After sweeping through the Babe Ruth 12U District Tournament June 12-15 th in Levelland, and a good showing at the State Tournament June 21-22 nd in Andrews, the Levelland 12U Major All-Star Team qualified to participate in the Babe Ruth Southwest Regional Tournament in Starkville, Mississippi July 1821.
The All-Star Team was comprised of Ian Tucek, Bash Bordayo, Noah Mireles, Malaki Mancillas, Colby Sainz, Gael Santos, Ian Olivo, Colton Buxkemper, Hunner Tomasini, and Logan Brown. The 12U Majors were coached by Josh Brown, Veronica Muniz, and R.J. Mireles and team manager Hayley Brown.
The Levelland Team opened play on Thursday by defeating Pine Bluff Arkansas 7-2 highlighted by good hitting, turning two double plays, stealing eight bases, and committing no errors. Ian Olivo drew two walks and scored two runs. Bash Bordayo pitched 4 innings allowing 5 hits with 6 strike outs.
Later on Thursday Levelland fell to a strong Semmes Alabama team who eventually went on to win the Tournament Championship. The final score was Semmes 12 Levelland 4, but considering up until the championship game Semmes outscored their opponent 57-7, Levelland played them well.
On Friday Levelland Majors played Florence Alabama, losing 17-6 in undeniably their worst outing of the tournament. Along with committing three errors, Levelland pitchers couldn’t seem to find the umpire’s strike zone, allowing 16 Walks compared to just 1 for Florence. Levelland again stole many bases, turned two double plays, and Ian Tucek went 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs and a run scored, Bash went 2 for 3 scoring 3, so there were some bright spots.
Later on Friday Levelland played their local rivals from Plainview in a thriller. It was a pitching dual until the bottom of the 3 rd when Plainview took a 2-0 lead. Levelland came back to score one in the 4 th and three in the 5 th to go ahead 4-2, but a grand slam in the bottom of the 5 th gave Plainview the 6-4 win. Colby Sainz and Logan Brown led the hitting. Colby went 2 for 3 with one run and one RBI, Logan went two for two with one run. Ian Tucek pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up just 5 hits while striking out 7.
Saturday morning the Levelland Majors began bracket play and the game came down to the wire playing West Point Mississippi. Levelland trailed 5-1 in the 4 th but tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the 4 th thanks to a solo homer by Malaki Mancillas, a single by Hunner Tomasini, a walk by Logan Brown, and a single by Colton Buxkemper. West Point took the lead 6-5 in the top of the 5th.
Logan Brown drew a walk and stole 2 nd with two outs. Colton Buxkemper came up to bat, and Logan appeared to score the tying run after a wild throw from the catcher to 3rd and Logan advanced home but was called out at the plate.
After review, the home plate umpire had initially called the play foul, but for whatever reason let the play continue and called the runner out at home. Logan was sent back to 2 nd , Colton resumed his at-bat, and singled on a hard grounder to center, scoring Logan from 2 nd to tie the game 6-6 after 6 innings.
In the top of the 7 th West Point grounded into a double play to Shortstop Logan Brown and flew out to Centerfielder Ian Tucek. After 7 it remained tied 66.
Top of the 8 th West Point grounds out Brown to Mancillas, flies out to Buxkemper, and grounds out Brown to Mancillas for the 3 rd out.
Bottom of the 8 th Noah Mireles draws a walk, Hunner Tomasini singles on a hard grounder to 3 rd , Noah advances to 2 nd . With no outs, Logan doubles on a fly to left scoring Noah in walk-off fashion. Levelland Majors win 7-6.
Levelland immediately turned around to play Woolmarket Mississippi. Colby Sainz led the hitting going 2 for 2, Levelland walked six times, stole eight bases, and turned one double play. Bash Bordayo pitched 4 innings only giving up 4 hits and a strikeout.
Colton Buxkemper made the most defensive plays with four, and Gael Santos also had a strong defensive showing. After just going 8 innings in the previous game, the Levelland Majors ran out of gas and Woolmarket won 5-3, eliminating Levelland from the tournament. Levelland can be proud of how these young men represented our community. After each of the first five games (Pine Bluff, Semmes, Florence, Plainview, and West Point) either parents and/or coaches came up telling us how well our team behaved, how classy they were, and well disciplined. The Levelland 12U Majors would like to thank all the businesses and everyone who sponsored them to help with their expenses to this tournament.