On a beautiful Mother’s Day Weekend in Lakewood, CO, the Colorado Rage 12U showed up ready to play all weekend.
In a pair of games that were close the entire time, the Rage won both of their pool play games in walk off fashion defeating Vipers Select 11-10 and Thunder Academy Red 8-7. Moving into the single elimination bracket round, the Rage and Viper’s Select were to face off once again.
In the early morning game, the Rage were determined to get off to a good start. The Rage got out to a 9-1 lead over the Vipers in the second inning. The Vipers responded in the third inning scoring 4 to cut the deficit to 9-5, but an inning later, the Rage would score 2 more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to seal the game. Jack Reeves started on the mound and in an excellent outing threw all five innings allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and striking out 4.
After a one game break, the Rage faced off against the Golden Grizzlies. Micah McPhail got the ball for the Rage. The Rage scored early by putting up two runs in the first inning, but Golden responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half. From there, it was all Rage. The Rage offense exploded for five runs in the third, and 12 more in the fourth punching their ticket to the championship round with a 19-5 win.
The championship matchup was set, the Colorado Rage against the Brighton Predators. Burke Withycombe got the start for the Rage. After a scoreless first inning, Brighton got on the board with three runs, but the Rage answered in the bottom of the second inning with 7 runs giving them the lead after two innings. In the third, Brighton scored four runs to tie the game up and posted 5 more runs in the fourth. The Rage fought back, but was unable to overcome the deficit and lost the final game of the tournament 10-12.
The Rage finished the weekend at 4-1 and made their first championship game appearance of the season.