Eagle Pass, TX - Day 3 of the Babe Ruth World Series began with the game between the West Fargo, North Dakota Rattlers and Honolulu, Hawaii. The boys from the outer island remained undefeated and untied in this their second appearance at the World Series with an 11-1 whitewash behind the pitching of Kamaehu Sanchez. Team Hawaii scored three runs on four hits in the first inning with Kaden Stremick, Sanchez, Jacob Villacorte and Peyton Hino singling. Stremick, Jameson Hussey, Sanchez, Isaiah Mishima and Reese Carganilla all came in to score in the second and scattered the other three in the final three frames off of Brennan Haman and Sam Carpenter.
The Rattlers scored their lone run in the second when Max Burkhart reached on an error and came in on an error by the left fielder.
Jaden Gresrud and Kaden Stremick were named Players of the Game. Stremick was 2 for 3 with four runs scored in this game.
Game 10 pitted Atlantic Shore, New Jersey against Vancouver, Washington. Vancouver opened with Tyler Davis on the mound while New Jersey countered with Matt Nunan.
Talahassee scattered ten runs in the last three frames on hits by Ryan Spina (2), Tommy Finnegan, Nunan, and Noah Myers. Washington pitching had trouble finding the strike zone with five walks and a batter hit by a pitch in the last two innings.
Vancouver scored three runs in the first two innings when Tyler Howard, Casey Struckmeier and Cyprian Buckmeir scored. Struckmeier dopubled in the second inning.
Vancouver’s Tyler Davis and Atlantic Shore’s Ryan Spina were named Ron Tellefsen Players of the Game.
Game 11 was between Nederland, Texas and Norwalk, Connecticut. Norwalk came across withsix runs in the first inning off of hits by Vance Ward, Jaden Echevarria, Jeremy Cooke and Ali Morin.
Leadoff hitter Matthew Kendrick scored for Nederland along with Macoy Marze who came in to score on a hit by Kyler Barker. The final score 11-2 Norwalk.
Bene Boccanfuso got the win for Connecticut and Baylen Bryant, Britton Gomez and Andrew Hanley pitched for Nederland. Texas’ Vance Ward and Norwalk’s Matthew Kendrick were named Players of the Game.
Game 12 saw the best game of the tournament and an important one for hopes of getting to bracket play between Ohio Valley Champs Hammond, Indiana and Eagle Pass, Texas. Fabian Velasquez was on the mound for the hosts vs Indiana’s Miguel Martinez.
Jose Pablo Ramos opened this game with a bang tripling to right center and scoring in the first inning.
Hammond answered right back on a hit by Robert Garcia followed by another from Edward Minniefield who has been just lights out in this tournament.Garcia came in to score on a fielder’s choice to Dh’Mari Wright to tie up the ball game.
Omar Salazar started things off for Eagle pass in the second with a hit to left center, then Kali Salinas bunted him over to second. Eddie Sepulveda gets on on an error then Alan Jimenez brings Salazar in on the fielder’s choice. 2-1 Eagle Pass.
Hammond tied the game when Joshua Lamb got on on an error followed by a walk to Garcia, then a two-out single by, once again Edward Minniefield plated the tying run for Indiana.
It was Jose Pablo Ramos once again on a base hit and a stolen base for Ep who started things off and then scored on a follow-up single by Jarod Romero to re-take the lead in the third.
Of course Hammond would tie this thing up again when first baseman Jacob Venzke reaches on a base on balls and eventually moves along and scores after two costly Eagle Pass errors. 3-3 after three.
The host team would plate two runs by Sepulveda and Jimenez on a single by Matthew Elizondo to right center to put us up by two, but Hammond would take the lead with runs by Minniefield, Wright and AJ Pierson in the fourth. 6-5 Hammond after four.
Martinez would come out unscathed in the fifth, but Minniefield doubled and scored on a hit by Martinez who was helping his own game to make the score 7-5.
But Eagle Pass would come up big in the sixth inning with six big runs by Jimenez, Izek Garza Elizondo, Jarod Romero, Hector Gomez (who pinch ran for Zack Zapata after he singled into center) and Salazar on four hits to take a commanding 11-7 lead.
The Ohio Valley Champs made an incredible run of themselves to closeout the best game of this World Series when Dh’ Mari Wright reached on an error, Martinez got yet another single to left, Pierson reached on another error with bases loaded scoring two followed by another error as Alex Ortiz reached for Indiana and they were in business with runners on first and third, but it was then that Izek Garza came through with an amazing pickoff play to get Ortiz leaning towards second looking to steal to end the ball game.
For Eagle Pass, it was eleven runs on eight hits, five Indiana errors and seven runners left on base. For Hammond it was nine runs on eight hits, seven Eagle Pass errors and 13 runners left on base.
Alan Jimenez was named player of the Game for Ep and it was Edward Minniefield for Indiana.
By: A.D. Ibarra