 After a year when youth baseball teams had the summertime blues, it’s time to look forward to blue skies in 2021!
Come to the Rocky Mountains for the Triple Crown World Series, the dream location for a title run where the competition is strong and the cool mountain air is a real treat for all members of the family. Each event features a five-game guarantee, double-elim playoff brackets, and a dozen free Baden baseballs, with no gate fees or umpire charges. Steamboat Springs, CO July 20-25 11u, 14u, 13uD2 Event Details Steamboat Springs, CO July 27-Aug. 1 8u, 10u, 13u and 13 Elite Event Details Park City, UT July 19-24 9u, 12u and 12 Elite Event Details Get penciled in TODAY and start planning your trip that combines a fun family destination as well as exciting championship-level baseball! Contact Matt Pilcher at (970) 672-0562 or matt@triplecrownsports.com.  We're teaming up with former MLB player, current motivational speaker and music producer CJ Beatty! CJ and Triple Crown are dedicated to creating unique, positive and inspiring messages! Each week, CJ's Scouting Report will cover topics aimed at players, parents and coaches. EPISODE #1: Meet CJ Beatty You can expect future topics to include:
If you have a topic you would like CJ to discuss, drop a comment after watching an episode. Learn more about CJ, follow him on social media and download his music by clicking below:  Start making plans to join us in Arizona for the 2021 Arizona Spring Championships held during MLB Spring Training! We are now offering 5 sessions all with 4 or 6 game options.
In 2020, we sold out with over 400 teams from 20 different states before COVID-19 put an abrupt end to the event. We are looking to rebound in a big way in 2021 as we expect teams will be eager to get back down to Arizona to enjoy the nice spring weather and MLB games. SESSION #1 March 4-7, 2021 Scottsdale, Gilbert & Phoenix DI & II: 8u -14u EVENT DETAILS SESSION #2 March 8-10, 2021 Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Fountain Hills DI & II: 8u -14u EVENT DETAILS SESSION #3 March 11-14, 2021 Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Fountain Hills DI & II: 8u -14u EVENT DETAILS SESSION #4 March 15-17, 2021 Scottsdale, Gilbert & Phoenix DI & II: 8u -14u EVENT DETAILS SESSION #5 March 18-21, 2021 Scottsdale, Gilbert & Phoenix DI & II: 8u -14u EVENT DETAILS  Start planning now for the 2021 Omaha SlumpBuster!
We are expecting a sell out much earlier this year as more than 140 teams have already transferred their 2020 registration to the 2021 SlumpBuster. After losing the 2020 College World Series and 95% of the Omaha SlumpBuster tournament field due to COVID-19, you can bet teams will be chomping at the bit to attend the 2021 SlumpBuster and CWS! Dates and details are now posted for all four sessions! SESSION #1 June 17-20, 2021 9u - 14u 4 or 6 Game Options SESSION #2 June 21-23, 2021 11u - 14u 4 Game Guarantee SESSION #3 June 24-27, 2021 9u - 14u 4 or 6 Game Options SESSION #4 June 29 - July 1, 2021 13u, 15u/16u & 17u/18u 4 Game Guarantee  Now is your chance to win a chance to have Public Address legend Alan Roach record your team's introductions! Below are the rules for how to enter: About Alan Roach
Alan Roach is a professional sports event announcer whose credentials include 12 Super Bowls, six Olympics, World Cup Soccer and more than 28 years as announcer for professional sports teams including the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, and Colorado Rockies. Roach has helped many youth sports teams find that BIG LEAGUE sound for player introductions, goal calls, and year-end banquet videos. CLICK HERE for audio and video samples and contact information for Alan Roach. Prices are very affordable for youth team budgets and turn-around time is speedy. Grab a BIG TIME sound for your team!  To our customers, clients and friends,
Much like the rest of the nation, Triple Crown Sports is working through the moment-to-moment challenges and obstacles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, doing our best to confront today’s news while also keeping an eye on the future. With the office closed in accordance with public health requirements, our event directors have attempted to make the most of working remotely — reaching out to hundreds of coaches and parents and listening to how teams and families have been affected. Our appreciation of community has deepened as we’ve learned more about what you need, and what you want to see happen next. We are as eager as you to get back on the playing field, but until then, know that we are working diligently to develop new events and opportunities for you and your families to look forward to once these arduous times are over. After 35-plus years in the event business, Triple Crown has seen tough times before and always emerged with more insight and determination to give you valuable, memorable experiences. As it stands, our event schedule through mid-April has been cancelled. We will continue to update you on events in late April and May as new information is presented. If you have questions about specific events please feel free to reach out to the event director. Through all of this we hope you and your families stay safe and healthy. Sports will return, and when they do, Triple Crown will be ready to deliver. - Keri King CEO, Triple Crown Sports  The drought is finally over -- for the first time in 2020, the bats finally got going in Texas.
The Texas Season Opener saw a total of 280 teams arrive in the Dallas Metroplex area for the first weekend of Triple Crown Baseball in the Lone Star State. In a three-game minimum tournament and a single-elimination playoff bracket, coaches had the opportunity to get a look at their new lineups, and players from 7u-14u squads battled for early season bragging rights. One of the biggest highlights in the Texas Season Opener was the invite-only 14u D1 Invite bracket. After both teams handed each other a loss earlier in the tournament, Dulins Dodgers Prime (Godwin) and Dallas Texans-Nalley survived and advanced their way in the playoffs en route to the 14u D1 Invite championship game. In the championship showdown, the Dodgers’ completed a 3-0 shutout of the Texans and took home the tournament’s most prestigious trophy. READ MORE >> 14u Invite The Dodgers were the big winners of the weekend as their 12u team also took home hardware. The only other programs to take home multiple championships were the Texas Edge from Granbury, TX in both the 11u D2 and D3 brackets, and also 5 Star Performance out of Longview, TX at 12 D2 and 14 D2. On the other 14u D1 side, the Oklahoma Mudcats swept through the competition in Texas with a perfect 5-0 weekend. In the championship game, the Mudcats held on to a 5-4 victory over their in-state competition, Fuel Baseball. In back-and-forth action all game, the Mudcats took a 2-0 lead, but Fuel Baseball claimed the lead 3-2 in the third inning. The Mudcats reclaimed the lead later in the game and never looked back, as they were crowned champions. READ MORE >> 14u D1 After a great weekend of baseball, this Triple Crown baseball season looks to be off to a high start. Congratulations to all the champions of the Texas Season Opener! 7u: Frisco Riders - Rae (Frisco, TX) 8u: TCR Bobcats - Deevers (Roanoke, TX) 9u D2: Texas Rattlers - Brown (Flower Mound, TX) 9u D3: Texas Baseball Club (Durant, OK) 10u D1: Arlington Twins (Arlington, TX) 10u D2: West Texas Mayhem (Hamlin, TX) 10u D3: Enemy (Plano, TX) 11u D1: Canes Southwest – Berry (Decatur, TX) 11u D2: Texas Edge - Taylor (Granbury, TX) 11u D3: Texas Edge - Carroll (Granbury, TX) 12u D1: Dulins Dodgers - Godwin (Melissa, TX) 12u D2: 5 Star Performance - Copeland (Longview, TX) 12u D3: Colleyville Texas Trouble (Colleyville, TX) 13u D1: Academy Select - Ingram (Allen, TX) 13u D2: TC Cougar Elite (The Colony, TX) 13u D3: Coppell Cowboys Red (Irving, TX) 14u D1: Oklahoma Mudcats (Choctaw, OK) 14u D1 Invite: Dulins Dodgers Prime - Godwin (Frisco, TX) 14u D2: 5 Star Performance - Moran (Longview, TX) 14u D3: Cooperstown Cobras - Tinius (Fort Worth, TX)  by Joseph Fragano
CARROLLTON, TX -- The Oklahoma Mudcats are champions of the 14u D1 bracket of this year’s Texas Season Opener after beating Fuel Baseball, 5-4, in a nail-biter of a final Sunday evening at McInnish Park. It looked to be a pitcher’s duel after three scoreless innings for both teams. Mudcats starter Pryce Bender had a particularly good night on the mound. Bender threw three scoreless innings to start the game for the Mudcats and said his command of the strike zone was the key to his performance. “My curveball was working,” said Bender. “I was locating, hitting my spots, and doing what I could just to get outs.” The Mudcats (Choctaw, OK) struck first in the bottom of the third after Ty Parker’s RBI single up the middle broke the scoreless tie. The Mudcats scratched another run across the plate to take a 2-0 lead after three innings. Parker said his approach at the plate was simple; put the ball in play. “It was 0-0 with a runner on third and I needed to get it done,” he said. “He threw me a fastball down the middle and I just hit it up the middle." Fuel Baseball (Edmond, OK) responded with an offensive outburst of their own. The Fuel hitters capitalized on several key errors by the Mudcats and jumped out in front with a 3-2 lead of their own. The lead would not last for Fuel. In the top of the fourth the Mudcats scored on a bases-loaded hit batter, an error, and a fielder’s choice to see-saw back in front by a score of 5-3. Mudcats coach Shawn Norman says his team has pitched well lately, but their ability to come through at the plate with runners in scoring position was the key to this championship victory. “All weekend we threw strikes,” he said. “This is our first tournament, so you always worry about that but (Sunday) we had enough timely hits to win.” Fuel mounted a comeback attempt in the sixth inning, closing the gap to just one run after scoring on a passed ball, but ultimately stranded the tying run on third base. The Mudcats would go on to shut the door in the seventh inning. Both teams were air-tight defensively during their two pool play games Saturday; the Fuel allowed zero runs, and the Mudcats gave up just two runs.  By Lary Bump
GRAPEVINE, Texas – Right-hander Ian Garza was the losing pitcher for Dulins Dodgers Prime (Godwin) when Dallas Texans-Nalley rallied to stay alive in the Texas Season Opener 14u D1 Invite. No problem. With the championship on the line Sunday at the Texas Season Opener, left-hander Ian Garza came out of the bullpen to save the Dodgers’ 3-0 shutout of the Texans. As a parent in the stands said, “same pitcher, different arm.” Garza, you see, is ambidextrous. “I’ve always been able to do it,” he said. “I’ve thrown more right (handed) over time, but I’ve been getting more left. I threw the same pitches with both, and I’m as comfortable with each. “As a kid, my dad just assumed I’d be a righty. I would just do things lefty because I was natural-born lefty and now I just throw with both.” Chris Godwin owns the Dulins Dodgers program at Diamond Kings Baseball Academy in McKinney, TX. It is affiliated with the Performance Sports Institute in Memphis, founded by former minor league infielder Tim Dulin. Growing up there, Godwin played for the original Dulins Dodgers. He later was a catcher in summer college baseball in the Northwoods League. “(Garza’s) very special,” Godwin said. “His poise on both sides is fantastic. But with that, there’s extra work. Now he has to get bullpens from both sides.” What Garza doesn’t get are separate innings limits from the left and right sides. His total from the two sides combined can’t exceed the innings limits of right- or left-handed-only pitchers. “There’s a little strategy from the coach’s side for managing that process,” Godwin said. Sunday's drama began with the 3:00 14u Elite title game between the Dodgers and the Texans; the Texans won, 4-3, to force the "if" game in the double elimination format. Coming off that one-run, complete-game loss, Garza started the 5:00 final in left field. In the third inning, he tripled home the first run and scored the second of the three that proved to be the game’s only runs. Winning pitcher Matthew Mainord pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits. Garza then retired six of the seven batters he faced. The Dodgers are likely to be traveling this summer. “We’ll go all over the country,” Godwin said. “If they continue to progress, we’ll continue to put them in the right events. As crazy as it sounds, some of these guys will have an opportunity to start the college recruiting process.” Dallas Texans-Nalley spent most of Sunday at windswept Oak Grove Park Field H on the shore of Grapevine Lake fighting their way back after Dulins Dodgers handed Nalley its first loss, 3-1, in the 11:00 a.m. opener. In the losers’ bracket final, the Texans trailed Texas Stix 2024-Boughton 7-1, and then 9-4 after 3½ innings. They scored twice in the sixth but still trailed 9-6 in the time-limited last inning, the bottom of the fifth. Caleb Watkins tripled home two runs and scored the tying run on a single by Jack Sharp. With one out and the bases loaded. Zach Pearrow dribbled a slow roller down the third base line, and Sharp took home a 10-9 win when the ball couldn’t be handled. Dulins Dodgers appeared to need only one game to take the title when they scored three runs in the first inning and put their first two batters on base in the second. Cameron Randall relieved starting pitcher Pearrow and pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings. In the meantime, the Texans scored two runs in the third inning and another in the fourth before taking a 4-3 lead on Matt Millett’s fifth-inning sacrifice fly. It wasn’t over yet. The Dodgers loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the seventh. Then Kendyl Johnson got a 2-0 count from Randall. Layton Nalley relieved Randall and threw his first pitch high and way wide of the plate. He settled down to get two called strikes. On the 3-2 pitch, Johnson lifted a fly ball to left field that Watkins caught to set up the winner-take-all "if" game. The Dulins Dodgers-Godwin 12u D1 team also won a championship, defeating Dallas Tigers Reynolds, 8-4. “I coach both teams,” Godwin said. “Unfortunately, I can’t be at two places at one time, but we’ve got a great staff. We’ve always got another good pair of hands.”  by Tanner Puckett
The AZ Diamond Dawgs rode a stellar starting pitching performance and a seven-run inning to an 8-7 victory over the Chandler Stars (AZ) in Sunday’s 12u championship game at the Arizona Spring Championships. The two teams, both from the East Valley area of metro Phoenix, have faced off several times over the years. On this occasion, the Diamond Dawgs (Queen Creek, AZ) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a triple by Cameron Mitchell and an RBI single by Nolan Agostini. They lost that lead just once after a rough top of the fourth, loudly reclaiming it with seven runs in the bottom half of the inning. Diamond Dawgs starting pitcher Zach Bolles puzzled the Stars’ bats for most of the afternoon, striking out nine over 4 1/3 innings. He was charged with four earned runs on four hits, one walk and a hit-by-pitch. “He’s our big horse,” Diamond Dawgs head coach Jason Cronin said. Asked if he took any special preparations for the game, the only one was rest. “I was actually sick this morning,” Bolles said. “So the first two games I sat on the bench and just hit, just to get ready for this game.” Eli Cramer-Cronin’s relief of Bolles in the fifth inning was the final pitching change made by the Diamond Dawgs. He pitched out of trouble twice, allowing an inherited runner to score in the fifth before getting the last out and stopping a sixth-inning rally after three runs scored to end the game. “We go to Eli to finish things up,” coach Cronin said. “It got a little rough, but he handles that pressure. We’re gonna stay with him to the end.” After falling behind 2-1 after a home run from the Stars’ Ryan Hardwood, the Diamond Dawgs focused in on striking quickly. Cronin told his team there was a lot of game left to be played. A seven-run fourth inning proved to be enough to put the game out of reach. “We got a couple of key hits and then it was just enough to hang on,” Cronin said. “Because we knew they were going to keep coming. We’ve been playing these guys for a long time and that’s what they do.” That fourth inning saw the Diamond Dawgs collect five hits and two walks to post the seven-spot, primarily on the back of a three-run home run by Cayden Hokanson and a grand slam from Marley Chancey. The players echoed their coach in terms of approach. Hokanson’s homer came first on a 2-2 breaking ball and put the Diamond Dawgs back on top, 4-2. “His curveball was good so I was expecting him to throw it to me, and he kind of just hung it,” Hokanson said. Chancey’s grand slam was the hit that put the game out of reach. “I was just looking for my pitch to drive,” Chancey said. “Needed those runs.” The win was an important one for the Dawgs, both in the context of the 12u championship and in the bigger series with the Stars. Even though they’re close in proximity and go toe-to-toe often, there’s a lot of respect between the two teams. Cameron Mitchell, who went 3-for-3 for the Dawgs with a triple, stolen base and two runs, said the competition is a fun one. “It’s always been close games and it’s always been a great experience playing baseball with them.” |
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