G.P. Horns march on to 9U Super 16 championship game

By Devin Hasson

McKinney, TX. The expectation level for the G.P. Horns is high. Every team in the organization plays up one age level in order to face top-flight competition all season long. As the season winds to a close, the teams drop back down to their normal age bracket and needless to say, they expect to win.

It was certainly not easy on Thursday, but the Horns, ranked 12th in the latest travelballselect.com 9U national rankings, got the victory they so desired as they rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pick up a 6-5 victory over Unleashed in the 9U Super Series Super 16 World Series at The Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney. The Grand Prairie-based squad, which was the No. 1 seed after pool play, is the lone team left in the bracket without a loss and they will compete for the championship on Friday at 11:15 a.m. against the Texas Tornadoes.

“All the fingers are pointing at us to take it all so we feel the pressure but we’ve been able to make it through so far,” G.P. Horns coach Adam Suarez said.
The Horns had scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at 4-4 and that led to extra innings.
Unleashed, which was on the honorable mention list of the latest travelballselect.com rankings and was the No. 2 seed in the tournament grabbed a 5-4 lead when it manufactured a run in the top of the seventh, but the Horns were not through.

Down to its final out, Grand Prairie’s Evan Wells ignited the rally with a single to center and then stole second base. Diego Muniz then came through with the pressure on as he lined a single to right to tie the game at 5-5. After Muniz stole second, Unleashed opted to intentionally walk Drake Girard to set up the force. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, so Unleashed was again issued a free pass, this time to Adam Suarez, to put the force back in play.

It would not matter, as Chris Williams smacked the first pitch he saw into right field to plate Muniz with the game-winning run and spark a celebration. “That’s happened from the get-go on Sunday, they’ve played with non-stop heart,” Suarez said. “They are a little worn down from a long season, but they keep battling. They dug deep and you could see the fire in them. I always tell them defense wins championships and the defense kept us in it long enough until the offense could come through.”

The Horns were not the only team to show off their comeback prowess, as Unleashed had done so early to overcome a 3-1 deficit. In the top of the third inning, Aaron Ramirez and Izaiah Madrid singled and both came around to score on a two-run base hit by Nick Valenzuela to tie the game at 3-3. Valenzuela would give Unleashed the lead when he dashed home on a throw to second base to make it 4-3.

Unleashed threatened to build on its lead in the top of the fourth when it loaded the bases but was unable to score. The Horns had just one base runner through the third and fourth innings, but were able to even the game in the fifth. With one out, Muniz singled, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. Girard then hit a tapper back to the mound but Muniz was able to beat the throw home on a close play to tie the game at 5-5. It stayed that way until extra innings, where Unleashed was able to score once, but the Horns did them one better to move to within one win of the championship. “This is huge,” Suarez said. “This takes us into the game with 100 percent confidence from the sticks to the defense to the pitching, it is a big confidence booster.”

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