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Tournaments  | Story  | 5/29/2022

TBT Leans On One Another For Victory

Riley Sheppard     
Photo: Rivers Kurland (Perfect Game)
In a game like baseball, where ups and downs are inevitable, it can be easy to get discouraged. But for TBT Ballers 15U, the mindset is supporting their teammates through it all.

“The great thing about this team is if I have a young man who strikes out, the next guy is there to pick him up,” Head Coach Jorge Miranda said. “They’re always supporting each other, they’re always behind each other.”



That mindset was on full display in the TBT Ballers 15U National 7-4 win over Southern Squeeze 2025.

Right-handed pitcher Billy Bosser got the start on the mound for TBT. His fastball stayed consistently in the mid- to upper-80s, topping out at 88 mph, along with his curveball which capped out at 72 mph.

The Squeeze didn't waste any time getting in the hit column, as leadoff utility man Nicholas Gonzalez singled in his first at-bat off Bosser, and the game was off and running.

Following a stolen base from Gonzalez and a fielder's choice, he was standing on third, and two batters later a wild pitch brought him home for the first run of the game.

In the bottom of the first, a fielding error from Southern Squeeze, followed by two consecutive walks worked by Jackson Miller and Cameron Uzzillia loaded the bases for TBT with just one out.

With his team in great scoring position early in the game, Coy Allman delivered, singling out to center field to bring home Dayson Griffis and Miller to give FTB a 2-1 lead going into the second.

The Squeeze would not back down, though, with Anthony Filice reaching base in the top of the second and scoring following two fielding errors from TBT to tie things up once more at 2-2.

The runs would keep coming in the bottom of the second, as a Connor Berman single and back-to-back long at-bats that led to walks from Alan Hernandez Rodriguez and Griffis loaded the bases with one out in consecutive innings.

A heads-up play from Southern Squeeze tagged Berman out at home, but a double play attempt at first was out of reach of the first baseman and led to both Rodriguez and Griffis making their way home.

Down 4-2 in the top of the third with Gonzalez leading off, he once again would capitalize, singling out to left for his second hit of the game.

After a Gonzalez stolen base, Michael Pastrana reached base a couple pitches later and would too steal second to put him and Gonzalez in position to tie the game once more.

In a favorable 2-1 count, Jhon Kelly Peralta took advantage and hit an 84 mph fastball up the middle for his first hit of the game. The single would bring Gonzalez and Pastrana home to tie things up at 4-4.

TBT used a walk in the bottom of the third inning to force a Squeeze pitching change, and Rivers Kurland took advantage of it, sending a fastball deep into the gap for an RBI triple to give TBT the lead at 5-4.

It was not the go-ahead run that impressed Coach Miranda the most about the at-bat, but instead how Kurland picked up his teammate that batted before.

“Our catcher Coy Allman, our five-hole hitter, struck out. Next kid, Rivers Kurland comes up with a huge triple to put us up one run,” Miranda said. “That picks up the entire emotion and the entire energy in the dugout.”

Griffis would relieve Bosser on the mound in the top of the fourth, pitching three no-hit innings and striking out two in the process.

“You gotta go in and stay low in the zone and give ground balls and that’s what I did,” Griffis said postgame. “They had been seeing gas from the previous pitcher, Billy Bosser, all game, he threw a lot of first-pitch fastballs so I mixed in off-speed first pitches.”

TBT would add on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth to give Griffis a cushion and extend their lead to 7-4 and come away victorious.

Sitting at 4-0 in pool play, TBT will now look toward the championship bracket in hopes of taking home a Memorial Day title.
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