16U/17U NTDP WRAPS UP WITH FINAL DAY OF GAMES ON SUNDAY

TEAM NAVY VS. TEAM LIGHT BLUE

AS IT HAPPENED

• Pitching dominated the early frames, as Navy’s William Haggerty and Light Blue’s Samir Mohammed exchanged zeros in the first two innings.
• Team Navy got to Mohammed for two runs in the third; Graham Houston drew a bases-loaded walk and Bobby Villa drove in a run with a fielder’s choice, giving Navy a 2-0 lead.
• Light Blue threatened to get on the scoreboard in the fourth. Jose Partida singled with one out and stole second but was thrown out trying to take third for the final out of the frame.
• Matthew Fernandez tried to kickstart a rally in the bottom of the fifth for Light Blue when he singled to right field to begin the inning, but a double play and strike out induced by Oliver Van Tiem maintained the Navy shutout.
• Team Light Blue finally broke through in the sixth on an RBI single by Dariel Carrion. The inning was rolled one batter later to bring the tying run to the plate, making it 2-2 after six.
• With the international tiebreaker in effect for the seventh, Anderson Kaufmann roped a two-run single to put Team Navy back in front by two runs.
• An infield single by Fernandez plated a run for Light Blue in the bottom of the seventh, but Brennan New stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout for the final out of the game.

NOTABLES

• Kaufmann was in the middle of all the offense for Team Navy, picking up two hits and two RBIs. He doubled and scored the game’s first run in the third and then drove in the go-ahead runs with his seventh-inning two-run base hit.
• Partida paced Light Blue’s offense, going 2-for-2 with a stolen base. He finished the week with four hits in five at-bats at the NTDP.
• Fernandez drew a walk and had two hits on Sunday, giving him six walks in 10 plate appearances over the three games. He owned an .800 on-base percentage at the NTDP.
• Villa swiped two bases in Sunday’s contest and finished the three games with three stolen bags.
• Byers turned in two perfect relief innings with three strikeouts and was followed by teammate Junior Lopez, who spun a hitless frame with two punch outs.

TEAM RED VS. TEAM WHITE

AS IT HAPPENED

• Back-to-back singles by Caden Borcherding and Carter Hadnot put Team White in prime position to score in the first, but Luke Esquivel coaxed an inning-ending double play to keep the game scoreless.
• After a Brogan Witcher walk, Andrew Jimenez and Esquivel picked up two consecutive singles to put Team Red up 1-0 before a Max Hemenway groundout made it a 2-0 score.
• With two outs and Esquivel on third, Brooks Addison singled to center field to extend the Red lead to three in the third.
• Team Red nearly grew its lead in the top of the fourth when Connor Balazic walked and Marcus Cantu singled with two outs, but Balazic was picked off third base to halt the threat.
• Keelan Zumwalt tripled to right center and scored on the next pitch when Hudson Oliver singled back up the middle to trim Team White’s deficit to 3-1 in the fifth.
• With Borcherding on third after reaching via error, Hadnot ripped a single through the right side to plate Team White’s second run of the game in the sixth.
• Team Red loaded the bases with nobody out as the international tiebreaker rule was in effect in the seventh. Team White reliever Logan Bristol nearly escaped the jam, but Jared Grindlinger stole home on the throw back to the pitcher to score Red’s fourth run.
• Team White answered in the bottom of the seventh, also loading the bases with no outs before an RBI single by Zumwalt and sac fly by Oliver tied the game at four.
• The final swing of the NTDP was an inside-the-park home run by Chase Fuller, who hit a sinking liner to right field and raced around the bases to make it a 7-4 final.

NOTABLES

• Both starting pitchers held their opponents off the board; Red’s Esquivel allowed two hits in three shutout frames, while White’s Brennan McLaughlin faced the minimum in two innings.
• Connor Wells delivered two innings of scoreless relief for Team White, working around a hit and a walk to turn in a strong outing.
• Hadnot and Zumwalt each picked up a game-high two hits in the contest. Fuller’s three RBIs from the inside-the-parker gave him a game high in that category.
• Fuller’s home run was the third of the NTDP, joining Cantu and Grindlinger.

ABOUT NTDP SCORING
USA Baseball utilizes a modified scoring system for its development programs to achieve load management and mitigate potential injuries due to overuse for its youth athletes. Pitchers are subject to a maximum pitch count of 25 per inning during game play. In the event an inning is rolled because a pitcher has reached their maximum pitch count, runners on base may be contributed to the game score.