CARY, N.C. – The 15U 2021 NTIS Champions Cup Championship Game is set.
The Midwest Stripes and Southeast Stripes will play in Sunday morning's title game after both teams earned semifinal wins on Saturday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
Nick Brandt cranked a walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth inning, helping the Midwest Stripes knock off the Northwest Stars, 4-3, and advance to the final.
The Stripes clinched their spot after going undefeated in pool play, knocking off the Northwest Stripes and the Southwest Stars.
They took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against the Northwest. Antonio Fawcett led off the second inning with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0, before the Stripes added another to make it a 3-0 advantage.
The Stars battled back in the top of the fourth. Myles Bland and Aidan Hall led off the inning with hits before Carlos Hernandez drove them both in to trim the deficit to one run. The Stripes nearly added on to the lead in the bottom of the inning, putting two runners on base, but were unable to score and widen the margin.
The Stars put runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the fifth. Charles Meister struck out the batter to seemingly escape the jam, but a wild pitch plated the tying run to eventually send the game to extras.
In the bottom of the eighth, Brandt turned on a fastball and sent it over the wall in left field for a walk-off home run to secure his team’s spot in the 15U title game.
“I was hoping to just put the ball in play and get on base,” Brandt said. “He threw me a first pitch slider, so I thought he was going to throw me a fastball next, and he did. I turned on it and it went out.”
Midwest Regional Director and Stripes head coach Rich Janor was proud of his team’s effort and is excited to play for a championship.
“I thought our guys showed a lot of resilience,” Janor said. “We showed a lot of character, and really came through when it counted in the end.”
The Midwest Stripes will take on the Southeast Stripes, who topped the Midwest Stars, 10-4, on Saturday night at Coleman Field to remain undefeated in the event.
The Stars took an early lead, plating the game's first run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first. They nearly added more to the lead, but a strikeout with runners on the corners ended the threat.
The Stripes jumped in front in the following half inning. After tying the game on an error, a two-run single by Cooper Moss gave the Stripes a 3-1 lead. They tacked on another run in the top of the third, increasing the lead the three.
The Stars cut into the deficit in the bottom of the third on an RBI-groundout by Caden Stern, but the Stripes got the run back in the fourth to make the score 5-2.
The teams continued to trade runs in the middle innings. The Stars cut it to 5-3 before the Stripes made it 6-3 in the following frame. In the bottom of the fifth, Griffin Kelly's RBI-single put the Stars down, 6-4.
The Stripes pulled away in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs to take a 10-4 lead into the bottom of the inning. They secured the win with a scoreless seventh to advance to the title game.
"Every single one of these young men want it," said Stripes coach JP Lisk. "That's what I like about this group. Anything in your life, you've got to want it."
The Midwest Stripes will battle the Southeast Stripes on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. ET from Coleman Field. Watch all of the action on PlaySight and follow along on Twitter at @USABEvents.
