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The Pasadena Baseball Club 8U Dodgers faced a tall task in repeating as club champions, but they did what they had to do to get the job done.
The Dodgers came out of the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament to post two wins over the Orioles at Havenwood Park on June 16 and win the PBC championship for the second season in a row.
“I am extremely proud of the boys this year in winning the first ever back-to-back championships in PBC 8U history,” said Dodgers head coach Rick Friend. “This year we had five returning Dodgers from last year and added another seven to our family. This season could not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the kids and the parents. We asked a lot, and everyone gave 100 percent effort. Coming back out of the loser’s bracket and defeating the No. 1 seed twice to win the championship is a testament to the never-quit attitude that these kids have. They wanted to win the championship and nothing was going to get in their way.”
The team of Nate Lowe, KJ Ferguson, Dominic Waters, Bradyn Baker, Elijah Friend, Jayden Jackson, Derek Bland, Luke Carreker, Wilson Valentine, Carter Moody, Aiden Valentine and Connor Sachs, which was coached by Rick Friend, Kevin Ferguson, Kenny Baker, Rob Moody and Yancy Lowe, went 8-3 in the regular season to finish one game behind the Orioles.
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The Dodgers lost to Orioles in the semifinals to fall into the loser’s bracket but won the loser’s bracket over the Pirates in extra innings on a triple by Ferguson and a walk-off single by Carreker.
Needing two wins to claim the title over the Orioles, the Dodger offense exploded, pounding out 19 runs on 26 hits to win the first game 19-3, with Valentine leading the way with a team-high six RBIs. In Game 2, the Dodgers’ lineup again busted out, scoring 14 runs to claim the championship with a 14-2 victory. Baker had a team-high four hits in Game 2 to lead the Dodgers, while Bradyn Baker led the Dodgers with four hits in 14-2 victory.
Every Dodgers player had multiple hits in the two-game championship round sweep as the team muscled out an astounding 50 total hits in the pair of victories.
It was a continuation of the Dodgers’ offensively efficient regular season, in which they scored an astonishing 235 total runs. They had the 8U league’s only two players to crush over-the-fence home runs in Friend and Baker. Jackson was the team’s rookie of the year with a .630 batting average and 21 RBIs, while Baker (.852), Friend (.807), Valentine (.764) and Moody (.731) all had averages over .700. The team batted a collective .643.
“When we started the season, we had two goals: to give our kids a memorable experience while teaching the game of baseball and to demonstrate the results of hard work by winning the championship,” said coach Friend. “We accomplished both our goals, and I am confident that this season will not be forgotten by the kids or their parents. Dodgers Ready!”
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