Were Back! Stealth win Toys For Tots

The Stealth were back in action this past weekend while looking for their first win of the 2011 season. Ten teams took to the field with the same goal in mind.  In the 12U division parity has reigned supreme as it seems everyone can be beaten on any given day.  This was proven time and time again on this weekend as upset after upset occurred. 

Saturday began for the Stealth bright and early with a game against the Grinders Blue.  The Stealth sent Jonathan Ornelas to the hill.  Rocket as they call him had a shiner on his right eye the size of a baseball from a ground ball to the face at Wednesdays practice. After he allowed two in the first he settled down to allow just one more in the three inning run rule affair as the Stealth won going away 15-3.  After scoring four in the first, the Stealth tacked on seven in the 2^nd and then four in the third to seal the win.  Offensively the Stealth got contributions up and down the lineup but Josh Sandoval and newcomer Danny Carrizosa led the charge with three RBI’s a piece.  Jason Nelson and Mason Millett each kicked in two of their own in the one sided affair. 

In game two the Stealth would face the Big Chuy Rockets.  The Rockets are a very familiar foe and well respected.  The Stealth have been battling this team since they were ten and they know each other well.  The Stealth have for the most part owned the rivalry but this day would be different.  The Rockets came out with all cylinders clicking as they plated four in the first, two in the second, and one in the third and after three innings led by a score of 7-2.  The Stealth would mount a comeback but it was too little too late as they left the tying run stranded at third as time ran out and lost a tough one 7-6.

The Stealth finished the day with a 1-1 mark and now waited on pins and needles for the rest of the games to play out.  Only six out of ten teams would make the Majors playoffs, which is obviously where the Stealth wanted to be.  As Saturday pool play games played out, surprise after surprise came.  First the Scottsdale Dirtbags lost a 16-6 game to the unknown Tucson Dbacks.  The AZ Extreme then upended the Warriors Baseball Academy 7-6, while the BBC Reds surprised everyone with a win over the Desert Cats Blue 11-2. In the second round of games it was the Desert Cats bouncing back to beat the Extreme 11-6, the Dbacks secured the #2 seed by downing the Reds 15-6, and the Dirtbags took care of the Warriors 16-6.  When Pool play was all over, it was the AZ Aces securing the #1 seed, the Dbacks the two, Stealth the three, Reds the four, Extreme the five (by virtue of a coin flip) and the six seed went to the Cats while the Dirtbags, Warriors and Rockets all failed to make the cut. 

With the brackets set, the Stealth knew what was in front of them on Sunday, three games to win it all.  This was a tall order to play 18 innings of baseball but the Stealth were up and ready for the challenge.  Having seen the parity this season the Stealth took no chances in round one against the Desert Cats as they sent their ace Mason Millett to the hill. Mason was completely dominant in his four innings of work as he allowed just two hits and one run while striking out nine!  The Stealth bats took over from there as they scored three in the first, two in the second, one in the third, and five in the fourth to seal the victory 11-1!  The Stealth were led offensively once again by Josh Sandoval who knocked in three.  Matthew Liberatore and Mason Millett also kicked in two a piece while Nolan Gorman, Jason Nelson, Dawson McCarville, and Danny Carrizosa each drove in one for the Stealth. 

In the Semifinal the Stealth would be matched up against the surprise team of the tournament the Tucson Dbacks.  The Dbacks rolled into this event as a virtual unknown but quickly gained respect as they upended the Dirtbags and Reds by large margins while securing the #2 seed. The Stealth were the visitors and left nothing to chance as they jumped on the Dbacks with five the first and then six in the second to get off to an 11-0 lead early.  Danny Carrizosa was summoned to the hill where he was nothing short of brilliant as he threw two scoreless innings before being lifted.  Jason Nelson and Kevin Ortega finished off the Dbacks in the lopsided affair 11-2.  The Stealth again got contributions from Josh Sandoval, Nolan Gorman and Kevin Ortega as they were headed to their second final of the short season while looking for their first title!

The opponent in the final would be a familiar one.  The Az Aces had secured the #1 seed on Saturday as they first beat up on the Grinders by a score of 13-0 and then they took care of the Big Chuy Rockets by a score of 11-3.  The Stealth beat the Aces two weeks ago 10-5 and also 5-0 in last year’s State Championship so the two teams know each other well.  After the Stealth went scoreless in the first it was the Aces that threatened first.  With runners on first and second Noel Romero singled to left, as Ulices Benitez was waived around to score Matthew Liberatore field the ball and threw a perfect strike to Jacob Vesecky at home plate to thwart the rally. (Click here to see the video).  The Stealth once again went scoreless in the second but the Aces got a key two out single by Obed Cervantes to plate two and give the Aces a 2-0 lead heading to the third.  In the top of the third the Stealth would plate just one as a leadoff double by Adrian Salazar was almost for not when a line drive and a strikeout looked like he may be left stranded.  Jonathan Ornelas had other ideas though as he came up with a huge two out single to drive in Adrian and cut the deficit to 2-1.  After a scoreless fourth for both teams the drama would be begin.  The fifth started with a harmless ground ball to third that went through the wickets and suddenly the Stealth had life.  Matthew Liberatore then laid down a perfect bunt down the third base that was bobbled and suddenly the Stealth had two on with nobody out.  Jacob Vesecky then executed a perfect sacrifice bunt and the Stealth had the tying run at third with the lead run at second.  Jonathan Ornelas was intentionally walked to bring up Mason Millett.  Mason hit a sharp ground ball to short but on a bang bang play he beat out the possible inning ending double play and tied the game at 2-2.  The Stealth would score the lead run when a balk was called and the Stealth had their first lead at 3-2 headed to the bottom of the fifth.  Danny Carrizosa who entered the game on the hill in the third inning had retired six in a row and didn’t stop there as he retired all three that he faced in the fifth and then again in the sixth to seal the Championship for the Stealth! 

The Stealth were led offensively all weekend by Josh Sandoval who hit an outstanding 667 on the weekend while coming up with key two out hits while driving in 10 runs!  Danny Carrizosa was second with a 545 clip while driving in seven.  On the hill the Stealth were dominant all weekend as they allowed just three runs per game on the weekend and more importantly just five total on Championship Sunday!  The Stealth have now improved to 15-5 on the season as they prepare for their biggest test of the season in just two short weeks.  Grandpa Tom Stated after the win an emphatic "were Back"! “Winter Nationals is around the corner and we wanted to be playing our best ball heading into that tournament.  We got a late start and were hoping that by this time we would be clicking on all cylinders” said Coach Anthony Liberatore after the win.