Double-Dip: 14U Cardinals Win Club, County Championships

By Colin Murphy

Solid pitching, aggressive base-running, clutch hitting, and a knack for battling back from deficits powered the Green Hornets 14U Cardinals to a pair of championship victories this month.

On June 9, the Cardinals defeated the Lake Shore Cardinals, 6-5, to secure first place in the 14U C Division County Championship (officially clinching the title with a 13-8 win over PAL on June 20). On June 13, the Cardinals upended the Yankees by a score of 9-6 to take the Green Hornets 14U Club Baseball Championship. The victories put an exclamation point on an outstanding season for the Cardinals, who along with the championships completed an undefeated season at 14-0.

Head Coach Mickey Beall attributes his team’s dual championships and overall success to the players’ unrelenting work ethic. “We told them day one that there were only two reasons to play: have fun and win,” said Beall after the victory over the Yankees. “They could do both as long as they gave their absolute best effort every time they stepped on the field, and they kept their end of the bargain.”

The Cardinals’ best effort was needed against an extremely competitive field in the Green Hornets Club Championship tournament. The Cardinals nearly saw their title hopes dashed by a punchy Nationals squad in the tournament semifinal at Shipley’s Choice Elementary on June 7. The visiting Nationals stunned the Cardinals through five and a half innings by jumping out to a 5-0 lead, pushing the Cardinals to the brink of elimination.

Despite having never faced a late-inning deficit at any point this season, a poised Cardinals lineup put together a big sixth inning to get right back in the game. Brad Carson led off and reached on a line-drive single. A three-run home run by Jack Muscovich and a two-run shot by Andrew Candella powered a seven-run sixth for the Cardinals, who took a 7-5 lead into the top of the seventh.

After the Cardinals surrendered a run to the Nationals and allowed the go-ahead runners to reach base, Noah Beall got the final three outs on strikeouts to clinch the thrilling, 7-6, come-from-behind victory and a spot in the club championship.

Before the Green Hornets Club final, however, the Cardinals had to take care of Lake Shore in the de facto county championship game, with the winner taking full control of first place in the county league. At Shipley’s Choice on June 9, a low-scoring, see-saw affair saw Severna Park and Lake Shore exchange leads six times. With the score tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Alex Stutz doubled, advanced to third on a dummy bunt attempt by Muscovich, and scored the game-winning run on a throwing error by Lake Shore’s catcher. The nail-biting victory gave the Cardinals the 14U C Division County Championship and a full head of steam going into the Green Hornets Club Championship against the Yankees.

In the Club League Championship at Shipley’s Choice on June 13, the Cardinals again saw their title dreams slipping away, falling behind early. Trailing 4-0 going into the bottom of the fifth, a leadoff walk by Carson was followed by RBI base hits by Beall, Muscovich, and Joe Gottermeyer, and just like that, the Cardinals regained the lead, 5-4. They followed with another big rally in the sixth on the strength of a leadoff walk by Carson and RBIs from Beall, Chris Heaton, and Brandon Hardesty. By the end of the inning, the Cardinals had scored four runs to take a 9-4 lead.

After allowing two runs over the final two innings, closing pitcher Beall shut the door on the Yankees’ comeback attempt in the seventh, and the Cardinals captured their second championship of the week with a 9-6 victory.

“They played for each other and not for themselves,” said Coach Beall of his group, emphasizing the team saw production throughout the season and playoffs from the entire lineup of Stutz, Hardesty, Carson, Heaton, Muscovich, Candella, Gottermeyer, Noah Beall, Tommy Ryan, Matt Luzier, Jimmy Cropper, Jake Gilinsky, and Justin Gabbard; and outstanding pitching from Luzier, Muscovich, and Noah Beall.

“We had a great bunch of kids,” said Beall of his team. “They never failed to exceed expectations.”