With their tournament clinching win at the Atlanta Super NIT this past weekend, Diamondbacks Baseball continued their dominating start to the 2009 travel ball season.  The team based in Central Florida is now 29-0 with five tournament championships in as many starts.   The Dbacks captured the USSSA MLK Classic in January in Leesburg,  FL.  February saw two more tourney wins at the AAU First Pitch Classic, also in
Leesburg, and the AAU Presidents Day event in Auburndale.  In March they bested an elite field at the Elite Travel Classic hosted by Linedrive tournaments.

The Diamondbacks are lead at the plate by a pair of TBS All -Americans : shortstop Brendan Rodgers  who leads the team in hits  (37) and batting average (.500), and pitcher/outfielder Quentin Davis who has
provided the power with 6 home runs this season.  This is just the tip of the iceberg for an ice-level lineup with no soft spots: seven of the remaining 10 players are all hovering around the .400 mark including
Nick Angelastro, Jake Smith, Ryan Welsh, Brett Coffel, Kyle Cross, Cameron Wilson, and Mike White.  Rounding out the team is a trio of speedsters that provide strength up the middle in Cameron Montgomery, Nick Niarchos, and Kale Latorre.  The Dbacks are averaging close to 10 runs per game while allowing a paltry 2.3 per outing.  Head coach Jay Welsh says, “that’s where we differ from most 12u clubs--there’s no
bottom of the lineup, we have reversed the order in a few games this season and the results are the same.”

A six-pack of arms is perhaps where Diamondbacks Baseball is most dominant.  Davis, Cross and Montgomery are fireballers all clocked over 70 m.p.h., while Welsh, Angelastro, and Latorre are crafty locaters with poise beyond their years.   Welsh has had the ball in four of the 5 championship games this season. 

Up next for the #3 ranked Dbacks is the Florida Elite Invitational in Brandon, followed by the Florida State Championship Tournaments for both USSSA and AAU.  They will travel to Cooperstown for the first week
in June, and have accepted a berth to play in the Elite 32 in July.

2009 Results:  29-0

Dbacks 10 Ocala Diamond Dawgs 2
Dbacks 15 Oveido Styx  2
Dbacks 8 Apopka Stars  0
Dbacks 10 Oveido Styx  8
Dbacks  8 Team Combat  0
Dbacks 8 Team Mpact  3
Dbacks 10 Team Mpact  0
Dbacks 10 N. Tampa Bulldogs 0
Dbacks 12 Orlando Pirates  1
Dbacks 8 Hit n Run Academy 0
Dbacks 5 Florida Fire  4
Dbacks 13 Polk Cty Gators  0
Dbacks 14 Tampa Titans  1
Dbacks 12 St Pete Stingers  1
Dbacks 3 Meteors   0
Dbacks 4 Bullets White  3
Dbacks 9 Boca Starz  4
Dbacks 10 Miami Storm  0
Dbacks 9 Bullets Gold  1
Dbacks 7 Boca Starz  4
Dbacks 10 St Pete Hurricanes 1
Dbacks 13  Bullets White  5
Dbacks 9 Tampa Thunder  8
Dbacks 17 Centerfield Storm  0
Dbacks 7 Viper Academy  4
Dbacks 6 Ecobb Astros  5
Dbacks 15 NO Monarchs  2
Dbacks 5 Chiefs Baseball  1
Dbacks 10 HP Chilidogs  6

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