Strong Pitching and Defense Lead to Baseball Championship in Charlotte

By Jerry Glasco

The Hartland Eagles Blue U13 travel baseball team over came bad weather and tough opponents using some strong pitching and a staunch defense to win the Charlotte Baseball Club’s Early Season Kick-off Tournament.  The Eagles got off to a rocky start giving up 5 runs in the first inning of the first game to the 131 Baseball Club from Traverse City.  However, they were able to shut down their offense the rest of the game and scored 4 runs in the bottom of the last inning to take a 7 – 5 victory.

Hartland next faced the Lakeshore Storm from Traverse City.  Both teams had exceptional pitching that game with Hartland prevailing 3 – 1.  The turning point in the game was a rare 9 – 3 – 5 double play (right fielder to first base to third base) that ended a Lakeshore scoring threat.

The Hartland bats exploded in the third game as they put 16 runs on the board in 3 innings against the Ann Arbor Astros.  Strong pitching limited Astros to one run.  This win assured Hartland a spot in the championship game. 

Hartland faced the host team from Charlotte in the championship game.  Much like the first two games, this game featured solid pitching performances from both teams.  The Hartland hitters eventually wore down the opposing pitchers with some quality at bats and a couple timely suicide squeeze plays.  Hartland won the championship game 8 – 3.