skip navigation

5 Blizzard teams finish in top three in three different national tournaments this weekend

02/16/2015, 9:45pm CST
By Blizzard Staff

Blizzard 18u and 14u win program's 44th and 45th title

14u / 7-0 / Champions at RMSB Tournament

A walk-off grand slam sealed a 26 win and three-championship season for the 14u Minnesota Blizzard in St. George, Utah.
 
This tournament was by far the best I have seen this squad play all year. Every single player in the order had quality at-bats throughout the seven-game tournament, which forced the squad to bat all 12 players the entire tournament.
This team is made up of about four or five lead-off guys and about seven or eight meat of the order type guys.
 
The Blizzard walked through pool play scoring 45 runs in the first four games, and things never seemed to slow down. During Championship Monday, the Minnesota Blizzard played three games all which ended early due to a substantial lead. The Minnesota Blizzard outscored their opponents 41-6 in the Championship Bracket.
 

It looks as if there is nothing but potential in the upcoming years for the Minnesota Blizzard Program. The 14u closed off their official season with a 26-4-1 record.

15u Blue / 2-2 / Ripken Baseball Tournament

15u Black / 3-2 / 3rd Place at Vegas Valley

16u Black / 4-1 / 3rd Place at Vegas Valley Tournament

 
16 black went 4-1 in route to a 3rd place finish the Vegas Valley tournament.  They cruised through pool play with a strong hitting and pitching effort through out the first 4 games as they outscored opponents in the first 4 games 44-6.  In game one the Blizzard had to rally back from a 3-1 deficit but the bats heated up in the 6th inning when the Blizzard plated 7 runs to put the game out of reach cruising to a 11 to 6 win.  Top performers were Zach Smith 3-4 with 2 RBI, and also adding 2 hits were Mocchi, Palmer, Conlee, and Eichelberger.  In game two Blizzard jumped out early with 6 in the first and second innings leading to a 15 run rule after 3 innings.  Top performers were Tyler Stilp 3 for 3 and Cameron Keenan also added to hits as the entire Blizzard line up contributed pounding out 12 hits in 3 innings.  Joe Cable had a huge day pitching 2 shut out inngins and picking up 2 hits and 5 RBI.  In game three the bats stayed hot as the Blizzard totaled 13 hits in their 5 inning route of the Utah team 8-0.  Zach Smith was dominant on the mound going the distance giving up 2 hits and striking out 4.  Top hitters were Josh Peterson, Trent Palmer, and Reid Conlee who all had two hits.  Game four was more of the same as the Blizzard started fast and didnt look back as they scored in every inning in way to 10 to zero win over the team from Washington.  The Utah Blizzard players combined for a 3 hit shut out with Breck Eichelberger going the first 3 striking out 2 and Matt Kitchen pitched the 4th and struck out the side.  Reid Conlee pitched a the fifth giving up 1 hit and striking out 2.  On offense it was once again a balanced attack for the Blizzard as they picked up 8 hits with Tyler Stilp leading the way going 2 for 3.  The 4-0 record gave the Blizzard the one seed and their pool and allowed them to advance to the championship bracket.
 
The semi final game was an instant classic that can be seen on ESPN de Ocho on Sunday Feb 22nd at 8 PM as the Blizzard Black battled Grenn Valley Baseball in a back and forth 10 inning affair that had many dramatic moments.. Blizzard black took a 2-1 lead after the second inning and that scored held until the 4th when Green Valley took advantage of some Blizzard mistakes defensively to plate 4 runs to take a 5-2 lead.  The Blizzard would show some fight answering back with one of their own to cut the lead to 5-3.  In the 6th the game would get really interesting as Vegas Valley scored 1 to regain the 3 run lead heading into the bottom of the inning.  With time limit looming this would be the last chance for the Blizzard to rally and as they have done all year they would find a way to get it done.  After a lead off walk by Mocchi and a single by Laciskey the rally was started. Joe cable would single with one out to plate Mocchi to cut the lead to 2.  After a Eichelberger flyout with runners on 1 and 3rd the Blizzard would take advantage of the misplayed flyball by Kitchen to score one and set up Keenan with runners at 1st and 3rd down one.  Keenan delivered a solid single to tie it up and with runners on 1 and 2nd Tyler Stilp hit a lazer single to left field but Kitchen was thrown out on the play.  With the game in extra innings Joe Cable was stellar in relief as he didnt allow a run in the next three innings.  The Blizzard would have several chances to win the game but were unable to get the big hit to get the job done.  In the 10th inning Green Valley would take advatage of a Blizzard error and plate the eventual winning run as the Blizzard were not able to answer in the bottom half and fell 7-6.  This game ended up being the toughest test for the Green Valley baseball as they went on the easily win the championship.  The Blizzard got strong performances on the mound from Matt Kitchen and Joe Cable.  Kitchen threw the first 4 striking out 5 and giving up 2 earned runs, Cable was light out in relief giving up 1 earned run and striking out 8 in 6 innings.  Top hitters were Keenan who had 3 hits in the game.  Palmer also added two hits and once again the Blizzard got productive at bats up and down the line up.  This lost ended a very successful season for the Blizzard which included a 1 tournament win and two 3rd place finishes in Vegas.  

16u Red / 6-1 / 2nd Place at RMSB Tournament

18u Red / 3-1 / RMSB Tournament

Red rebounds after tough start to tourney

 
The 18u Red team had a little trouble getting out of the starting blocks in St. George. The Dixie Flyers came out swinging and put up a 4 spot in the top of the first. Starting pitcher Ryan Fox did a great job adjusting to the aggressive style of the opposing hitters and was able to keep us in the ballgame. However our bats didn't show up and we lost 8-1.
 
From there we righted the ship with a stellar outing from SP Dylan Deruiter. He allowed only 1 run and struck out 12 in just six innings of work as we took game two 6-1. Jackson Buelow and Eric Pearson led the way offensively, each going 2-3 with 2 runs scored.
 
Game 3 was a two part affair. A solid Gate City team jumped out to a 6-1 lead after 3 innings. The boys needed an adjustment in their energy level as they didn't show much life. In the top of the 4th, the Red squad put up 9 runs to take a 10-1 lead. The boys hung on as Cody Hepfler put together a solid outing and battled to keep us in the game early. Mason McMahon went 2-3 at the plate and struck out the only batter he faced to preserve the 10-6 victory for the boys.
 
The last game of the tourney was an all around team performance as multiple players contributed offensively. August Anderson started on the hill and threw five strong innings with 5 K's. Mike Jacobson was solid in relief with 2 strikeouts while earning the save. 
 

Overall it was a good tournament for us. We went 3-1 but it wasn't quite enough to advance as we gave up too many runs along the way.

18u Gold / 6-0 / Champions at Ripken Tournament

Game #1 vs. Amsterdam Rams

Trevor Moses led the way at the plate going 3-3 with a double.  Clayton Bodine also had two hits including a double, and Nic Onomiya was the other multi-hit game with two hits including a triple.  Tyler Fredlund stole 2 bases and scored 3 times.  Sam Carlson threw the first two innings and struck out four.  Nathan Odahl came on in relief for two innings and also struck out four.  Pitchers combined to throw a one-hitter (an infield single in the 4th inning).  
 
Game #2 vs. CAPS Stars
Tyler Fredlund was the only player with multiple hits going 2-3, stealing 3 bases, and scoring 3 runs from the leadoff spot.  Jacob Rhinesmith walked twice and scored twice while stealing 2 bases.  As a team we stole 10 bases.  Clayton Bodine had the only extra base hit of the game hitting a walk-off triple in the bottom of the fifth.  Lawson Zenner threw four strong innings striking out 9.
 
Game #3 vs. Seahawk Baseball Club
Tyler Fredlund and Trevor Moses combined to throw a perfect game!
 
Game #4 vs. LP Warriors
In a must-win game to win our pool the LP Warriors gave us a tough game.  The Blizzard ultimately came out on top 5-4.  Eze Encarnacion had the big hit for the Blizzard in the 5th inning giving us our first lead of the game and a lead we would not relinquish.  Jacob Rhinesmith and Brock Anderson had multi-hit games leading the way offensively.  Nathan Odahl had a strong start going 5 innings and striking out 5 while getting a no decision.  Brock Anderson got the win in relief for the Blizzard throwing 1.2 innings of relief.  Sam Carlson came on to record the final out of the game and get the save.
 
Game #5 vs. Calvert Cutters
Tyler Fredlund set the tone offensively going 2-3, stealing 3 bases and scoring once.  Will Rog and Eze Encarnacion also had multi-hit games.  Sam Carlson threw a gem in this semifinal game throwing 6 innings and striking out 7.
 
Game #6 vs. Rookies #2
Lawson Zenner had an MVP performance on the mound throwing a CG on 75 pitches striking out 6 against the tournament runners up.  John Price and Eze Encarnacion were the only players with mulit-hit games in the championship.  
 
It was a great (and chilly) weekend in Myrtle Beach.  Everyone on the team stepped up at different times throughout the tournament when the team needed them most.  We played solid defense all weekend only committing 5 errors.  All of our pitchers did an outstanding job of attacking the strike zone and working ahead.  We ran the bases aggressively all weekend and led to us scoring the most runs in the tournament while giving up the fewest.

Tag(s): Test