The two teams joined the 10-under Southern Jaguars of Atlanta (GA) and the 12-under East Cobb Astros of Marietta (GA)--both from the National Amateur Baseball Federation--as the first teams to qualify.
The four-day tournament will be played at Gameday Baseball's First Tennessee Fields in Memphis from August 21-24 and will crown national champions in the 10-under and 12-under divisions, which include more than 100,000 teams. Future plans call for the tournament to include as many as eight different age groups.
At Disney's Wide World of Sports® complex on Saturday, July 19, it took only four innings for Florida District's Chet Lemon's Juice--coached by the former American-League All-Star--to defeat Florida District's Tampa Titans, 11-1, in a run-rule victory for the 10-under AAU national championship.
In the first three innings, the Juice had built a 9-1 lead with the Titans' single tally scored in the second inning by Tyler Wood. Fans rose to their feet in the top of the fourth as the Juice' Garrett Milchin smacked a home run over the fence.
As AAU National Champions, members of Chet Lemon's Juice were awarded first-place medals as well as championship banner. The runner-up Tampa Titans received second-place medals and a team plaque.
In the SUPER SERIES 12-under National Division Championship at First Tennessee Fields in Memphis, the Germantown Giants from Germantown, Tennessee, defeated the SC Spartans Gold from Liguna Niguel, California, 13-1, in a run-rule victory. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning, Michael Fitzsimmons cracked a bases-loaded double to dead center to score three runs and the Giants never looked back. Fitzsimmons' two-bagger was one of six consecutive Germantown doubles.
Spartans' manager Jared Sandler admitted his team "simply ran out of pitching" while battling their way from the losers' bracket to the title game.
Ironically, the Giants had previously lost to the Spartans, 8-7, in pool play. While the Giants banged out 13 hits in the championship game, pitcher Jonathan Phipps held the Spartans to just one hit in the shortened run-rule victory.
Germantown Catcher Shane Tucker was named tournament Most Valuable Player. In the all-star game that followed the championship, he uncorked a 300-foot home run that soared over the 268-foot center field fence.
"This was one of the best tournaments in the nation this year," said Giants Manager Mike Fitzsimmons. "There were some great teams here. We're honored to be representing Super Series Baseball and we look forward to the tournament of champions next month."
The "National Youth Baseball Championships" will be the initial effort of the "Major Youth Baseball Alliance, LLC." The MYBA is a newly formed company comprised of eight major youth organizations, including AABC (American Amateur Baseball Congress), AAU (Amateur Athletic Union of the United States), Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, NABF (National Amateur Baseball Federation), Pony Baseball, Super Series Baseball of America and USSSA (United States Specialty Sports Association).
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