Stealth on a roll!

The Stealth took the field again this past weekend to compete in the USSSA Ice Breaker Classic, a tournament they won in the 2011 season.  Six teams would vie for title of 12U Majors champion this year.  Only one could emerge victorious in their quest.

The Stealth’s first opponent would be their nemesis and worthy foe, the Arizona Aces.  The Stealth sent their big lefty Matthew Liberatore to the mound to square off against Martin Maytorena for the Aces.  While Liberatore delivered a solid performance, allowing just two runs on four hits over five innings, the Stealth could not plate a run against Maytorena in spite of producing seven hits, leaving 10 runners stranded on the base paths in the 2-0 loss.  This outcome was to have a significant impact on the approach for the Stealth in their next game against the AZ Legacy Baseball Club.

Earlier in the day the Legacy had defeated the Aces by a score of 3-2.  This meant that if the Stealth could win their next game, all three teams in their pool would finish in a three-way tie with records of 1-1.  Earning the #1 seed would mean a bye in the first round of bracket play and would also avoid a long and grueling Sunday schedule but in order to achieve it the Stealth would not only have to win the game, but also allow their opponent no more than just one run.  This, then, was their goal as they stepped on to the field of play.

Coach Kurt Vesecky elected to be the visiting team, providing the Stealth a first opportunity to get on the board…and that they did.  The Stealth needed only three hits in the first inning to score six runs as the Legacy pitcher walked two and hit two batters to give the Stealth four free base runners.  Pitcher Danny Carrizosa struck out the side in 1-2-3 order for the Stealth and they were quickly back at bat in the top of the second.  The Legacy made a pitching change to start the inning in hope of a better outcome but it was not to be as the Stealth mounted a massive offense surge, attempting to end the game early and take away as much opportunity as possible for the Legacy to score those crucial two runs.  Capitalizing on six walks and a hit batter, the Stealth needed only six hits to score 15 and bring the total to 21.  In a last gasp the Legacy reached base only twice in what would be the final inning, once on an error and the other by their only base hit, but the first was put out on a fielder’s choice and the other was picked off by a quick throw from pitcher Carrizosa to Josh Sandoval at first.  The final out was made on a ground ball that was gobbled up by Mason Millett at short and the Stealth had secured the #1 seed in a two inning 21-0 run rule.

Sunday was a typically mild Arizona winter day with vast blue skies full of sunshine, the kind of weather that allows for year-round baseball in the southwest.  With a bye in the first round the Stealth went directly to the semifinal round, facing off against the Arizona Grinders Gray who had eliminated the Ball Club earlier in the day.  The Stealth got out in front early, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first on hits by Jonathan Ornelas, Nolan Gorman, Sandoval and Liberatore.  The Grinders managed just three runs on four hits against starter Adrian Salazar while the Stealth picked up five more runs along the way to bring the score to 11-3.  Dawson McCarville came in to slam the door on the Grinders' last chance in the fifth, allowing no hits and needing only seven pitches in the final frame.

The stage was now set for the championship game against the B pool’s #1 seed, the Tempe Renegades.  The Renegades had managed to knock the Aces out of the running in a close semifinal game just a few hours before and now took the field with hope in their hearts and determination on their faces for what would prove to be a contest right down to the wire.  The Stealth struck first in the bottom of the opening inning when Ornelas scored on an RBI single from the red hot stick of Sandoval but the offense stalled there and just one run was scored with two left on.  No stranger to a championship game, right-handed flamethrower Mason Millett was on the hill for the Stealth and in his usual fashion, he delivered.  Millett shot bullets at the Renegades and when the smoke had cleared in the middle of the fifth his opponent had yet to earn a hit.  Millett, though, needed only five strikeouts to retire the first 15 batters as his rock-solid Stealth defense was infallible behind him.  In spite of his performance however, the Stealth clung to just a two-run lead, having added only one more in the bottom of the third when Ornelas hit a ground rule double, stole third and scored on a wild pitch.  In the bottom of the fifth that was to change.  Kevin Ortega started the inning with a leadoff single followed by a textbook bunt down the third base line by McCarville for a hit.  The floodgates now opened as Ornelas singled them both in, followed by RBI hits by Carrizosa and catcher Jacob Vesecky.  When the fifth had ended the Stealth owned a six run lead and needed only three outs to finish off their adversary.  After a fielder’s choice for the first out left a runner at first, a line drive to second baseman Ornelas and a quick throw to Liberatore at first ended the game on a double play and the Stealth were once again champions of the USSSA Ice Breaker Classic for the second year in a row!

On the weekend the Stealth finished with a 3-1 record and outscored opponents 38-5, batting .443 as a team and amazingly striking out just five times in 110 plate appearances.  Said Coach Brian Gorman of the performance, “After the first game hiccup we really had it clicking this weekend.  Our defense was outstanding all the way through.  I’m really proud of the boys.”

On a footnote, sorely missed in this event was Stealth wounded warrior Jason Nelson who was out of the lineup due to illness.  The Stealth look forward to his return for the USSSA President’s Day NIT this coming weekend on February 18-20, 2012 at Victory Lane.