PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla.- Team Elite pitching shutdown the Knights offense Wednesday in the gold medal game at Roger Dean Stadium for the 15U National Team Championships in Florida. Carter Holton allowed one run on four hits with 13 strikeouts.
The 4-1 victory was part of a seven-game win streak at the National Team Championships for Elite, and they become the 22nd gold medal winners at this event.
The Louisiana Knights struck first thanks to a two-out double by Brant Smith in the top of the first inning that scored Hunter Elliot who reached on a single. An inning later, Team Elite brought in two to take a 2-1 lead. With one out and the bases loaded, a single by Jacob Orr scored one while a walk brought home the second run of the inning.
After two scoreless innings, Elite added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth making it 4-1. Tommy Hawke led it off, reaching on a one-out single, and another single from Mason Albright followed by a Josh Hartle sacrifice fly, brought in the fourth and final run of the game.
Holton sat down two batters and forced a pop up in the seventh inning to secure the gold medal win for Team Elite American.
Elite's offense was highlighted by Jacob Orr who went 2-for-3 with one run batted in. For the Knights, Brant Smith went 1-for-3 with one run batted in.
On the bump, Carter Holton had an impressive day hurling all seven-innings allowing one walk and a run, with a tournament record, 13 strikeouts.
"The boys put it all together today," said head coach Jon Link. "The offense did what they needed to do to get them a lead and then those two went and shut it down. I couldn't be more proud of our team."
This concludes our 15U National Team Championships tournament in Florida. Thank you to all that supported and hope you enjoyed your time here.