By Robert Thomas

Flower Mound, Texas- Day two of bracket play at the AAYBA Texas World Series at Bakersfield Park in Flower Mound, Texas saw several teams positioning their way into Saturday's many championship games. That included thrilling Friday wins by the Flower Mound Force in the 14-and-under Platinum North Division semifinals, as well as the Texas Aces in the 12-and-under Gold Division semifinals.

Flower Mound Force (Tx.) 5, Garland Cubs (Tx.) 3

In one of the better games during Friday's bracket play at the AAYBA tournament, the Flower Mound Force twice rallied from late deficits to earn a place in Saturday's Platinum North Division title game with a two-run win over the Garland Cubs in seven innings.

The Flower Mound Force trailed for most of the game, but used a three-run seventh inning and got outs in several key situations to complete the comeback win. "We had to earn this win today and earn it against a quality team like the Cubs," said Flower Mound Force coach Scott Hodapp. "We've won our last three games like this, having to come from behind to win, and
this was a nice performance by us."

Early on, the game was scoreless for the first three innings thanks to good defense and pitching on both sides. Force starting pitching Sean Jones faced only 11 batters in the first three innings, while combining with Parker Shoaf and Matt Holcolmbe to take down a runner at the plate to keep the game scoreless. Cubs starter Jamie Andriot also put up three scoreless innings at the start, with his defense also coming up big as Carlos Chavez gunned out a runner trying to score to end the third inning.

However, the Cubs broke through for a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, getting RBI singles from Hunter Henderson and Caleb Pollard to power the rally.

That lead stayed intact until the sixth, with the Force scoring twice to knot the game at 2-2. The Force got a run-scoring single from Holcolmbe (3-for-4) to score Chris McKeehan for the first run, with Andrew Piccin hitting a sacrifice fly to bring in Jones for the tying run.

The Cubs retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth, as Jared Jordan lashed an RBI single to scored Henderson. But it was the Force that had the final say in the seventh, scoring
three times to grab a 5-3 edge. McKeehan hit a single to plate B.J. Myers with the tying run, while Jones (4-for-4) drove in McKeehan with a single for the go-ahead run. Finn Foster capped the inning with an RBI single to bring in Jones.

In the bottom of the frame, Myers worked out of a bases loaded jam to get the win, getting a fly out to right field for the final out.

Top players for the Force included: Jones (five innings, four strikeouts); Holcolmbe, Foster and Piccin.

Standouts for the Cubs included: Mike Ketchmark (2-for-4); Lucas Wearden (double, run scored) and Henderson (2 runs scored).

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