Dallas Stars complete sweep of East Texas Cats to win 13U national championship

By Devin Hasson

McKinney, Texas- The Dallas Stars proved on Friday that they can have a very short memory. And that was one big reason why they were able to create a memory that will last a lifetime when they raised the trophy as national champions. A day after suffering a 12-0 run-rule loss at the hands of the East Texas Cats, the Stars showed no lingering effects from that setback as they completed a two-game sweep of the Cats on Friday with an 8-1 victory in the championship game to win the 13U Super Series Super 16 World Series at The Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney.

After allowing one early run, the Stars got stellar pitching performances from Nate Banks and Marshall Herron, who combined to shut out the Cats the rest of the way. The offense did the rest, scoring three times in the third inning to take the lead, adding one in the fifth and tacking on three insurance runs in the sixth to pull away. Friday was not the first time that the Dallas squad had to quickly forget about disappointment. The Stars were the only squad in the 10-team field to post a 0-3 record during pool play on Sunday and Monday and they entered bracket play as the 10th seed. Dallas quickly reversed their fortunes, winning three games in a row before the 12-0 loss to East Texas on Thursday. The Stars rebounded later that day to edge the Oklahoma Bearcats, 11-10, and then defeated the Cats, 10-7, early on Friday to force a deciding game.

The early innings were marked by some impressive defense. With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning, Dallas threatened by loading the bases but East Texas first baseman Pat Covington made a nice play by fielding a hard ground ball, stepping on first and then throwing home to nail the runner for a double play to preserve the tie. The Cats threatened in the top of the third, getting singles from Hank Tullis and Willie Ivery, but Banks, who had earned the save in each of the Stars’ previous two wins, escaped the jam unscathed.

After failing to take advantage of a good opportunity in the second inning, Dallas did not repeat the same mistake in the third, although the rally did start in inauspicious fashion when Daniel Ferra lined a sharp base hit to right field only to have Ivery, who was playing in, field the ball cleanly and gun a throw to first for the out. Banks then reached on an infield hit, Nick Lutzel singed to right and Wesley Phillips drove in a run when he hit a ground ball to first and the play at the plate was too late to catch Banks. Lutzel added a run when he scored on a wild pitch and Chandler Ladd’s RBI single made it 4-1.

The Cats got a runner in scoring position in the top of the fourth when Sam Sitton walked and moved around to third base. Marshall Herron came on in relief and got some help from his defense as Banks made a nice running catch in center field and Marshall Williams snagged a hard ground ball at short to strand the runner at third. Dallas showed off some more defense in the top of the fifth inning, as Phillips threw out a would-be base stealer.

The Stars pushed the lead to 5-1 in the fifth when Lutzel’s sacrifice fly scored Ferra and then put the game away in the sixth. Ladd was hit by a pitch, Mason Jordan walked and Drew Coslin reached on an error to load the bases with nobody out. East Texas got one out when Dallas was unable to execute a suicide squeeze, but Justin Bundy followed with a two-run double to left field and Williams added a run-scoring single to push the lead to 8-1. Herron had motored through the fifth and sixth innings, with Williams started a 6-4-3 double play to end the sixth inning. In the seventh, the Cats got singles by Brian Taylor and Bryce Carty, but Herron retired the next two batters to spark the Stars’ celebration and put the finishing touches on a memorable week.

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