The 15U National Team Championships Arizona are officially in the books as Zona Boys 2028 defeated Stacked National 4-3 in an extra-inning instant classic to write a new chapter of history at Champs Arizona.
In an all-out war that saw late-game lead changes and comebacks, the story of the game was without question Troy Tewers of the Zona Boys.
Tewers got the nod as his team's starting pitcher, and turned in a stellar first five innings of work before running into some trouble late in his outing.
With Zona leading 2-0 in the top of the sixth, Stacked began to punch back with two outs. A passed ball wound up plating Deegan Martinez, to get Stacked on the board and apply some pressure.
The very next batter, Tewers pitch resulted in a sky-high popup that ended up falling right in between him and catcher Jameson Mohler to make it 2-2 in what would have been an inning ending out.
Instead of Zona escaping a jam and preserving a one-run lead, the door was opened for Stacked and they took full advantage.
Jacob Amado was next to the dish as he cracked a base hit into left field to make it 3-2 and flip all the momentum in the blink of an eye in favor of Stacked.
Both sides went down in 1-2-3 order in the bottom of the sixth and the top half of the seventh. It was time for Zona to stand tall with its back against the wall.
McGuire Ryan led off the inning with a single, and later made way to second base via a passed ball. Ryan then tagged and took third after a flyout, placing him on third base with two outs.
Zona was down to its very last life, until PJ Brush put a ball in play down the third base line and wound up safe at first to score Ryan and extend an absolute thriller of a game.
Extra innings inherits an international tiebreaker that automatically sends runners to first and second base with no outs. Zona pitcher Nolan Leitner was absolutely heroic out of the bullpen, but there was no greater time for Leitner to be an escape artist than the top of the eighth.
Leitner issued back-to-back flyouts to begin the inning, and then was faced with a great challenge in facing Stacked’s Sebastian Barba.
With two away, Barba absolutely scorched a line drive that seemed destined to scoot down the right-field line for extra bases. After the crack of the bat, it was the outstretched reach of 6-foot-3 first baseman Cooper LeRoy that went full-extension to make the snag and escape the inning unscathed.
“That whole inning was crazy. He smoked it to me, I caught it and I was just so hyped,” LeRoy said.
After the incredible escape act from Leitner, LeRoy and the rest of the Zona defense, the team found itself in prime position to leave Stacked on the field — and the stadium — with gold.
In the bottom of the eighth, both Zona runners advanced to second and third after an errant pickoff attempt by Stacked. With one out, CJ Estrella was put on first base by an intentional walk, setting the table for none other than Tewers to complete the ultimate redemption arc.
After two-straight foul balls, Tewers pieced up a fastball that was deposited right over the second baseman's head to drop in for a hit and send Zona into pure pandemonium in addition to gold medal glory.
“It felt amazing. All the Arizona guys came out here and competed. We just play as a team and we always wanted it this way,” Tewers said.
Pulling all the strings together for Zona would be Troy’s father, and Zona Boys Head Coach Mickey Tewers. Him and Associate Head Coach Rico Martinez knew the right moment came for the right guy, as Troy wrote the ultimate story of resilience.
“I couldn't have chosen a better kid (Troy) to do it after what had happened earlier. I’m glad he was up to bat to make it happen and get the job done,” Martinez said.
“I think I'm about ready to have a heart attack, but he doesn't really show too much emotion ever. I'm so happy for him to deliver on this stage and to get that hit,” his father and coach Mickey said.
The duo of coaches had seen the vision for years in the making, but the victory message remained simple.
“These guys are a bunch of grinders that just want to show people from all over that Arizona can play baseball with anybody,” Martinez said.
“Don’t count the Zona Boys out,” remained a rallying cry from up-and-down the program in various ways. A once slept-on underdog is now cemented as an awoken giant that is just getting started.
“I love playing with everyone on this team. It's just a very rewarding feeling, because we work really hard to get here. When we came in here, no one really knew about us besides us. We had to prove ourselves out here and we did just that. It feels so good to have that gold medal,” LeRoy said.
Prior to the thrilling gold medal game, GBG National took home bronze with a 11-3 win over Pono Baseball to cap off a third-place finish after an impressive week.
The Zona Boys gold medal became the first medal at Champs Arizona in the program's history across the board in any division.
The Zona Boys are now the first ever Arizona based team to win gold in the 15U division, and the second Arizona based team (Trosky / Milwaukee Brewers Scout Team, 2024 17U) to win a gold medal dating back to 2012.
