Blank blanks Bulls for USA Baseball U17 Championship

Read Time:2 Minute, 9 Second

The final day of the USA Baseball U17 National Team Championships featured the semi-finals and finals of the tournament, among other non-tournament games.

Semis

Texas Twelve vs. Elite Squad: Texas Twelve wins 5-2

The first game of the day was the semi-finals matchup between the first seeded Texas Twelve and the Elite Squad. The Elite Squad’s Daniel Cuvet put up two runs off of starter Luke Pettite in the first frame but the Elite Squad went scoreless through the rest of the game. The Texas Twelve were able to bounce back by scoring on sac-fly’s and singles in innings 2-5. The Twelve were able to blaze the basepaths, collecting several steals while also taking advantage of wild pitches.

Texas Twelve starter Luke Pettite went nearly 5 innings before being replaced by Jaquae Stewart to finish off the game. Stewart ran into some trouble in the 6th as he was able to end a 2 out rally by the Elite Squad.

Indiana Bulls National vs. Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team: Indiana Bulls National wins 4-2

The Bulls’ Boston Flannery would take the mound to face off against Frank Menendez. The Bulls took ahold of an early 2 run lead in the first inning and never let go. Flannery, a UCF commit, went 4 innings before being taken out after allowing a run. The two teams then traded runs through the next two innings but the Bulls would hold on and advance to the finals.

Finals

Texas Twelve vs. Indiana Bulls National: Texas Twelve wins 5-0

The finals of the tournament featured a shutout from pitchers Jackson Blank and Jackson Wilkerson. Blank went for 5.1 innings and struck out 9 batters while Wilkerson struck out 3 in 1.2 innings. The Texas Twelve were able to take a 4-0 lead by the second inning without even garnering a hit. The runs came off of several walks and wild pitches by two different Bulls pitchers. The Bulls were able to calm the Texas Twelve through the pitching of Andrew Wiggins (no, not that Andrew Wiggins). Wiggins was able to keep the Texas Twelve from scoring until the bottom of the 6th where Blake Brown singled in a run. A strikeout from Jackson Wilkerson would be the final out in a tournament victory for the undefeated Texas Twelve.