Lake Shore 6U Tourney Team Takes First At Harundale, Linthicum-Ferndale

By Colin Murphy

The Lake Shore 6U tournament baseball team followed up an undefeated championship run at the Harundale Tournament in late June with another tournament championship at the Linthicum-Ferndale Tournament over Fourth of July weekend. The 6U team—manned by Aiden Wolfe, Agustin Murrillo, Nathan Born, Tyler Webb, Nate Matkins, Hunter Sellers, Mason Ambrose, Aaron Hawkins, Larry Hurst, Noah Bowerman, and Chase Garrett and coached by Marty Wolfe, Frank Matkins, Dave Born, and Rodney Mckenzie—swept through both tournaments in dominating fashion, going a combined 9-0 by playing stellar defense and outscoring their opponents by heavy margins in many of the wins.

Head Coach Wolfe was happy with the consistently high level of play delivered by his squad throughout both tournaments. “At Harundale, the guys were awesome defensively. They really came to play and never gave up even when they were down,” said Wolfe. “[At Linthicum-Ferndale] they had a lot of fun and continued to play stellar defense.”

Playing the Harundale Tournament at Corkran Middle School from June 24-27, Lake Shore made it to the tournament’s championship game on the strength of a potent offense, with multiple home runs by Murrillo and a grand slam by Born occurring in Lake Shore’s early round games. The 6U boys’ defense likewise was outstanding. “They caught more pop ups and fielded grounders better than a lot of kids their age,” said Wolfe. In the title game against the Harundale Tornados, a home run by Aiden Wolfe in the second inning sparked Lake Shore to an early lead, and the 6U boys cruised to a 15-1 victory, closing out the win on a spectacular sliding catch at third base by Born.

At the championship game of the Linthicum-Ferndale tournament against the Pasadena Eagles, Lake Shore jumped out to an early lead and stayed ahead thanks to stellar defense by Matkins on the pitcher’s mound, Webb at shortstop, and Sellers behind the plate. In addition to excellent defense by Murrillo, Born, and Wolfe, the Lake Shore outfielders also did an outstanding job in the field. Ambrose recorded an outfield assist by gunning down a Pasadena runner at the plate, and Bowerman, Hurst, Hawkins, and Garrett each made difficult plays in the outfield to stomp out Pasadena scoring chances. Lake Shore went on to clinch the championship by a score of 13-3.

“The coach and parent involvement made this team the success that it was. Truly a team effort by all,” said Wolfe of Lake Shore’s two tournament titles. “This is a great group, one group of kids I really enjoy coaching. It was truly an honor to manage a group of such talented 5- and 6-year-old ball players.”