Dunedin Travel Ball Team Finishes No. 2 in State Championship

The Dunedin Diamondback 13-and-under team came from behind to finish second in Nations Baseball Florida State Championships in Clearwater last weekend (Dec. 3-4).

"I was very proud to see our team rebound after losing the pool play game on Saturday morning," said manager Rick Kroeger. "The boys really pulled together to beat some very good teams."

The D-backs didn't let an early Raiders' (North Tampa) lead set the tone of their their championship match-up. The score was 6-0 at the end of the first inning, but in the third inning, the D-Backs rallied, coming within a run to the Raiders (6-5). Connor Dabeck, Ryan Connolly, Jake Sessa, Tyler Heath, Nick Lumpkin and Erik Freeman each had hits. However, strong pitching and hitting from the champion Raiders outmatched the D-Backs as they fell 13-5 in five innings.

This second-place finished follows the team's . This is the team's first full year as a travel baseball club.

Quarterfinal Recap:

Pitcher Tyler Heath led the D-Backs to victory against a tough Land O' Lakes Viper team 10-2. Heath pitched a complete game and gave up just one earned run and struck out seven batters in 6 innings. The D-Backs were down 2-0 at the start of the fourth inning, but hits from Heath (2 in the inning), Cameron Kroeger and Erik Freeman helped pull them to a 6-2 lead. Heath blanked the Vipers the last two innings.

Player highlights: Heath, three hits; Kroeger, two hits and three RBIs, Freeman, two hits and two RBIs; Dylan McMonigle, three walks; Max Downey, scored two runs and got on base twice; Nick Lumpkin, two RBIs and scored two runs; and Ryan Connolly, two hits.

Semifinal Recap:

The D-Backs jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning against a tough and experienced Brooksville Bombers team. D-Backs Pitcher Nick Lumpkin held the lead through the fifth inning. The Bombers had been chipping away at the lead when they caught up to them with a tying 2-2 run, finally taking it away in the last inning.The D-Backs were down 6-5 in the team's last at-bat. Cameron Kroeger led off with a line drive single to left, Kylan Franjesivic followed with a perfect bunt single. And with one out, Ryan Connolly singled to load the bases. Jakob Sessa worked a bases-loaded walk to bring in a run to tie the game. The tension was mounting as Tyler Heath came to bat with the game tied at 6, one out and the bases still loaded. Heath wasted no time and rocketed the first pitch into the left center field gap to bring home the win for the D-Backs.

Coach's Stats from Elimination-Round Games:

• Overall: Tyler Heath, .625 batting average, four RBIs; Ryan Connolly, .571 batting average, two RBIs, three runs scored; Erik Freeman, .571 batting average, three RBIs; Cameron Kroeger, .428 batting average, three RBIs; Nick Lumpkin, .428 batting average, four RBIs; Dylan McMonigle, .555 on-base percentage; Jakob Sessa, .444 on-base percentage, two RBIs; Connor Dabeck, two hits, three walks, four runs scored.
• Pitching: Tyler Heath, six innings pitched, one earned run, three hits, seven strikeouts; Erik Freeman, two innings pitched, one earned run; Nick Lumpkin, five innings pitched, five earned runs; Max Downey, four innings pitched, four earned runs, three strikeouts; Jakob Sessa, two innings pitched, three earned runs.
• Defensive MVPs: Connor Dabeck, utility; Ryan Connolly, catcher; Erik Freeman, centerfield; Jakob Sessa, right and left field.

The 13-U Diamondback team: Connor Dabeck, Ryan Connolly, Jakob Sessa, Tyler Heath, Nick Lumpkin, Mike Johnson, Max Downey, Dylan McMonigle, Mike Milford, Cameron Kroeger, Kylan Franjesivic, Erik Freeman.

(Rick Kroeger provided all the information for this report.)