Dirt Devils place 9th in Cooperstown event
Aug. 16—The Sanford Dirt Devils won six straight at the 13th Cooperstown Dreams Tournament of 2022 before finally bowing out in an 11-7 loss to Prime Baseball in the quarterfinals of the 72-team tournament Sunday morning.
The Dirt Devils, competing for the first time in the fall season under that umbrella, had torn off victories in their first three games of the tournament last Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, they kept rolling in pool play, which they finished undefeated with a 10-6 win over the Wallkill Chargers and then a 12-0 blowout of Charlottesville United.
This gave them a number of byes in the championship bracket, which they entered at the round of 32 and scored another blowout, beating the PWC Pioneers 18-2 in their only Saturday game. But on Sunday, the Dirt Devils led 6-1 after one inning and 7-3 after two, but were unable to score anymore after that. Prime Baseball scored three in the third and five in the fifth to overtake Sanford and advance to the round of eight.
Prime Baseball, a Florida team that had lost two games in pool play, had put a new pitcher into the game after the first inning, and he allowed just one hit and one run the rest of the contest. Most of the team's runs came off home runs, of which Prime hit eight. The fields at Cooperstown Dreams Park were very reachable for 12U players, and many home runs were hit throughout the tournament. The Dirt Devils, even though swinging for their fences isn't really their style of play, won their first six games of the tournament and hit three homers of their own in the loss to Prime. Luke Waters' three-run shot in the first inning put the Dirt Devils on top 3-1, and then Tyler Mitchell hit a two-run homer later in the inning, followed by one from Easton Sykes on the very next pitch. The team's other run came in the second, when Charlie Beck walked and scored on a passed ball.
Beck had a monster game on Friday morning against the Wallkill Chargers, when he went 3-for-3 and drove in eight of the Dirt Devils' 10 runs. Beck staked the team to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as the game's second batter, after Ben Harrington had reached on an error. Beck went yard on a full-count pitch.
The Chargers briefly took a 3-2 lead, but Ryan Byrd singled in Aidyn Williams to tie the game in the second. In the third, Beck struck again after Harrington walked, stroking his second two-run homer of the game. In the top of the fifth, hits by Byrd and Tyler Mitchell pushed the lead to 6-3, and then Sam Taylor and Harrington singled to load the bases for Beck, who hit a grand slam.
The game with Charlottesville United wasn't much of a contest. After a scoreless first, the Devils built an 11-0 lead after three innings and a mercy rule ended it after four. Sanford hit five homers, one each from Caiden Cox, Beck, Mitchell, Waters and Harrington. No one on the team drove in or scored more than two runs. Harrington and Dallas Roberts combined on a two-hit shutout.
Beck stayed on fire in the first playoff game against the PWC Pioneers, a Pennsylvania team that went 4-1 in pool play and then won a playoff game to get to the Devils. However, they had run out of pitching depth and the Devils scored 13 runs in the first and five more in the second. The game was called after four due to the mercy rule.
Beck went 2-for-2 with a walk, hit two homers, scored three times and drove in six. Mitchell and Waters also each hit two round-trippers for the Devils. Mitchell drove in four runs and Waters three. Oliver Morrison and Chaz Vought, who didn't start the game, both came in and got a free pass and scored a run, with Waters, Taylor, Mitchell and Beck also having perfect days at the plate.
Brown and Roberts combined on a two-hitter.
The Dirt Devils ended the tournament in 9th place out of 72 teams from across the nation. They will return to action later this fall.
