This year’s 11U MLK was, without question, one of the best Super NIT events of the year. The competiton was a “Who’s Who?” of travel baseball. There were 11 teams in this tournament that have been either ranked in the TBS top 25 or Honorable Mention. After many great games, the Nomads Elite (pictured below) emerged as the Champions.

They came into the MLK tournament a little banged up and short handed due to injuries and illness that impacted a few of their regulars. Unfortunately, things only got worse during their first day of pool play. The Nomads Elite lost Ryan Lamastra for most of the tournament after he was struck in the eye from a fouled pitch. That injury required 7 stitches to mend. While he later returned a small portion in the title game, this injury sidelined Lamastra for much of this series. Still, the Nomads Elite rose to the challenge and regrouped to go 3-1 in pool play - thus earning the #3 seed heading into the bracketed championship round

In a much anticipated quarter final game, the Nomads Elite were matched against So Cal United (#13 in current TbS computer rankings). Cory Lewis, one of the Nomads Elite’s top pitchers, opened on the mound. The Nomads scored first with great hitting by Kaden Hopson and Sebastian Murillo that put them up 3-0.

But, So Cal United rallied to tie the game 3-3 in the 5^th inning. From that point, Nomads pitcher, Cory Lewis, finished strong and shut down any further United scoring rallies. The Elite pulled ahead in the bottom of the 6^th inning when Garrett Runyan led off with a single and Rafael “Jr” Flores drew a walk. Ryan Maciel singled to left field to load the bases setting up Cory Lewis. With the infield drawn in, Lewis connected with a ground ball single to end the game – giving the Nomads Elite a tough fought 4-3 victory.

In the Semi Finals, the Nomads Elite faced BPA Rawlings (last year’s Runner Up in the Triple Crown World Series). This was a key game for the Nomads as Rawlings had beaten them earlier during in pool play. The Nomads Elite sent Demedrick Jefferson, who had pitched 4 stellar innings.

Semi-Finals
The Nomads Elite got timely hitting from Noah Borgardus, Sebastian Murillo and Cameron Repetti to keep the score tied 3-3 heading into the the 5^th inning. In the bottom of that inning, Rawlings broke the tie on a sacrifice fly to take a 4-3 lead. In their final at bat, the Nomads got pressure hitting from (TbS All-America) Cody Freeman, who connected on a led off single and then promptly stole second. Next up, Garrett Runyan (another TbS All American) executed a perfectly placed bunt down 3^rd base line for a bunt single. This hit ended up scoring the winning runs as Rawlings threw the ball up the first base line. This allowed both Cody Freeman and Garrett Runyan to score giving the Nomads a 5-4 lead. Then Garrett Runyan, who had taken the mound to relieve Lewis during the prior inning, dug in and pitched a shutout - giving Nomads Elite their hard fought win.

Finals

The title game matched the Nomads Elite against the SC Mayhem. Mayhem is a team that is comprised of players from the 2011 Hart PONY World Series Champions. After his impressive close in the semi-finals, Garrett Runyan returned to start on the mound for the Nomads. Nomads’ scoring started with Cody Freeman’s leadoff Triple. He later scored on a deep sacrifice fly by Garrett Runyan.  Freeman’s bat remained hot as he went on to go 3 for 4 at the plate during this game.

The Mayhem responded to score 2 runs in the 2^nd inning to take a 2-1 lead. But the Namads got timely offensive production from Noah Bogardus, who scored to tied the game in the bottom of the 2^nd inning. The game remained close with solid pitching and great defense by the Nomads Elite infield - Cory Lewis, Sebastian Murillo, Kaden Hopson, Demedrick Jefferson and Ryan Maciel. They turned multiple crowd pleasing double plays throughout the game.

In the 3^rd inning, the Nomads Elites loaded the bases. This set up Cameron Repetti‘s 2xRBI double. The Nomads Elite extended their lead to 5-2. In the 4^th inning, the Nomads Elite bats came alive with hits by Jr. Flores, Cory Lewis, Ryan Maciel, Sebastian Murillo. These hits pushed their lead to 8-2 in the 4^th inning. Cameron Repetti took the mound in the 5^th inning to relieve Garrett Runyan, who had pitched 4 innings while giving up only 2 runs to the very powerful bats of the Mayhem.

The Nomads rounded out their scoring in bottom of the 5^th when Noah Borgardus and Cody Freeman had reached base and were driven home by Garrett Runyan a sacrifice fly and a game ending RBI by Ryan Lamastra (who had returned to play after being injured earlier in pool play). This gave the Nomads Elite their final 10-2 margin of victory and the 2012 MLK Super NIT Championship title.

In the category of rugged play, Nomads catcher, Kaden Hopson, turned in an amazing performance throughout this series. He caught all 7 games - due to injuries and sickness. Hopson threw out several runners and was a big factor that led the Nomads wins in their championship title run.

Congratulations to the 2012 MLK Super NIT Champions Nomads Elite.

This edition concludes TBS’s final 2011 season rankings for the Top 25 10U Teams across the USA. These rankings take into account tournament results through August 28^th including the NYBC National Championship Series.

1) The Oakley Stingrays - Green (of Whittier/Norwalk, CA) retain the #1 spot for the second consecutive season after their exciting 8-6 extra inning win over #2 TEAM Miami at the NYPB Nationals. This follows their 9-0 run to repeat as the July 10th Elite 32 World Series Champions. By our estimates, their overall record now stands at 84-10-1. This number does not include their wins in several local non-sanctioned local tournament competitions.

2) TEAM Miami (Miami, FL) continues preparations for the NYBC. They finish their 2011 season ranked #2 following their runner finish at the NYBC National Championship. TEAM Miami’s overall record stands at 115-22 including AAU, USSSA and local league records.

3) The Georgia Yard Dogs Black (Atlanta, GA) had an outstanding season and hold firmly to finish at #3 after a very solid performance at the NYBC. They beat the #1 ranked Oakley Stingrays 4-3 in early pool play rounds of the NYBC, but lost 4-1 to TEAM Miami in the semi-finals to finish 4^th at this event. Their overall season record now stands at 87-15.

4) The Nomads Elite (CA) finishes their 2011 season ranked #4 after their strong finish at the power packed Elite 32 where they finished 5^th Place after a very close 3-2 elimination loss to the #1 Oakley Stingrays. By our tally, the Nomads overall season record finished at 99-11 with 11 tournament wins.

5) The Carolina Cubs (Raleigh-Durham, NC) finishes 2011 ranked #5 wrapping up with a strong finish at the Elite 32. They went 6-2 and finished with a share of 5th Place after losing a close 13-11 game against the talent loaded South Florida Stealth. By our tally, their overall 2011 season record was 85-25 with 10 tournament wins and 6 “Runner-Up” finishes. Also, it is worth noting that 21 of their 25 losses came against 11U teams. They were 50-4 versus other 10U teams.

6-Tie) The IE Elite (Inland Empire, CA) finishes #8 after winning the July 25th-30th Triple Crown World Series in Park City, Utah. They went 8-1 in that event. Their overall season record stands at 86-11.

6-Tie) TEAM MVP (Miami, FL) finished their 2011 season going 0-2 at the AABC World Series. They finish their season with a share of the #6 spot. MVP had a strong performance at the Elite 32 going 5-2 before being eliminated 9-4 by the Georgia Yard Dogs. They also finished “Runner-Up” at the AAU Nationals losing to Team Miami by a narrow margin of 2-1 in the finals. Their overall record was 123-19-1 including a 72-18-1 record in USSSA 10U and 11U tournament appearances. They have won 17 tournaments, 11 of which were USSSA and 3 Triple Crowns.

7) The Banditos Black (Houston TX) finishes at #7 after finishing 3^rd Place at the NYBC where they beat #2 TEAM Miami in pool play before being eliminated by the Oakley Stingrays (9-2) in the semi-finals of the NYBC. By our tally, their record now stands at 59-16-1 with 9 tournament wins while playing in USSSA, Super Series and Nations Baseball events.

8) The MCBC Hit Dogs (Macomb, MI) takes the #8 spot after wrapping up their 2011 season by going 6-1-1 to finish 3rd Place at the Elite 32 where they lost 13-3 in the semi-finals to the #1 ranked Oakley Stingrays. The Hit Dogs won 5 USSSA tournaments including the Northeast Super NIT and compiled an overall record of 54-15-2.

9) Lightning Baseball (Lakeland, FL) takes the #9 spot after an excellent showing at the Elite 32 going 6-2 and finishing tied for 5th Place. Their USSSA record finished at 53-20-2 with 4 tournament wins plus 3 Runner-up finishes.

10-Tie) The Sandlot All-Stars (Tempe, AZ) rounds out the top 10. They tuned in a solid performance at the Elite 32 going 4-4-1 against that slate of truly outstanding 10U teams. By our tally, their season record finished up at 63-11-2 against quality 10 and 11U teams while playing both USSSA, Triple Crown events and local Sandlot hosted events. They won 8 straight USSSA tournaments – another impressive accomplishment.

10-Tie) The Cave Run Muskies (Morehead, KY) share the #10 spot after finishing an outstanding season by winning the July 10th Rawlings International Salute to Baseball held in Disney, FL. They compiled a season record of 71-7 and won 7 tournaments along the way.