Sunday, June 24, 2012
Denver, Colorado: The Happiest Place on Earth
By Valerie J. Calderon
The Omaha Pacesetters competed in the Memorial Day Super NIT in Kansas City. Hopes of qualifying for championship play on Monday were tempered by a loss out of the gate to Brett Brothers (3-4). The Pacesetters rallied and won the next two straight pool play games against the Minnesota Express (7-2) and the Oklahoma Jaxx (8-0). The team was ready to win a third straight game against the Rawlings Prospects on Sunday morning but was plagued by errors and overpowered by a determined Prospects offense. The team went home disappointed, failing to qualify for the finals.
The Pacesetters regrouped and prepared to travel to Denver, Colorado to compete in a second Super NIT tournament. The Pacesetters played two pool play games against local Colorado clubs Hitstreak Elite and Hitstreak Pro. The Pacesetters fell behind early to the Hitstreak elite in game one at Coca-Cola All-Star Park, but they showed a good deal of poise by coming from behind to win the game 11-10. The Pacesetters were down 6-11 and base hits in the bottom of six with two outs by Q. and Nate L. resulted in a tie game with Lucas R. at the plate. Lucas hit the RBI base hit for the energizing come-from-behind win. Lucas stepped up with Logan S. to help behind the plate. They stopped most everything and played tight defense.
On Saturday morning, the Pacesetters played a clean and competitive game against the Pro team. Defense was tight with great stops, including one backhand by Matt A. on three. On the mound, Eddie J. and closer, Logan L. held the Pro team to just one run. The Pacesetters won 4-1.
Bracket play began Saturday afternoon with a single elimination game. Because the Pacesetters allowed 11 runs in game two, they earned a third seed and were slated to play the six seed at Green Mountain High School. A persistent squall postponed game time, but it finally blew over, leaving everyone chilled and scrambling for blankets and chair covers for warmth.
The six seed was the Hitstreak Pro. Mitchel H. was on the mound, which was suffering from post-storm muddiness. Logan L. closed the game. The strike zone was tight with few pitches being called out or in and virtually no pitches called for strikes up. This served Hitstreak Pro well early on. The Pacesetters went down, and by inning five, it was looking like an early exit for the Pacesetters as they went down by five runs. If you haven’t heard this story, trust me, it was more intense than could be described here.
Down by five runs, and with the game and the tournament on the line, Will (aka. Wilber, aka. Willy C., aka. Willis) got ahold of the second pitch for a line drive shot to centerfield for a base hit. The rally was started. In the end, our pitching consistency throughout the game out-performed Hitstreak pitching, which quickly fell apart in the last inning.
Eddie J. walked, and then Logan L. walked, loading up the bases. Then Daniel V., who much prefers driving the ball to being hit by a pitch, was (to his dismay) hit by a pitch. Left-handed batter Q.V.A. had a clutch base-hit which resulted in two runs with the help of a critical Hitstreak defensive error. The Hitstreak could sense the serious and irreversible momentum shift. The Hitstreak intentionally walked Matt A. to load the bases. Nate looked at more poor pitches and walked in the tying run. Lucas R. was once again in the position to sew up a win, and with his walk, the winning run crossed the plate with no outs. The Pacesetters celebrated for a minute, and then mentally prepared for a 9 a.m. semi-final game against the Histreak Elite.
The Pacesetters warmed up and played the semi-final focused and on a mission. They won handily with Eddie J. on the mound. Eddie pitched the entire game, holding the Elite to four runs. The Pacesetters capitalized on mediocre pitching by the Elite and won the game 12-4. The Pacesetters watched an Orioles team from El Paso eliminate another home team, the RM Hitclub Rangers, in the second semi-final game.
The final game was Sunday afternoon against the Orioles. Q.V.A. was pitching and he held the Orioles to no runs for two straight innings. The Pacesetters scored their first run in the first inning. The Orioles got that run back in the third, and the Pacesetters answered by scoring 5 runs. With Pacesetters leading by 5, the Orioles bats kicked in during the fourth. Key defensive plays from Mitch at first to Drew at second for two outs helped quench the Orioles offensive momentum. With the score 5-4, the Pacesetters scored one more run on an Oriole error to go up 6-4. With Drew H. closing, the Pacesetters needed three outs to win. He showed nerves of steel, even with the opposing team screaming to distract him in the wind up. He struck out 2 of the final three batters, and the Pacesetters won the championship in convincing and classy fashion. This Pacesetter team for the first time earned a berth to the Elite World Series in Orlando, Florida, where they will compete against other top teams from around the nation.
Pat says, “I couldn’t be more proud of the boys. I asked them to bring their heart to the game and support the player next to them. I told them not to play for themselves, but to play for the guy sitting and standing next to them. That is exactly what they did.”
For the Boys
Things don’t always go as planned—not in baseball and not in life. But every now and then, when you put your body and your heart on the line, good things do happen. I’d like to think there was a little divine intervention this weekend, as the humble prayers of a few baseball moms were answered, but you guys deserve so much credit. You set a goal, and you put it all on the line to achieve it. Thank you for reminding us that good things happen when you simply refuse to give up. Congratulations, boys. You earned it.
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