The 12U Orion Chargers entered the Frankenmuth Baseball Tournament on June 9-11, hoping to win a few games, have fun and gain experience. They came away with a perfect game and a tournament championship.
The Chargers played a very good Frankenmuth Eagles team on Friday night and scored in the first, third and fifth innings, while holding Frankenmuth hitless.
With great pitching, timely hitting and superb fielding, the perfect game seemed within reach for the Chargers.
In the top of the sixth inning, the first two Eagles flew out to the infielders. The final batter swung and missed the third strike and the Chargers had their perfect game, winning 6-0.
A perfect game is when no batter reaches base, not even on a walk. This is very difficult to achieve especially considering the normal amount of hits and walks for this age group.
The Charger pitchers teamed up for ten strikeouts while the Eagles only managed one ball hit to the outfield.
The second game was against the Flushing All-Stars, who scored twice during the first inning. The Charger pitching and defense held the All-Stars in check while aggressive base running and some key hits paid off for the Chargers, and they won 6-2.
The Howell Highlanders proved a tough challenge for the Chargers in the third game. The Chargers scored four in the first, two in both the second and sixth innings, to go on top.
Howell did not go down easy, even loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. It took a strikeout and a double play to give the Chargers the 8-5 win.
The championship game would match Frankenmuth against the Chargers again.
This game was a pitcher’s duel from the start. Each team scored two in the fourth inning, and that would hold until the bottom of the sixth, when the Chargers scored the winning run to win the tournament.
Every team member contributed with either key hits or tough defensive plays.