For the second time this season, the No. 8 Patriots handed the Elite a loss—only their second defeat of the season against any team—by scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to claim a 4-3 victory and win the Dallas Super NIT tournament championship on Sunday night.  As a result, the Patriots clinch an automatic berth at the Elite 24 Tournament in Orlando in July. 

The game was the marquee match-up of the tournament on paper and it lived up to it on the field, as the teams went back and forth.  In the end, with the game tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Jose Taylor hit a ground ball to short with the bases loaded and Cody Sturgeon was able to beat the throw home with the game-winning run to give the Patriots their eight tournament title of the season in as many events.  “Our big deal is to play our game and if we do that, we think it takes care of itself,” Patriots head coach Logan Stout said. “We came out determined to play our game and I think we were able to do that. We have a lot of respect for the Oklahoma Elite. They are a great team and they deserve to be ranked as one of the top teams. It is always a great challenge to play them.” 

Despite their success on the field, there were questions about the Patriots as they mixed in some new faces. The results on the field cannot be denied, though, as the team continues to win.  “One of the most underrated aspects is team work and camaraderie and this is the most tight-knit group of kids I have been around,” Stout said. “It goes to the kids, the parents, everybody, that is what we are looking for in the whole program.”  The Patriots had cruised through their first four games, winning by no less than five runs in any contest.

The Elite had a more difficult road, as all its victories came by three runs or less, with the exception of a forfeit win on Saturday against Texas Sports Black.  Included in that run was a come-from-behind win in the semifinals that saw the Elite score three times in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull out a 7-5 win over Ark-La-Tex TORNADO!.  The Elite are the No. 1 team because they find ways to win and they nearly did so again in the final. 

The teams were tied at 2-2 in the top of the fifth when Keone Givens, one of the smallest players on the teams, launched a big-league blast over the left-field wall to take a 3-2 lead.  The Patriots responded in the bottom half of the frame, as Cameron Steen singled, stole second, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a squeeze bunt by Brent Cupp to tie the score at 3-3. 

The Elite could not do anything in the top of the sixth and the Patriots were in business in the bottom of the inning when Sturgeon singled, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch.   The Elite opted to walk both Michael Neustifter and Jordan Roberts to load the bases and put a force-out situation at the plate as an option. Taylor hit a slow grounder to short, but the throw was just late to get Sturgeon, who slid home with the game-winning run.