After 3 weeks of intense training, the 2018 12u team began their road to Cooperstown with a tournament in Heber City, Utah.  The boys came out blazing against the CV Orangemen putting up 4 runs in the 1st inning of the tournament showing they were ready.  The longest tenured member of the team got things going as Sebastian L scorched a double to right center, which was followed by line drive RBI hits by Cooper, Vincent R and Brayden S,  Kaleb S made that lead stand up until the 4th when the Orangemen took a 5-4 lead, and added a couple of runs late to take a 9-4 victory.

Game 2 was against the Idaho Hawks and the team came out hot again with 2 quick 1st inning runs.  Robert C had one of his best offensive games with 2 hits and 3 quality at bats, and Kaleb S snapped out of his slump with a key 2 run double.  Brayden S took over from there as he followed that up with 6 shutout innings.  In his longest outing of the season, he faltered in the 7th as the Hawks came back and tied the score at 4 and then took the lead in the 8th.  However, this time Brayden S stepped up offensively, with a walk off 2 run single with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th for an exciting 6-5 victory.

Sitting at 1-1, the team had a tough early morning matchup on day 2 against eventual tournament champions, the UC Tigers.  The Tigers jumped out early 9-0.  The boys showed their heart and battled back to a 9-5 game, but eventually fell 14-5.

Next up for the team was tournament 1 seed, Idaho Prime.  The boys were looking at a daunting task to finish pool play 2-2, and Devon G decided he would lead the way.  In his best game of the season, Devon G held the Prime in check over 5 plus innings and he departed with an 8-4 lead.  The Prime battled back, but Sebastian L came in to close the 8-7 victory.  The team had their most consistent offensice game of the season scoring in every inning.  We were paced by Sebastain L with a 3 hit, 2 RBI game.  James O provided lineup depth with 2 hits and 2 RBI.  A lineup switch between Brayden S and Kaleb S provided punch as they reached base 5 times, scored 3 runs and had 2 RBI.  Sean S and Lucas S also provided key RBIs.

The win put the LVBA team at 2-2 for the weekend, and the 4 seed heading into the playoffs with a rematch against the Idaho Falls Hawks.  On Saturday, the Hawks were the better team and eliminated the team with a 15-1 win.  Despite the loss, the team played good, competitive baseball all weekend.  Brayden S, Devon G and Sebastian L paced the way offensively with 5 hits each for the weekend, while Cooper and Vinnie R provided timely hits in the middle of the lineup, while James O provided depth with a good weekend as well.  Mikah S and Lucas S added key defensive depth for the team this weekend in an area which has been a weakness for the team in the past, and are confident their offense will be an added bonus for the team moving forward and we are now within 3 weeks from departing to New York!!!