Junior Trojans win May Madness tournament in Las Vegas
The Pahrump Trojans Club Baseball team are the champions of the 2023 Perfect Game 14U AA May Madness tournament that took place at Chaparral High in Las Vegas this past weekend.
The Trojans went 3-1 in the tournament, winning three in a row after a tough 4-3 loss in their opening game.
A rematch against the LV Fireballs, who had previously beaten the Trojans in the opening game, was slated for the semi-final matchup.
The Trojans won a pitcher’s duel 2-1 that showcased excellent defensive play and pitching by the Trojans. Pahrump’s starting pitcher, Charlie Maurer, went five innings, giving up one unearned run and striking out nine batters.
Relief pitcher Cody Fried came in for the sixth and seventh innings to close the game down, not allowing a hit and striking out three.
The No. 1 seeded Blackout Baseball from St. George, Utah advanced to the championship game to play against the Trojans.
The visiting Trojans’ bats came alive in the top of the first inning, bringing in three runs.
The offense didn’t slow down, scoring 11 runs off 17 hits as a team. They went on to win the game 11-7.
Fried led the Trojans on the mound and at the plate. He pitched 2 1/3 innings to start the game, striking out six batters. He went 4-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, five runs batted in and scored twice.
Fried was named the tournament’s MVP and the tournament’s MVPitcher.
Tony Whitney also went 4-for-4 with four runs scored in the Trojans’ lead-off spot. Paul Walker and Kevin Cardoza had two hits each and scored a pair of runs. Pitcher Aaron Rily closed the game out by striking out the final batter to secure the win.
Contact sports writer/editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com. Follow @_dannysmyth on Twitter.