Last weekend in the 12u Triple Crown Fall Nationals, the Lightning walked away with a 3rd place finish, after being downed by Team Colorado, a majors level team with players from three different top teams in Colorado. In the pool play round, the 12u Lightning beat that same Team Colorado 9-5 to open up the tournament, followed by an 8-0 win against Summit Navy, behind 2 home runs from Joey Schimick and a 4-4 output from Kody Bialas. In the last pool play game, the boys fell behind in the top of the 1st 6-0 to the Las Vegas Aces, and then were down 8-1 going into the bottom of the second. In the bottom of the fourth, the Lightning were able to scratch 3 runs across, sending the game into the 5th inning 8-4. After trading zeroes, the game went into the 6th inning, where Seth Lyons tossed his 6th inning of relief and posted yet another 0. Being down late is something that these boys are not afraid of, and they show time and time again their ability to fight back and win these games. After a leadoff hit by pitch of Sergio Jaramillo, two quick outs were recorded, leaving a runner on first with two away, still trailing 8-4. The inning then progressed as such: Seth Lyons single, Rolen Driscoll RBI single, Joey Schimick RBI ground-rule double, Kody Bialas 2-run infield single to tie the game, Nico Rivera walk, and Ethan Kelly with the walk-off RBI single to left, giving LVBA the 2 seed in the playoffs, before dropping the semifinal game 8-5.

This was a fantastic step in the right direction to begin the 12u season, and we are all extremely excited to see the continuation of the success that this team has shown for years.