May 30, 2011
The Real Deal 14U team traveled to Peoria, Arizona to compete in the USSSA Memorial Day Classic, which was held at the Padres/Mariners spring training complex. The 14U team lived up to their name and went 5-0 en route to winning the Majors Championship. In a tournament that featured 16 teams from California to Texas, Real Deal proved that they can compete with anyone. From start to finish, Real Deal had it all, excellent pitching, great defense and timely hitting. Real Deal put up a total of 30 runs and allowed only 6 runs in the five games. Real Deal won Pool C, going 3-0, winning 11-0, 6-4 and 9-1. During the pool play RDB had outstanding pitching performances from Jacob Manzur, John Hernandez, Austin Reynolds, Christian Cosby and James Tan.
In the Majors playoffs, Real Deal was tested and pulled through with a 2-1 victory over the Tucson Ballerz (AZ). Superb pitching, great defense and clutch two-out hits proved to be the difference. The story was virtually repeated in the Majors Championship, as Real Deal defeated the El Paso Kings (TX) 2-0. The pitching for this team is what carried the group to the tourney Championship. In the championship Alex Wakely had a one out, two rbi single to right which proved to be enough for the win. Kenneth Pettibone and Jared Cardenas led the pitching staff with the shutout. This was a tournament in which every player on the entire team played a big part in the five games over the three day weekend. Congratulations to the 14U team and their coaches on a great weekend of baseball.
