The Midwest Aces Select 13-and-under baseball team won the 14-and-under Midwest Championship at CCAC Park in Warsaw over the weekend.
The Aces went 4-1 on the high school distanced field against teams older than them, going 2-0 in pool play on Saturday and 3-0 in bracket play on Sunday.
The Aces kicked pool play off with an 8-0 win over the 14U Hobart Storm.
Trey Privett and Brayden Gearhart combined to pitch a two-hit shutout, with Privett striking out six and Gearhart striking out four and walking one.
At the plate, Axton Beste had a team-high five RBIs to go with a double and a single. AJ Streveler drove in two runs and hit a home run and single. Adam Mahnensmith added two hits as well.
Next, the Aces fell 4-1 to the 14U HBC Harrison Raiders from West Lafayette.
Drew Jolley and Streveler each surrendered two runs on the mound and struck out out four batters. Jolley added two hits at the plate, and Streveler and Privett contributed hits as well.
The Aces kicked off bracket play on Sunday with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the 14U South Bend Cubs. Easton Blair hit a double, and Axton Beste drove in two runs to help the Aces complete the comeback.
Beste also was solid on the mound, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four.
That sent the Aces to the semifinal, where they defeated the No. 1 seeded 14U TB Tigers, who came into the tournament with a 29-9 record. The Aces stayed strong though and came away with a 6-2 victory to advance to the championship game.
Streveler tossed five shutout innings on the mound and struck out two. Gearhart allowed two runs on three hits.
Streveler helped his cause at the plate too, going 3-for-3 with a home run, double, and single. Xzavier Driscoll and Privett both added two hits and two RBIs. Blair, Cooper Craig, Gearhart, and Beste added hits as well.
The Aces had a rematch with the Raiders in the championship game, and this time came away with a 7-6 victory.
Jolley started on the mound and allowed four runs on three hits in three innings of work. Privett was the closer and allowed two runs on three hits and struck out the final batter to end the game.
The Aces tied things up in the third inning on a double by Blair that scored two runs.
In the sixth inning, Jaxson Dohrman put down a sacrifice bunt that moved runners to second and third. Driscoll then singled on the first pitch of the next at-bat to score a run. Cooper Craig had a hard hit too that scored two runs.
Streveler, Beste, and Brock Brooks all had two hits at the plate in the game.
The win put the Aces at 30-8-1 overall this season with two tournaments to go.
