The Naplate Titans 9U baseball team went 4-1 to win the May Madness Tournament held in Rock Island over the weekend. In their opening pool play game on Saturday, the Titans defeated Champaign 4-0 behind the one-hit pitching performance by Shane Reynolds. Reynolds went the distance on the mound striking out 14 Champaign batters, allowing no walks in earning the win. Offensively Luke Couch (RBI) and Levi Shoulders each had two hits and Kadon Harth added two RBI.
Next the Titans dropped a 4-3 decision to Quad City. Sholders doubled and singled while Jalen Flavel and Jacob Serby each added a hit and RBI. Serby struck out eight while allowing no walks on the mound in six innings.
In their final pool play game, the Titans bounced back with a decisive 10-0 victory in four innings over Rock Island. Reynolds had two doubles and a RBI to lead the Titans at the plate, while Couch added two hits and an RBI and Lucas Hoffman had a hit and three RBI. Couch threw a one-hitter allowing no walks while striking out nine batters in the four innings.
In their semi-final game on Sunday the Titans used a twelve-hit attack to claim a thrilling 10-9 victory over Champaign in seven innings. With the Titans holding a 7-3 lead in the top of the fifth, Champaign’s bats came alive to plate five runs and take an 8-7 lead. Naplate tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on Serby’s clutch two-out single. After both teams failed to score in the final inning, Champaign scored once in the extra frame to take a 9-8 lead. After two intentional walks to load the bases, with two outs and the score tied, Reynolds scored from third on a wild pitch sending the Titans into the championship game. Offensively both Reynolds and Serby went 3-for-3 with a RBI while
John Hamilton had a double, single and RBI. Serby struck out nine batters in five innings with Couch picking up the pitching victory.
In the championship, Naplate avenged Saturday’s loss to Quad City with a 6-1 win. With the score tied 1-1 in the fifth inning of a tight contest, Christian Lara’s two-out single scored Logan Petre giving the Titans a 2-1 lead, propelling them to the title. Reynolds turned in another solid pitching performance going the distance striking out eight, allowing no walks and only two hits. Nick Melvin had two hits including a double and a RBI to lead the Titans at the plate. With the win the Titans 9U moved to 17-2 on the season.
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