By Devin Hasson

The Dallas Stars and Oklahoma Bearcats knew that their playoff lives were on the line on Thursday and they each played like it in an elimination game of the 13U Super Series Super 16 World Series at The Ballfields at Craig Ranch.

The teams had split a pair of one-run games earlier in the tournament, so it was fitting that the rubber match would end in a similar fashion. The game featured seven lead changes and only two half-innings that did not feature any scoring, but in the end, Stars’ relief pitcher Nate Banks retired the final batter with the tying run on third base to preserve an 11-10 victory.
Dallas, which was seeded 10th after being the only team not to win a game in pool play, advances to the championship game against the East Texas Cats on Friday at 10 a.m. If the Stars win, they will play one more game against the Cats in a winner-take-all clash at 12:45 p.m.

The Stars used a clutch three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning to score was turned out to be the winning runs. With one out, Chandler Ladd, Justin Bundy and Mason Jordan all rapped out consecutive singles to load the bases. Drew Coslin then squeezed home a run with bunt to close to within a run and Mitchell Williams followed with a two-run single to center give Dallas an 11-10 lead.

The Bearcats had scored in every inning up until that point, but were primed to continue that trend after Matt Whatley was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Whatley would eventually advance to third, but three putouts by Williams at shortstop helped Banks strand the tying runner.

The two teams had split the first two meetings during the week, with Oklahoma posting a 6-5 win in pool play and the Stars pulling out a 3-2 victory on Wednesday in the bracket round.
The back-and-forth tone was set from the start, as the Bearcats scored once in the top of the first only to have Dallas answer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.
Oklahoma took a 3-2 lead in the top of the second as Cadon Owens and Hayden Holmes each had RBI singles but a base-running miscue led to a runner being thrown out at home to end the rally.

The Bearcats pushed the lead to 4-2 in the third when Jakeem Johnson doubled and came around to score on two wild pitches.
After not scoring in the second, the Stars went back to work in the bottom of the third, as Nick Lutzel singled to score Williams. After a single by Wesley Phillips, Marshall Herron drove in Daniel Ferra to tie the game at 4-4. Dallas then took the lead when Ladd laid down a squeeze bunt to plate Lutzel.
Oklahoma regained a 6-5 edge in the fourth on RBIs from Holmes and Whatley only to have the Stars answer with a two-run double off the left-field fence by Banks and a RBI single by Lutzel to make it  8-6.

The Bearcats once again had a quick answer in the top of the fifth inning as they mounted a two-out rally. Bryce Howe and Dylan Harding had base hits to jumpstart the rally. Allan Beer then singled home one run and Harding came around to score on a throwing error to tie the game at 8-8. Christian Davidson reached on an error, with a run scoring in the process, and Owens followed with a RBI single to give Oklahoma a 10-8 lead.

As was the case all game long, though, it was an advantage that would not last long, as the Stars scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead at 11-10 and for the first time all game long, the Bearcats were unable to counter.

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