Fresh off of their wood-bat tournament victory, the LVBA Lightning 10u Team completed their 10-year-old season with the Xtreme Diamond Sports World Series in San Diego, CA. They spent the entire week in San Diego, getting a taste of what it is like to travel and play baseball every day. At the week’s end, their final record was 1-3-1, a record that could easily have been in their favor and doesn’t justify a week of quality baseball. Aside from a few mishaps, the boys played a competitive week of baseball, showcasing many bright spots.

In game 1, Kenji O. had a strong performance on the mound, giving up 0 earned runs in 4 innings. After a few errors gave Menace Baseball the lead, Kyle J. hit a clutch 3-run homerun to give the lead back to the Lightning. Unfortunately, the game ended in a tie. Game 2 came with a dominant pitching performance from Kyle J. and his battery mate Jake M., and a hot bat from Luke L., but late game errors gave the Roxx a lead that the boys could not recover from.

In game 3, the boys’ bats exploded for 17 runs and a dominant victory. Luke L. threw well on the mound, Brady S. had a triple to the fence, Michael B. looked like a natural behind the plate in his first tournament game catching, and JJ S. continued his hot streak at the plate. Game 4 came with early game giveaways to the Aztecs that created a deficit too great for the boys to recover from. Nevertheless, Xzavian J. had a masterful performance on the mound that would make any pitching coach proud.

In the first game of bracket play, the boys faced their toughest challenge of the tournament in West Coast Baseball. Alfonso C. threw an incredible game on the mound, mixing both of his pitches well. Eli A. and Ethan S. continued to have lockdown weeks on the left side of the infield. Justin C. did not have his strongest week on the field, but he impressed the coaches by encouraging his teammates and being a verbal leader in the dugout. The game came down to the final out, with runners in scoring position, but the boys ran out of gas, as they lost 6-4.

Overall, San Diego had its share of ups and downs, but the boys played competitive baseball for a whole week. There were no blowouts or blowup innings, just poorly timed defensive miscues that created adversity. With each setback, the boys showed great fight, fueled by their desire to win. Mental toughness is a quality this team has been working on, and they definitely had their moments of true grit this week. As they move forward into their 11u year, hopefully that grit will stay, and the defensive lapses will continue to minimize, and this team will truly turn into something great to be a part of.