The 10U Cincy Flames baseball team are national champions — again.

For the first time in Flames history, the 10U squad, now 11U, captured back-to-back CABA World Series titles.

The Flames went 9-1 at the tournament, which wrapped in late July in Westfield, Ind.

"I'm so proud of our boys," head coach Ken Hatfield said. "We played so well."

The Flames lost to Puerto Rico 7-5 in the opening game after holding a 4-0 lead. In the next game, they were losing by three heading into the final inning and were on the verge of being eliminated, but a furious comeback ensued, and the Flames rolled to the tournament title, defeating the Cincinnati Stix 8-7 in the finals.

"From there, the team was so energized," said Hatfield, whose squad finished 57-12. "We had great pitching performances, timely hitting and we played fantastic defense."

Twelve players from throughout Southwest Ohio were on the team: Maxx Holland, James Harness, Jeron Besecker, Kaleb Lepper, Zach Johnson, Justin Moyer, Noah Marshall, Tyler Duval, Austin Hatfield, Hayden Bianchini, Austin McKee and Brandon Giltrow.

McKee was named MVP of the CABA World Series, while Lepper, Harness and Duval were named to the all-tournament team.

"Any given day, somebody else steps up," Hatfield said. "With any select team, you've always got great players. What I like about this team is one day it's this individual, the next day it's somebody else. In my eyes, we have some of the best players in the Cincinnati area and nationally.

"The strength of the team has always been our pitching depth," he added. "All 12 of our kids pitch. One through seven with us, there's not much of a drop off. Pitching has been our one key ingredient that's hardly ever let us down."

Other accomplishments for the Flames were: Southwest Ohio League champions (back-to-back); 10U Early Bird Gets The Worm champions; 11U Advantage Sports Spring Classic runner-up; 10U Cincy Flames Tourney Of Champions runner-up; and 10U BC Bombers 4th of July Explosion champions.

Hatfield was assisted by Doug Besecker, Todd Moyer, Bob Giltrow and Bill McKee.

"My philosophy is this — teach every kid two or three positions," Hatfield said. "My goal is to make them better baseball players and help them get ready for the next level. That's our job as a coaching staff; make them better baseball players."

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