Stealth gain National Exposure

1/18/2012
Kurt Vesecky




The Stealth were coming off a poor showing in the USSSA Winter Nationals a few short weeks ago in Phoenix and so they were hesitant in making their annual trip to California to participate in the USSSA MLK Classic. After long discussions amongst the coaches though they decided that it was an annual tradition and maybe a trip would give this team the jump start they needed. How right they were!

The tournament was held in Riverside, CA and it featured 20 of the top teams in the nation including the San Diego Show, Team Phenom, SoCal Outlaws Blue and Black, Cal Lumberjacks, and the Las Vegas Hawks amongst others. The format was four pool play games with just eight teams making it into the single elimination playoff.

When the schedule came out the Stealth knew they were in for a battle, their first game would be against their opponent in the finals of last years Triple Crown World Series in Steamboat Springs the Cal Lumberjacks. In Steamboat the Jacks beat the Stealth 7-6 to secure the title. In game two of pool play the Stealth would face the Easton Venom. Games three and four featured matchups with two teams from Northern California in NorCal Valley and Team Combat.

In game one, the Stealth would send Mason Millett to the hill, Mason was completely dominant as he threw four scoreless innings allowing just two hits while striking out 7! Kevin Ortega came in for mop up duty as he threw two scoreless as the Stealth rolled to a game one win by a final score of 6-0! Offensively the Stealth combined for eight hits as they were led by Nolan Gorman (3) and Daniel Carrizosa (2).

In game two, the Stealth would face the Easton Venom. After winning the toss the Stealth took the field and proved to be extremely flat as they committed three errors in the inning that led to the Venoms seven runs. Trailing 7-0 after one is no easy task to overcome but the Stealth did just that as they settled in and did not allow another run while chipping away with one in the second and then six of their own in the third. The game was shortened on time and after four innings of play the Stealth and Venom sat tied at 7-7. With a 1-0-1 record heading into Sunday the Stealth knew hey had to win both in order to get into bracket play.

Sunday would begin with a game against the NorCal Valley. In this one the Stealth jumped out early with four in the top of the first. NorCal struck right back though with two of their own in the first and one in the third and after three innings of play the Stealth lead was just 4-3. After the Stealth scored one in the fourth and one in the fifth they held a 6-3 advantage. NorCal would not go away easy as they scored two in the fifth and one in the sixth to tie the game 6-6. With their record now at 1-0-2 the Stealth were in a MUST WIN situation in game four of pool play.

The must win game for the Stealth was against Team Combat. Team Combat stood tall with a record of 2-1 coming into this one. The Winner would move on and the loser would go home. This one was all Stealth in the end as they scored three in the first, two in the second, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth as they sealed their fate with an 8-0 win. Adrian Salazar was completely dominant on the hills as he allowed just five hits in the win. Offensively the Stealth pounded twelve hits as they were led by Jonathan Ornelas (3) and Matthew Liberatore (2).

The Stealth now stood at 2-0-2 which really meant 3-1. This would assure them a spot in the final eight, the only question that would be left unanswered is where in the top eight they would end up. When all games were finished late Sunday night the top eight in order of seed looked like this. Team Phenom, San Diego Show, Renegades, Stealth, Easton Venom, San Diego Show Black, Cal Lumberjacks, and Las Vegas Hawks.

In the Quarterfinals the Stealth wold face pool play opponent the Easton Venom. The Stealth sent Matthew Liberatore to the hill in this one, Matthew has not pitched since October as he was rehabbing a sore elbow. After getting clearance from the Dr on Friday, he was anxious to get back at it. After holding the Venom scoreless through three and holding a 3-0 lead, the Venom exploded once again as they got two out clutch hits and took a 6-3 lead. In the bottom of the inning the Stealth came right back with two of their own to cut the deficit to 6-5. After holding the Venom scoreless in the fifth, the Stealth were down to their last at bat as time was running out. The inning started with Josh Sandoval reaching on an error and then was followed by a single up the middle by Kevin Ortega. With runners on first and second the Stealth were poised to tie and ultimately win the game. The Venom had other ideas as they retired he next two Stealth hitters via strikeout but did allow the runners to advance to second and third. With a base open and two outs the Venom decided to walk Jacob Vesecky intentionally and face Adrian Salazar. This proved to be a huge mistake as Adrian Hit the first pitch he saw deep over the left fielders head to clear the bases and win the game for the Stealth in walk off fashion by a score of 8-6!

In the other quarter final games it was Team Phenom beating the Hawks 10-3, the San Diego Show beating the Jacks 7-2, and the Renegades edging the Show Black 6-5. This created semi final match ups between Team Phenom and the Stealth while the other side was the Renegades and the Show.

In the first semi it was the San Diego Show getting down early 4-0 but battling back to secure the 10-7 win and a trip to the finals.

In the second semi, it was the Stealth facing the mighty Team Phenom. Just a few short weeks ago Team Phenom came to Arizona for the USSSA Winter Nationals event and even though they fell short in losing to Grant baseball Academy in the final, they impressed everyone as they outscored their first seven opponents by a combined score of 107-5! After the Phenom jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, the Stealth struck for two of their own to tie the game at2-2. After a leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly in he bottom of the third the Phenom again regained the lead 3-2 heading into the fourth. The Stealth would not go away however and struck for two more in the top of the inning and suddenly held a 4-3 advantage. Mason Millett pitched the first two innings for the Stealth but it was Dawson McCarville who would throw the last four innings. Dawson allowed just four hits over that span but just one run. In the sixth while holding a 4-3 edge, the Phenom would not go away easily. A leadoff single followed by a two base error put the tying run at third base with nobody out. The next hitter stepped up and on the first pitch hit a screaming ground ball up the middle that looked like it was headed to center field, SS Nolan Gorman however had other ideas as he stabbed the ball and threw a strike to catcher Jacob Vesecky who blocked the dish and scored the out at the plate. A harmless pop out to second was followed by a ground ball to third and the Stealth had pulled off the win and were headed to the Championship.

In the Championship, the Stealth were the home team via coin flip. After a misplayed fly ball the Show would plate two in the first to get off to the early lead. After failing to score in the bottom of the inning the Show again struck for two more in the second to take a commanding 4-0 lead. The Stealth would not go away easy as they scored twice in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 4-2. After putting another on the board in the third the Show led 5-2. After a scoreless fourth, fifth, and sixth inning the San Diego Show had secured the title with the 5-2 win.


All in all it was a tremendous weekend for the Stealth. Wins over top ranked teams and a second place finish in this stacked event were both huge accomplishments. The win over the Phenom has brought on national attention as Coach Kurt has received calls, emails, and text messages from teams all across the country. Offensively, the Stealth were led all weekend by Matthew Liberatore who it a whopping .625! Daniel Carrizosa came in at .556 while Nolan Gorman hit .421. Josh Sandoval was huge all weekend with big hits when it mattered including a 2-3 outing against the Phenom while Jason Nelson scored five runs. On the hill, Kevin Ortega, Mason Millett, Adrian Salazar, Matthew Liberatore, Daniel Carrizosa and Dawson Mccarville were the catalysts!

The Stealth are right back at it this weekend as they will be playing in the USSSA Winter Classic. Stay tuned!