Oskaloosa Storm Win 2013 USSSA 11U AAA State Championship
Front row: Will Schultz, Colton Stout, Wyatt Krier, Parker VanWaardhuizen, Reece Sarver, Tyler Miller
Middle row: Tyson Breuklander, Kadin Gerard, Iszac Schultz, Noah VanVeldhuizen, Colton Butler, Andrew Else
Not pictured: Manager/head coach Travis Miller, Coach Brandon Schultz, Coach Scott VanVeldhuizen, Coach Dustin Gerard
The Oskaloosa Storm 11 year-old boys went to the USSSA State Tournament in Cedar Rapids with the goal of bringing home the title, and they did just that. The tournament consisted of the 27 AAA teams in the state of Iowa. Oskaloosa finished the weekend with a record of 5-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 on championship Sunday.
Osky was scheduled to play 2 pool play games on Friday but the weather delayed the tournament a bit. The Storm played their first game on Friday evening and lost 5-3 against the Shockers from Winterset. Oskaloosa then needed to play well in their second pool game on Saturday against the Ankeny Xplosion in order to qualify for the gold championship bracket. Osky came out firing and pounded the Ankeny team 16-0. This gave the Storm the 9th seed in the 16 team championship bracket which began Sunday morning.
Oskaloosa had to play the 8th seed Sioux City Sluggers to open up play on Sunday. The game was very competitive with Oskaloosa taking the victory 9-7. The Storm had to turn around immediately and play the next bracket game against the Iowa Hurricanes from Davenport. As the rain fell the Storm powered through and won another good game 5-2, which put them in the semi-final game against the Heat Baseball Club 11U from Waterloo. The semi-final game ended up being an epic one as the Storm got out of a 1 out bases loaded jam in the last inning to win 6-5 and advance to the state championship game against the always tough Altoona Lightning.
The title game was an intense battle as the Storm got out to a 6-2 lead through the first 3 innings. The Oskaloosa 11 year-old boys then left no doubt about who the state champs were as the bats came alive and they scored 14 runs in the top of the 4th inning. The boys came out to the field in the bottom of the 4th and had a perfect 1, 2, 3 inning to wrap up their first USSSA State Championship!
The Oskaloosa Storm improved their overall season record to 22-7 and will wrap up the season this weekend at the Grand Slam Slugger Classic in Iowa City.
