Richmond Braves National 12u Win Longhorn Stampede
- Longhorn Stampede 12u Champions
The Richmond Braves National moved to 10-0 on the season winning the 8th Annual Longhorn Stampede last weekend in Northern Virginia. The newly formed Braves have won back-to-back championships to start their first season together. There were over 30 teams competing in the 12u division, with top teams from both Maryland and Virginia, including returning champions the Olney Pirates. Even with the step up in competition the Braves raised their game going 5-0 and outscoring their opponents 55-7.
The Braves started off hot on Saturday winning their two pool games 13-0 and 16-1, earning the #1 seed for the Sunday playoff round.
Their reward however was an early morning game with returning Champion the Olney Pirates from Maryland. The Pirates are a great team with some very good pitching but the Braves were up to the challenge winning 11-2 in four innings to setup a semi-final game with the Loudon South Eagles.
Considered one of the top teams in Northern Virginia the Eagles saw what the Braves do with the faster pitching and came in with a crafty junk ball pitcher who quieted the bats for a few innings. Ultimately though the Braves made the adjustments and woke the bats up just enough to bring 6 runs across for a 6-3 win in their only game to go the distance.
The finals brought a showdown with Cal Ripken Champion The Germantown Hawks who came in to the game having scored 39 runs against just 11 through the weekend, beating some of the top teams in the process. The Braves had saved their two aces for this game to try and quiet the big sticks in the middle of the lineup for the Hawks and they did just that, winning 9-1 in 4 innings. Wesley Clarke went 2-2 with 2 RBIs and Kyle Horton scored 4 runs from the leadoff spot while combining with Ryan Kennedy to shut the Hawks down from the mound, prompting the Germantown coach to say afterwards, “Their pitching was just unfair.”
The Braves feel like they can compete with anyone in any given game and will travel next to Greensboro, NC for the Super NIT to see if they have the depth to compete with great teams all weekend.