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Tournaments | Championship | 1/24/2025

MLK West Brings Heat, Delivers Hardware

Hannah Jo Groves

Photo: Bruin Agbayani (Perfect Game)

MLK West Championship

14U

Over in Arizona, BTA 14U got the 10-0 victory over AZBC 2029 Pruitt for the championship title.

Coach Troy Silva said that his guys’ willingness to do whatever it took to aid the team was one of their winning traits.

“Some of the kids that normally wouldn’t pitch stepped up, and if they didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have made it as far as we did,” Silva said, mentioning Anders Jarvi as one of those who came through in a time of need. “Our hitting was on point this weekend and everybody provided at some point some sort of help to the team wins.” Silva said.

His son, right fielder JJ Silva, contributed 2 RBIs in the championship game, but also won the 14U MVP with 9 hits, a stolen base and 12 total runners batted in during the weekend.

“We’re a Christian organization, so we pride ourselves on trying to honor God with our attitude and our effort. [We] don’t take for granted everyday that [we] get to play the game that [we] love.”

15U

In the 15U division, an organization that has a legacy of winning this specific tournament added another notch to its belt - with Baum Bat NW 2028 getting a 7-5 victory over MMW Arizona Victus 2028.

Over the first few innings, Baum Bat NW steadily built a lead, then really got going, getting 4 runs in the the fifth inning and making the score 7-0. Though MMW fought for a comeback, scoring 5 runs in the top of the seventh, it wasn’t enough to catch up.

Right fielder Cameron Hockett and designated hitter Beau Johnson led their team in runners batted in - each contributing 2 in the championship game.

Hockett had himself a weekend - standing out with 10 hits, 7 runners batted in and 3 stolen bases.

Though his physical game looked to be strong, he said it’s his mental game he’s been working on.

“I just had a lot of confidence and was just thinking, ‘I can beat you and you can’t beat me.’ I used to have not a lot of confidence, like this fall. But I was just having a lot of confidence and just thinking that I was going to get on and not thinking I was going to strike out or just do something bad.

[This weekend] I struck out, and popped it out, and I just let it go. I realized if I get mad, then I’m just gonna affect myself, because my team needs me, and if I just get mad at myself, then that’s hurting me.”

Hockett said that his dad and brother have helped a lot with making sure his mind is right.

“My dad always talks about the mental side and how on and off the field, I need to be mentally strong…not let my emotion get the best of me.”

Beyond focusing on his mental, Hockett credited the team’s attitude as a big reason for them getting to the championship match - which is especially impressive as this team hasn’t known each other very long.

“If somebody struck out, we’re just picking them up and not moping around if something bad happened. I mean, we scored every inning like we were supposed to, and just played the game the way we’re supposed to…I think the way we just clicked and how fast we clicked - and not getting down on each other no matter how bad or terrible we’re doing - we didn’t ever get down on each other.”

17U

In a game that could have gone either way all the way down to the bottom of the seventh, NorCal U 2026 snatched the 10-9 win over Baum Bat NW 2027 for the 17U title.

In the bottom of the fifth, right fielder George Schmitt stepped up to the plate and knew he needed to do something big in order for his team to get the lead back, as they had just gone down 5-4.

“We were down at that point and they brought in a new pitcher right before I went to hit. I was just thinking, ‘get a run. Get two runs in or something.’ And I was just hoping sac, fly or base hit at least, and I got a little bit more than that,” Schmitt said.

He did, in fact, get 2 runners across home plate with a double to center field. Schmitt also tacked on one more RBI after being intentionally walked in the bottom of the seventh. It was the only intentional walk of the contest.

However, even after that offensive momentum from NorCal U 2026, Baum Bat NW added 4 more runs in the top of the sixth.

Though NorCal U 2026 had the MVPitcher on their team (right-hander Jp Harmon with 6 innings pitched, 9 strikeouts and 1 earned run on the weekend), he had reached his pitching limit by the championship game. So they brought right-hander Griffin Messenger up to the mound with all three outs left in the top of the sixth.

Messenger didn’t allow any earned runs through 35 pitches in 2 innings. He worked in the low-80s with his fastball and mid-70s with his slider to get the job done for his team.

“When I got called up to pitch, I was like, ‘the team needs me. I’m the last guy to throw,’” Messenger said. “I just stepped up and threw some strikes and trusted my infield and outfield. At the last batter, I was like, ‘I just need to turn this double play.’ I had runners on first and second, and I just thought to myself, ‘I’m going to second if the ball comes back to me.’ And it did. [I] made a sweet play, my shortstop made a great play and ended the inning. Then from there, energy was up.”

It was Max Medina who stepped into the box in the bottom of the seventh hoping to get his team the walk-off win.

“I was just excited because, man, this is what makes baseball fun,” Medina said. “Having that moment - it doesn’t come around often, but when it does, it’s important to take advantage of it.”

Medina did take advantage of the moment with an RBI single to right field - bringing in the runner that sealed the championship for NorCal U 2026.

When it comes to potentially stressful moments, Medina is no stranger. He credits his experience playing quarterback as the main reason that he doesn’t let the nerves get to him.

“I’d say football is a lot of these pressure moments for sure. Having to be a leader on the field - you gotta perform when it’s crunch time. So, these moments in baseball, they don’t come around a lot, but when they do, it kind of just feels like I’ve been there before and I’m not really too nervous. I’m more excited if anything.”

While a lot of the members on this NorCal U 2026 team have played together for years, Messenger and Medina were somewhat new on the squad.

“I knew all these guys by name, of course, because they’re all studs,” Messenger said. “But the chemistry is really awesome. The banter is there, but it all shuts down. When we’re on the field, we’re all focused. Obviously, there’s some jokes here and there, but we always pick each other up. There’s never one guy left out. It’s a team game out there with them…[our coach] always makes it welcoming for any and every player that comes in. He brings together all of California, not just NorCal. He does a great job incorporating everybody and he makes it a really fun time for all of us.”

“I came into this tournament not really knowing a lot of people, and then I came out of it having made some good friends and getting along with the guys. That was fun,” Medina said. “You always just got to put yourself out there. I made a couple of new friends that I really like hanging out with. So, yeah, that was awesome.”

Finally, the Baum Bat NW Upperclass, who won last year, took the title again this year against the Mountain Lions 18U - the final score being 8-0.

The major standout from the entire weekend was Bruin Agbayani - who had 8 hits, 17 runners batted in, 3 stolen bases and 4 home runs on the weekend. It’s easy to see why he won MVP for the tournament.

The MVPitcher of the tournament also came from this Baum Bat team in left-hander Logan Sanchez. With 12 strikeouts in 8 innings pitched and no earned runs, he was a force to be reckoned with on the mound.

In the championship game, it was left-hander Alexander Lopez who facilitated the shut-out victory. In 5.2 innings, he threw 65 pitches, striking out 7 batters with a low-80s fastball, a mid-70s curveball and a mid-70s slider.

“My mindset was simply to get ahead of hitters and then keep attacking the zone and let my defense do the work,” Lopez said. “I had a great defense behind me, so I just let them make the plays and that’s what they did. They were making the routine plays. [They] weren’t overthinking…I had my full trust in them to make any play when needed.”

There’s a seemingly simple concept that Lopez said has helped him tremendously through his pitching career:

“Taking deep breaths is one of the things that I’ve done for a long time. Being able to take deep breaths when things don’t go your way and maybe a bad call happens, you just kind of know how to flush it and go right after the next pitch.”

On offense, Agbayani, catcher Isaac Pfeifer and first baseman Connor Johnston each contributed 2 runners batted in throughout the championship match.

“I felt good. My mindset there was just, ‘if it’s in my zone, drive it in.’ That’s what I did,” Johnston said.

Lopez said that the 4-year relationship that he has with some of his teammates was a big part of their success in this tournament.

“A lot of us, we were practicing with each other for a couple years now and we’ve been working all off-season. So the relationships are definitely there.”

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Tournaments | Story | 12/16/2025

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