Three straight for the 9U Lincoln-Way Prospects Travel Baseball team as they follow up their tournament wins in Rockford, IL and Joliet, IL with a road trip to Rock Island, IL for the Quad City USSSA Global NIT.
The Prospects advanced through pool play versus the Iowa Hurricanes (IA) and Burlington Xplosion (IA), and then sailed through the quarter-finals to be paired against Iowa's #1 nine-year old team, the Dubuque Sting. The semi-final brought the best game in the entire NIT that hosted more than 100 teams at various age levels, as the game went into three extra innings of play, with the Prospects winning the marathon 13-12 in nine innings!
The championship game at the 9U level featured a previously unbeaten Lenz Field Warriors Blue team from Jacksonville, IL, who held the #1 State Rank in Illinois, versus the Lincoln-Way Prospects, who had climbed to the #2 USSSA Rank in Illinois after their victories in Rockford and at the Major Elite NIT in Joliet earlier in April.
The Prospects started a right-handed pitcher, and then made a move to a left-hander in the third inning, which proved to be enough to hold off Lenz Field for a 16-11 thriller on Sunday, May 1st! The young, relentless team continues to compete all skill levels and execute solid fundamental defense, with few walks issued to opponents. The team is batting over .400 on the season as well.
The 9U Global NIT field for USSSA included a list of perennial powerhouses, and established teams that included: Lincoln-Way Prospects, Lenz Field Warriors Blue, Quad City Hitmen, Dubuque Sting, Iowa Sticks Red, Rock Island Reds, Cedar Rapids Red, Iowa Hurricanes, Burlington Xplosion and Frozen Ropes.
The game is monumental for the Lincoln-Way Prospects, who are the only District #210 team to bring a high State rank through USSSA to the area into May 2011. The Prospects have done this at all age levels, holding spots at the same time, with the 9U now #1 in Illinois, the 10U squad moved to #2 in Illinois and the 11U squad remaining at #2 in Illinois. More importantly, with over 15 games played in tournament action, all three teams hold a national top 100 for power ranking with USSSA. The 9U squad moved to #32 in the nation, and #4 in the US Midwest region. 11U has moved to 39th in the nation, #2 in their region and 10U held onto 89th in the nation. The 9U squad will hold on commanding State point lead and regional 2nd for USSSA, nearing 775 points with updates. The 11U program held a 24th national team ranking through TBS through May 2nd, 2011.
For more information on the progress of this District #210 baseball organization, visit www.lwprospects.com
PHOTO TAKEN BY: Kari Middleton
Back Row Standing: Scorekeeper/Bench Coach Ken Ferree, Coach Kevin Aikens, Head Coach Steve Korbel, Coach Armie Gasbarro, Coach Tom DeVries and Mentor Jeff Darche
Middle Row: Jackson Ferree, Nathan Durling, Bryan Avalos, Alex Gasbarro, Liam Higgins, Justin Aikens
Front Row: Jacob Randolph, Kenny Middleton, Timmy Darche, Tanner Smid, T.J. Devries, Sean Malpeli
