Victor Vargas went 1-2 and Kyle Mott pitched four strong innings sparking West Raleigh, representing the Southeast Region, to a 7-3 victory in six innings over New England on Saturday to win the U.S. Cal Ripken Championship in Aberdeen, Md.
The team, with players from Raleigh, Cary, Apex and Holly Springs, will now play Japan Sunday at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network for the World Series. The tournament features the top 11- and 12-year-old Babe Ruth League players from around the world.
New England managed just two hits off of West Raleigh’s pitcher, Kyle Mott, who allowed one earned run, walked two and struck out six during his four innings of work.
The bottom of the second saw West Raleigh take an early lead, 2-0. A single by Adam Stuart, scoring Vargas started the inning off, followed by a run by Stuart off of a sacrifice fly by Jeff Griffin. New England tied the game in the top of the third with two runs by Kendall Greene and Austin Swanson.
West Raleigh didn’t relinquish the lead after scoring two runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Vargas and an RBI single by Stuart. After pushing across one run in the top of the fifth, New England faced just a 4-3 deficit. A solo home run by Austin Swanson sparked New England’s rally.
West Raleigh quickly matched New England’s strong inning with a three-run inning of its own in the fifth. West Raleigh scored on an RBI single by Mott, a walk by Vargas and an RBI single by Sam Highfill. West Raleigh closer Ryan Sholar put away the final six outs to record the win.
“It feels great to win, the boys played a great game today,” said West Raleigh manager Tyler Highfill. “Kyle [Mott] just had his good stuff, his breaking ball, it was working well. His fastball, he had good movement on it. Adam [Stuart] is a gem; he hurt his arm at the end of the regular season but he stuck with us at every practice and every game. Adam got back healthy to where he could hit and he really came through for us today. We are going to relish tonight but we will be ready for tomorrow.”
The CRWS is the culminating tournament of the Babe Ruth League’s 12u Cal Ripken Division. The World Series unites the 10 best teams from across the United States, with six international teams from Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, and the Republic of Korea.
Games are played on innovative fields at The Ripken Experience complex, including the one-of-a-kind Cal Sr.’s Yard, a two-thirds replica of Camden Yards.