G.P. Horns claim 9U national championship in style

By Devin Hasson

McKinney, Texas- The top-seeded G.P. Horns were certainly the favorite heading into Friday’s championship game at the Super Series Super 16 World Series at The Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney. The Horns had swept through the tournament field without a loss, giving them not only some extra rest, but also plenty of momentum and confidence.

Standing in the way of a national championship for the Grand Prairie-based squad was a Texas Tornadoes team that shook off a loss in the opening round on Tuesday with five consecutive victories in the elimination bracket to keep their own dreams alive.

That magic finally ran out on Friday, though, as the Horns, ranked 12th in the latest travelballselect.com 9U national rankings, simply had too much as they jumped to an early lead and never looked back en route to an 11-0 run-rule victory to earn the 9U national championship. “They came in with the momentum,” G.P. Horns coach Adam Suarez said. “From the first game on Wednesday and sweeping all those teams, we knew we had to jump on them early because if we gave them an inch they were going to get fired up. They are a very good team and we knew that we had to push hard, be aggressive and put the pressure on and it came out our way.”

The Horns had a well-rested pitching staff and that gave them plenty of options. Buddy Trevino got the start and after a scoreless first inning, gave way to Jacob Tamayo, who went the rest of the way in the complete-game shutout. The offensive contributions came from up and down the lineup, but particularly in the middle of the order, where Evan Wells, Diego Muniz, Drake Girard, Adam Suarez and Chris Williams put the finishing touches on a strong tournament. “It was nice getting that extra rest last night and we came out prepared today. You could tell, they could smell it when they got out there today, they were ready,” Suarez said. “The heart of the order came through for us big today and all week. They had been struggling with the sticks, but they came through and that is a big reason we came out on top.”

Suarez noted after Thursday’s come-from-behind 6-5 victory in extra innings against Unleashed that his team was battling some fatigue after a long season. But with the national title on the line, Suarez was confident his team would dig deep. “They gave it 110 percent and we worked hard all season long for this,” he said. “We do a lot of conditioning and that showed on the field. A lot of teams don’t get to do that, they practice a lot and it doesn’t carry over onto the field, with these guys, it does carry over.” This tournament was also a good measuring stick for where the Horns stack up in the 9U ranks. The team has played in the 10U age bracket for much of the season before dropping back down for this event.

The national championship not only proves they are one of the elite teams in their own age division, but puts the finishing touches on a very successful season. “It’s huge to win coming back down into their own age division where they should be This is a national tournament so these are all very good teams so it makes it very sweet,” Suarez said. “We’ve traveled around to a lot of different tournaments and were blessed to take first place in all of them, but to take this one at home is even sweeter. This is huge and well worth it for all the work we put in.”

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form