2008 12U Miramar Canes (FL) - Makes Championship Run at Dreams Park

National Flash:

Coming this week - National Rankings Updates

“Congratulations to TbS All America, Bryce Harper, on a successful MLB debut”

TbS Travelball National Championship Web Site is LIVE - Click Here

Coming May 24th. . . "Part 2 - 9U Players to Watch"

"Travelball National Championship to be televised on Comcast & Dish Network”

"Travelball™ National Championship to air in 35 million homes"

2008 12U Miramar Canes (FL) - Makes Championship Run at Dreams Park

The Miramar Canes 12U Travel Baseball Team from Miramar, FL streaked to a remarkable 11-0 record and earned a berth in the venerated championship game at Cooperstown Dreams Park on the July 4th week. The Canes – seeded #7 and 7-0 after the seven-game pool play -- defeated three top 10 teams in elimination games to get to the championship game against #1 seed, Team Rawlings from Lakeland, FL.

Leading up to Cooperstown, the Canes had posted a 67-31-1 record in travel league, USSSA, Triple Crown and various local tournaments since December 1, 2007. So they knew they had what it would take to go deep into the tournament. Just how deep was the question.

Team Rawlings, ranked among the top teams in the USA by TravelBallSelect.com, ended the magical run for the Canes by a 13-1 score to clinch the week #5 championship in Cooperstown in the famous national 98-team American Youth Baseball Hall-Of-Fame Tournament. It was the fourth time in five weeks that teams from Florida had played in the Cooperstown Dreams Park Championship Game, and this time it was an all-Florida game featuring teams from South Florida and Central West Florida.

It was also the first time in Dreams Park history that teams finishing in the top 8 in pool play were the final eight teams -- “The Elite Eight” -- heading into the finals. Week #5 featured five of the top teams as nationally ranked by TravelBallSelect.com, easily the most competitive week in Cooperstown this summer.

The Canes were very impressive in championship round victories over the 39th seed HCYP Raiders from Maryland by the score of 9-2, the 10th seed Mac-N-Seitz Indians from Kansas 10-4, the 2nd seed Georgia Titans with a 26-1 offensive explosion that featured a 20-run 4th inning and 6 home runs, and the #3 seed Paulding County Vipers from Georgia in a pitchers’ duel 3-0.

Leading up to the championship game, the Canes had scored 13 runs per game and belted 37 home runs overall, had seen phenomenal pitching allowing only 2 runs per game and performed outstanding defense with less than one error per game…. an all-time best streak for the team in 11 games. The Canes batted .446 overall for the 12 games and were best described as a disciplined and team-ball driven team.

The Canes were led offensively by second-baseman Carlos Cartaya, Jr., (22 hits and 7 home runs), left-fielder Yoni Rodriguez (18 hits and 3 home runs including 2 grand slams) and shortstop/pitcher Brandon Melendez (17 hits and 6 home runs) who set the table for the middle of the order. Melendez pitched a no-hitter in game #7 against the Westerville Warriors (OH).

Michael Hernandez (7 home runs) and Brian Gonzalez (6 home runs) provided the run-producing power in the lineup.

Hernandez was 2-1 as pitcher, with wins over the South Wake Storm (NC) and Mac-N-Seitz Indians (KS). Hernandez had thirteen hits and played 7 different defensive positions.

Gonzalez was 2-0 with dominating shutouts over two Georgia teams (Tyrone Astros and Paulding County Vipers) and one save in three pitching appearances. In the semi-final game showdown against the Vipers, Gonzalez faced Mitchell Webb, recognized as one of the top right-handed pitchers in the USA, with a one-hitter recording 14 strikeouts. The game was recognized as “the best game of the tournament” by CDP officials.

David Fernandez blasted three home runs, had nine hits and made four pitching appearances both as starter and reliever, and was most impressive in shutting down a potent South Mississippi Longhorns team in the Game #5 victory. Fernandez pitched in games 1, 5, 9 and 12.

Adam Murray hit three home runs and was 2-0 as pitcher in three appearances, including the Elite Eight game against the #2 Georgia Titans. Murray scored 11 times and played 5 different defensive positions during the week.

Center-fielder Andrew “Drew” McCoy hit a home run and had 13 hits, and made two terrific defensive plays to preserve the no-hitter against the Westerville Ohio team.

Brian Sokol hit a home run and was the key pitching reliever in pressure games for the Canes in two appearances against the Park Ridge Jr. Hawks (IL) and the Longhorns. The versatile Sokol also played seven different defensive positions for the Canes, including catcher in the semi-final game.

Right-fielder Alex Guzman hit safely in four straight games and had 6 RBIs during that stretch. Guzman knocked in a total of 10 runs and scored 7 times during the week.

Alexis Herrera pitched in three games including the championship, and was 2-0 in his two starts with wins over the Hawks and the Raiders. Herrera’s wednesday night complete game dominance over the Raiders put the Canes into the Sweet Sixteen.

Derick Garcia was 1-0 with a complete game one-hitter over the Michigan Mustangs in three appearances on the mound, and delivered clutch two-out, run-scoring hits in two games against the Hawks and Canon Mac (PA).

Catcher Jordan Cristobal was stand-out behind the plate during outings by 10 different Canes’ pitchers, called and caught the no-hitter by Melendez and was the championship game catcher.

The Canes also earned a 2nd place/runner-up finish out of the 98 teams in the “team skill competition” with round-the-horn-plus times of 22.96 and 23.14 seconds.

The fourteen Canes Players, including reserve Yonel Rodriguez, were inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall-Of-Fame during the Thursday closing ceremonies preceding the championship game.

TravelBallSelect website awarded the Miramar Canes an “Honorable Mention” as one of the top-25 national 12U teams as a result of the team’s overall performance and strength-of-schedule at Cooperstown Dreams Park.

Michael Deno, head coach of the Miramar Canes 11U team and volunteer umpire, received special recognition at Cooperstown Dreams Park as Crew Chief for umpiring 21 games during the week.

The Miramar Canes 2008 Cooperstown Team was coached by Carlos Cartaya, Yoni Rodriguez, Nelson Cristobal, Aramis Garcia and Team Manager Carlos Guzman. The Canes were accompanied to Cooperstown by 75 family members and Canes fans.

Congratulations to the Miramar Canes on a positive experience at Cooperstown Dreams Park and watch for more great performances from this strong team.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Comments (0) Add Comment