The Southeast Elite outbattled teams from Wagner, Brandon Valley, Yankton, Vermillion, and Mount Vernon to win the Avon 12U tournament.
GAME ONE:
The Elite got off to a fast start against the Fusion when Harper Kracht, Rowan Brandt, Kensley DeVries, Johanna Namminga and Stella Ratzlaff all walked. Emersyn Haenfler then hit a hard single up the middle making the score 4-0. The Fusion got one run back in the 1st and two in the second to tighten the score to 4-3. The Elite scored one in the 3rd when Rowan reached on an error, stole second, and was driven in by a single by Kensley. The Fusion scored one in the 4th making the score 5-4. In the top of the fifth the Elite salted the game away when Sydney Johnson tripled and was driven in by a single by Harper. Rowen then singled and Kensley reached on an error. Then with two outs, Emersyn homered to right field making the score 10-4. The Fusion added one in the 5th to make the final score 10-5. Harper was on the mound and pitched 5 innings, striking out 4 and walking 4.
GAME TWO:
Elite found themselves in the hole 2-0 after the first inning against the Venom. This lead was short lived as the Elite scored 13 in the bottom of the first. Harper Kracht had two hits in the first and Stella Ratzlaff, Emersyn Haenfler, Ashley Soukup, Kensley Devries, and Johanna Namminga all added singles in the first. The Elite scored 4 more in the 2nd with the big blow being a triple by Rowan Brandt scoring 3. Keira Fathke drove in one more run with a sacrifice fly. This ended the game by mercy rule with a score of 17-2. Harper pitched the first inning, striking out one while Emersyn pitched the last two innings, striking out 5 of the 6 batters she faced. This put the Elite in first place in Pool A, destined to meet the winner of Pool B for the championship.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
The Elite faced the Flamze from Vermillion. The Elite fell behind 1-0 in the first. However, in the bottom of the inning, they tied the score when Sydney Johnson singled and was driven in by a double by Kensley DeVries. In the second inning, Stella Ratzlaff was hit by a pitch followed by a single by Shaeleigh Grant, a double by Macy Haynes, singles by Sydney and Harper Kracht and finally a homerun by Rowan Brandt making the score 7-1. In the bottom of the fourth, the Elite scored 4 when Harper reached on an error and was driven in by a single by Rowan. Kensley walked, Johanna, singled, and Stella Ratzlaff followed with a grand slam homerun making the final score 14-2. Harper pitched four complete innings on the mound, striking out one while surrendering only 3 hits. The Elite played excellent defense in the entire tournament!