team California Black 9, GBG Navy 2023 0

With a spot in the round of 16 on the line, Tyler Albanese delivered for the No. 15 seed going all five innings without allowing a run while striking out seven. The right-hander scattered three hits and surrendered just one walk in his first outing of the tournament.

Team California’s offense continued its momentum after scoring 28 runs through the first four games. Lauren Binney broke open the scoring with an RBI double in the second, which Matthew Bernath immediately followed up with an RBI single to grab a 2-0 lead.

After Albanese notched strikeouts five and six, Cole Kenrich ripped a bases-clearing double to left field to break the game open. It was one of the team’s five doubles on the afternoon, the most in any game they’ve played thus far.

Chaz Mcnelis and Trevor LaPres polished off the run-rule victory with a pair of RBI singles to propel Team California Black to a 9-0 win. It marked the fourth time in five games that the squad has held its opponents to under two runs in a game.

Afterwards, Team California Black fell in the round of 16 and will await its consolation opponent for Saturday.

Round of 16 — 3D Gold 7, Long Beach Bears 4

It took a while to determine a winner, but 3D Gold advanced to the quarterfinals after an extra-inning victory over the Long Beach Bears

The No. 13 seed, who knocked off the No. 20 seed Whitecaps Baseball Academy earlier in the day, rallied for five runs in the eighth and final inning. With runners on first and second base, due to the international tiebreaker rule, a pair of singles and a wild pitch plated the winning runs to push 3D Gold onward.

Both starting pitchers were phenomenal in a game that began as a pitcher’s duel through the originally scheduled seven innings. Combined the team’s had 21 strikeouts and didn’t allow many free passes to hurt their team.

Matthew Thomas got the party started with an RBI single for the Long Beach Bears to put his team up 1-0 early. A wild pitch then plated two for 3D Gold to push them into the lead with a 2-1 advantage in the second frame. Thomas then tripled, driving in the team’s second run to tie the ballgame at two apiece.

Neither team scored until the eighth, where 3D Gold exploded for five runs in the top half after notching four hits. The Long Beach Bears couldn’t match that, bringing across two runs but ending the game on a groundout to third. It marked their first loss of the tournament and the end of their journey in the winner’s bracket.

3D Gold will meet Diablo Valley Baseball Club on Saturday at 7 a.m. in the quarterfinals.

Quotes

• "Our guys competed well and that started with Tyler coming out and throwing strikes. We saw the ball well and Lauren Binney gave us a big knock with two outs that pushed our team forward and gave us confidence." — Team California Black head coach Mitch Spiers said.

Social

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