Playing and winning 12u tournaments is nothing new for the 11U TABU team, but playing and winning the tournament with the #16 ranked 12u SV Yankees (CA and 12u Elite 24 bound), 12u Honorable Mention Nor Cal Grizzlies (2007 Elite 24) and TravelBallSelect’s 7th ranked 11u Lamorinda Cougars is a challenge that not too many 11u Teams could conquer.  TABU entered the tournament as did Lamorinda in preparation for the 11u Elite World Series Aug 3-10.  The BPA Summer Championship hosted by TPR Baseball at Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnyvale, CA was the setting for this 4 – day 14 Team showdown.

TABU won all four of their pool games.  Three of their pool games were lopsided affairs but one was a nail biter. In the second pool game, TABU would face-off against the 12u NorCal Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies would prove to be a formidable opponent and had managed to plate one more run until the bottom of the fifth when TABU tied the score at two.  In the bottom of the sixth Cal  Stevenson scored the winning run on Bryce's walk-off hit that put TABU on top by a score of 3-2.  Both of TABU’s pitchers did well by holding the Grizzlies bats down and only allowing two runs.  As a matter of fact, TABU has three strong arms now that Karsten Lee is back from fighting a sore arm (the other two being Dyrda and Sola).  With the undefeated pool play, TABU took the #1 seed into the “Gold Championship Bracket”.  TABU played the feisty Marin County Bombers in the 1st round match-up on Sunday.  Marin County led the game off with a homerun but TABU did not falter and won 9-3.  In one of the other 1st round match-ups the NorCal Grizzlies would get the best of a young (11U) but talented Lamorinda Cougars 2-1 in 8 innings.  The other two 1st round match-ups would have the SV Yankees and the Puyallup Cardinals (WA) winning. 

The SV Yankees played the Grizzlies in one semi-final game.  The Grizzlies would take a 8-2 lead into the 5th but the Yankees battled back and won the game 9-8 in the time shortened 5 inning game.  TABU met the Cardinals and battled back from a 6-0 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th inning.  TABU held the Cardinals in the top of the 6th and with 2 outs and 2 on in the bottom of the 6th; Anthony Robbins would hit a 3 run walk off homerun to secure TABU’s spot in the championship game against the SV Yankees.

In the Championship Game, the SV Yankees took a 1-0 lead until the 3rd inning when TABU’s Bryce Dyrda hit a game tying solo shot.  The teams would go back and forth with the Yankees taking a 3-2 lead into the 6th inning.  That’s where TABU broke the game open by scoring 5 runs on 5 hits.  In the bottom of the 6th, with Jake Sola on the mound, TABU would close-out the game by making some stellar defensive plays that would strand 2 runners on base.  TABU won 6 games in 2 days and went 7-0 overall during this 4 day tournament.  They now focus their attention on the USSSA Elite World Series in Orlando, Florida.

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