PHOENIX — Kaden Hodson delivered four hits, including a grand slam, and collected six RBI to earn Player of the Day honors on Day 2 of bracket play at the 2021 16U National Team Championships Arizona.
Hodson's MBA Navy 2023 squad advanced to Monday morning's gold-medal game with a pair of wins against Alpha Power 2023 and previously undefeated Canes Arizona. The 6-foot-2 outfielder and shortstop sparked his team's offense in both games Sunday.
Hodson singled and scored an important insurance run in MBA Navy's quarterfinal win before he showed out in the semifinal matchup with three hits — a single, double and grand slam — and six RBI to power MBA Navy to a 19-8 victory. His slam extended MBA Navy's lead to 14-7 in the sixth inning and he also closed out the game by pitching 2.1 innings of one-run ball with a pair of strikeouts.
Hodson owns a .400/.478/.600 slash line through eight games at the National Team Championships Arizona for MBA Navy 2023 (8-0), who will face top-seeded TB SoCal Easton (8-0) in the championship game at 9 a.m. Monday at Peoria Sports Complex.
Nehuel Garcia spun six hitless frames and earned the win in the final game for Titans Baseball Club at the 2021 16U National Team Championships.
Garcia, a right-hander, allowed just one unearned run via an error and struck out six batters to guide Titans Baseball Club (2-4) to its second win at the tournament.
Garcia commanded his pitches effectively to the tune of a 67 percent strike rate. It marked his second appearance on the mound at the National Team Championships after he tossed three scoreless innings in a 9-6 win against GamePrep Baseball Academy 2023 on Tuesday.
Garcia's performance helped Titans Baseball Club seal a 9-1 win against MVP Hustle to conclude its tournament schedule.
Honorable mentions (Player of the Day):
Nate Smith (Team Trinity) — 3-for-3, 2B, 3 RBI, R
Cooper Rasmussen (MBC) — 3-for-4, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R
Joshua Bravo (Titans Baseball Club) — 2-for-3, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, R, SB
Michael Raymond (West Coast Blackdogs) — 3-for-3, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R
Honorable mentions (Pitcher of the Day):
Cristian Brewster (Legacy Baseball Group Black) — W, 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 9 K, 0 BB
Carson Timothy (Alpha Prime 2023) — 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K, 0 BB (quarterfinals)
Luke Barragan (West Elite) — W, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 K, 1 BB
Ryan Jemkins (Rios Baseball 2023) — W, 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 K, 4 BB
Stay tuned to @USABChamps_AZ on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the National Team Championships Arizona.
