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12u Lightning Win 2016 USSSA Winter Blast

By Dan Jaffe, 12/16/16, 3:15PM PST

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In December of 2014, the current LVBA 12u team lost in the championship of the Parade of Lights. In December of 2015, they lost in the championship of the Winter Blast. In December of 2016, the saying held true - "Third Time is a Charm." The 12u Lightning won the 2016 USSSA Winter Blast, marking their first December championship win in three tries. 

Going a little deeper, the 2014 Parade of Lights loss was to the Las Vegas Aces, a very good, scrappy, and well coached ball club. The 2015 Winter Blast loss was also to the Las Vegas Aces. Anybody have a guess of who the Lightning had to play in this tournaments championship? Yup! You got it. Not only was the third time a charm just on winning the championship, it was also the charm to beating the Aces in those same championships.

After going 1-1 in pool play, LVBA got the 3 seed going into the championship round, drawing a semifinal matchup with the 2 seed 11u Red Dragons. This incredibly talented and hard-nosed 11u team kept hanging around in a quality ballgame. However, the Lightning arms proved to be a little too much, leading us to a 3-0 win and a matchup in the championship with the Aces. The team put up a 3 run first inning, which apparently would be all that was needed for Tyler Tiedeman. In a 7-1 win, Tyler threw a complete game, only scattering 5 hits. Tyler was backed by some clutch offense, including a 2-run homerun from Nico Rivera.

This tournament is exactly what the doctor ordered for this team. The boys took care of business with what they needed to do, and sent the 12u team into the winter break on a high! After a few weeks off, all the Lightning teams will return to action. For this 12u team, they are now in the year that everybody looks forward to...COOPERSTOWN!

Happy holidays and a Merry Christmas to everybody!