Vikings 9U Black Team captures title in Maryland

The South Brunswick Vikings 9U Black Team took their show on the road this past weekend to Aberdeen, Md., to play in the Midsummer 9U Classic at the Cal Ripken Complex.

Facing teams from all over the country, the Vikings took on Saxonberg, Pa., in a nail-biter, finding themselves down, 4-2, in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Vikings loaded the bases for Nick Trautwein, who followed with a grand-slam homer to propel the Vikings to a 6-4 win.

The Vikings then met the Cal Ripken Reds from Staten Island, N.Y., and when it was all over the Vikings were victorious, 11-7.

On Sunday, the Vikings ended their pool play by facing and defeating the Catonville Cubs from Maryland, 13-7.

Going 3-0 in pool play, the Vikings won their bracket and earned the No. 2 seed out of 12 teams entering the tournament.

They then had to play the Franklin Square Colts from Long Island, N.Y., the No. 3 seed, for the right to play in the Cal Ripken Championship game. Following a lead-off homer by Sean Nally, the Vikings never looked back, defeating the Colts, 14-11.

The championship game pitted South Brunswick against a very tough Tidewater Bombers team from Virginia - the only other unbeaten team in the tournament - and what a game it was. The Bombers jumped on the Vikings early, scoring three runs in the first and two in the second innings, before the Vikings answered back to tie the game, 5-5, in the third. The game continued to go back and forth until the Vikings opened it up with a bases-clearing triple from Andrew Delacruz, the game MVP. The final score was 12-8, giving the Vikings a well-earned championship.

Strong pitching was received from Garret Byrne, Sean Nally, Andrew Lavender, Nick Trautwein, Kevin Kessler, Nick Montagna and Aidan Rogers, while excellent offense, as well as defensive play, came from Hunter Rule, Riley Harris, Onaje Davis, John Sawyer, Andrew Delacruz, Sean Nally, Garret Byrne, Nick Montagna, Kevin Kessler, Aidan Rogers, Andrew Lavender and Nick Trautwein.