Twins Rally to Defeat Phillies, Win AAA Title

The Ashcraft & Frazier Orthodontics Twins twice rallied from deficits to defeat the Big Dave’s Deli Phillies 13-7. The Twins were lead by the strength of Eli Everson’s arm as he pitched 4 2/3 innings and, along with closer Caleb Berrong, held the high-scoring Phillies, who had been averaging 16 runs per game, to their lowest run total of the tournament.

The Phillies started the game fast by taking advantage of a couple of infield hits by Kyle Harmon and Jacob Hoyes and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning. In the second inning, Sam Gillespie hit a booming double to left and later scored for the Phillies to increase their lead to 3-0. Meanwhile, Pace Weitkamp held the Twins scoreless for the first two innings while pitching brilliantly.

The Twins finally got on the board in the top of the third as a walk to Cole Darrow and then consecutive singles by Cullen Sullivan and Bobby Robinson got a run across. Orin Edwards then hit a bases clearing double to tie the game at three. The Phillies came right back in their half of the third by tacking on 4 more runs with Cole Wiseman, Will Walker and Weitkamp singling in runs to take a 7-3 lead.

After the Twins closed the gap to 7-5 after consecutive singles by Luke Shelton and Eric Herbst in the 4th, the Twins pulled ahead and broke the game open scoring 8 runs in the 5th. Graham Shelton opened the inning with a double and Kevin Berrong became the first of 5 consecutive walks. Luke Shelton, Herbst and Joshua Satterfield then hit consecutive singles to close the scoring.

Meanwhile, Everson did not allow another run after the 3rd inning and had 7 total strikeouts. Caleb Berrong came on in the 5th and also did not allow a run the rest of the way. Berrong, Darrow and Tate Eugenio also performed well behind the plate as they were instrumental in not allowing any runners on third to score on passed balls.

The Phillies were lead by Pace Weitkamp’s four strong innings on the mound and Kyle Harmon’s relief pitching. Sam Gillespie was the hitting star for the Phillies with a double and a single.

Pictured are:

Front Row L to R Kevin Berrong, Eric Herbst, Tate Eugenio, Cole Darrow, Bobby Robinson

Middle Row L to R Asst Coach Brad Sullivan, Cullen Sullivan, Graham Shelton, Orin Edwards, Luke Shelton, Eli Everson, Caleb Berrong, Joshua Satterfield, Mgr. Randy Eugenio

Back Row L to R Asst Coaches Mike Berrong and Tracy Darrow ; absent Nathaniel Lin