May 03 2012|16:07 PM

This past weekend’s 9U TBL Spring Rundown featured some incredibly talented teams, including the Tomateros, Oakley Stingrays Green, San Diego Stars, VSA Vipers, Baldwin Park Roadrunners, Pegadores, and Oakley Stingrays Black.

In Saturday’s pool play competition; all eyes were on the game between two nationally ranked teams, the Tomateros and San Diego Stars. The game could only be described as a classic pitcher’s duel and was tight from start to finish, ultimately ending in a 1-1 tie.

Sunday’s action was quite the opposite though as the VSA Vipers and BP Roadrunners played to an absolute slugfest that saw 31 runs cross the plate. By the time the dust had settled the Vipers stood tall with a 20-11 victory.

The next matchup of Sunday pitted the SD Stars vs. Stingrays Black for their second time of the tournament. In Saturday’s pool play the Stars bested the Stingrays by an 11-4 final, but this time around it was a different story. The Stingrays blasted their way to 14 runs, and sent the Stars packing by a final score of 14-4, moving on to face the Vipers in the semifinals.

The Stingrays continued to roll, beating the Vipers 7-2 and moving on to the championship against the Tomateros. The Tomateros were fresh off an 8-1 victory over the Pegadores and were hungry for the championship title, but the Stingrays had plans of their own.

With both teams cruising through bracket play in dominant fashion, the stage was set for a great championship. Both teams looked as evenly matched but it was the Stingrays who came to play. They came out of the gate swinging and hammered home nine runs in the championship game. Their pitching again came up big and held the Tomateros scoreless and the Stingrays walked away as champions.

Dante Jackson led the Stingrays’ offensive efforts, hitting to a .600 average on the tournament with 3 home runs and 9 RBI.

Other Spring Rundown Champions

6u

Champions- So Cal Outlaws

Finalist- SGV Hustle

7u

Champions- West Covina Monarchs

Finalist- Pico Pride

8u

Champions- Torrance Tribe

Finalist- So Cal Mulisha

By Matt Carl

Youth1.com

"Devoted to Youth Sports"