By April Smith Carpenter

July 19th, 2008 (Cordova, TN) Current TBS honorable mention and past featured team of the week, the Germantown Giants of Germantown, Tennessee captured the 12U National Championship on Thursday, July 17th. The Giants nearly shutout the SC Spartans Gold of California with a victory of 13-1. Giants head coach Mike Fitzsimmons commented after the game, “our best game of the tournament was the championship game, we started the game with bases loaded and we never looked back.”

The Giants performance for the entire tournament was slow starting according to head coach Fitzsimmons. “Defensively we were a little shaky; we weren’t playing our best baseball during pool play.” Coming out of pool play the Giants were 1-1-1. The Giants started pool play with a tie to the Texas Steel, lost a close game to the SC Spartans 7-6, and wrapped up pool play with a win against the Mid South Bulldogs 4-3.  “It was stop and go in pool play for us. I was worried about us offensively,” added Fitzsimmons.

In the Giants pool play game against the SC Spartans Gold too many errors were made according to Fitzsimmons. Short Stop Lee Marcus Boyd has been a solid player all year for the Giants. “When he is making errors you know we are not true to the nature of our team.” The Giants played hard all the way till the end of this game. “With 2 outs and a runner on third we went for the score to tie the game but the Spartans tagged us out at home plate.” SC Spartans third baseman Chase Lyford made the throw from left field to end the game.

The Giants came alive during the double elimination bracket, with a record of 3-0. Being ranked the #5 seed was a motivating factor. The Giants cruised by the Sonic Cruisers 6-0, roared past the Memphis Tiger 12’s 3-1, and breezed past the SC Spartans 3-1 and into the championship game.  West Covington, pitcher for the Giants threw a one hitter which really impressed SC Spartans coach Jared Sandler.  “The victory over us at the end of double elimination was the turning point for the Giants,” according to Sandler. “Germantown is a very physical team.”

The SC Spartan Gold finished pool play with 3 wins but because of the runs for and against rule ended up #3 seed after pool play. In pool play the SC Spartans gold had a shutout win against the Mid South Bulldogs 12-0, a win over the Giants 7-6 and a 14-3 win over the Texas Steel. 

Double elimination for the Spartans included a 15-9 win against Mid South Bulldogs, a huge win over the Terminators 7-6 and the loss to the Giants 3-1.  Aaron Dominguez pitched a great game against the TBS #3 ranked team the Terminators. The Terminators recently qualified to play in the Elite 24 later this summer. Spartan David Greer had 2 homeruns, and Turner Buis and Jared Zill each had a solo homerun in this game.  The Spartans win over the Terminators secured them a spot in the semi final game and it kept the Giants and the Terminators from meeting in this tournament.

The SC Spartans Gold met the Jackson Coyotes in the semi final game on Thursday morning, July 17th. The Coyotes are also a TBS honorable mention team. SC Spartans Gold pitcher Cole Young pitch an excellent game leading them to a victory of 10-3 over the Coyotes.

SC Spartans Gold head coach Jared Sandler commented after semi final game, “Jackson is a well coached team that has qualified for the Elite 24 tournament later this summer along with the Terminators. The Elite 24 is hard to qualify for; we use this as a measuring stick for our accomplishments.” 

The Championship took place after the semi final game on Thursday, July 17th. The game was tied 1-1 in the first inning when Michael Fitzsimmons came to bat with the bases loaded.  Fitzsimmons hit a power shot to center field which landed him a double and scored 3 runs for the Giants, putting them up 4-1.  From there the Giants never looked back with the final score Giants 13- SC Spartans Gold 1. The Giants pitcher Jonathan Phipps pitched an excellent game allowing only one Spartans hit.

Notable players for the Germantown Giants include: the tournament MVP catcher Shane Tucker. “He is the best 5 tool player for a 12 year old that I have ever seen,” smiled Fitzsimmons. Tucker hit a 270 plus foot homerun during the all-star game that followed the championship game.  He also played the entire tournament with a bad back.  Shutout pitcher West Covington, Hunter Bledsoe, Jonathan Phipps, Montel Johnson and Vance Tatum.  Back to back homeruns during pool play for DeShawn Lindsey, Cody Turner, Ben Lowe and Wesley Roberson. Great defense from Timothy Rowe, Tanner Robertson, Lee Marcus Boyd and Michael Fitzsimmons.

Notable players for the SC Spartans Gold: Aaron Barnett, Aaron Dominguez, David Greer, Turner Buis all selected to the all-star team. Jared Zill, Cole Young, Michael Nava as pitchers, and defensive players Kayman Koen, Chase Lyford, Nick Pignone, Rueben Castaneda and lead-off hitter Parker Coss.

“Our pitching kept us in the tournament and our batting took off in the championship game,” commented head coach Fitzsimmons. “The SC Spartans Gold is a very good baseball team, they came to Memphis and turned some heads this week, I’m impressed with their batting as well as their whole team,” concluded Fitzsimmons.

The Germantown Giants are excited to be representing Super Series Baseball at the first National Youth Baseball Championship. The Giants have a spot reserved for the August 21-24th championship which will be held at the First Tennessee fields in Cordova, TN. Vice Chairman and co-owner of the Chicago White Sox, Eddie Einhorn, is the mastermind behind this championship tournament. Teams from eight participating youth baseball leagues will be sending their winning 12U Major teams to compete with the Germantown Giants.  Congratulations Giants!

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