Back to back state championships in baseball!

This is what back to back baseball state championship rings look like on Nick's fingers!!

Broken hearts, broken dreams!!

First of all, congratulations to the Greensboro, NC team for moving on to The Colt World Championship game against Puerto Rico. This was a great game to watch and a sad game to experience as a parent when a chance to play for The World Championship was just within grasp.

Our All-Star team played well but did miss out on a couple of scoring opportunities that may have changed the outcome of this semi-final game. Miscues cannot be made at this level of play and expect to win. In saying this, Greensboro made a couple of incredible plays that without them would have changed the outcome. Each one of our players gave it their all. Our last batter who struck out I commend because he went down swinging (means he went down fighting) & to see him experience the moment of defeat & drop to his knees just outside the batters box is brutal to watch as a parent. I know this feeling well. Last year I, myself experienced this same feeling as Nick drops to his knees, curled up on the mound as he gave up a game winning hit last year against Tampa in the bottom of the 7th inning in one of our 1st games. He bounced back later against Mexico with a win & I know this great young athlete will do the same. That must be the place to go when this defining moment arrives....on the knees on a baseball field, face buried in shock!!! After all it's where these young kids place so much of their time & effort into their dreams. They should be proud!!!

Also, I want to thank all the athletes from every team. I have been fortunate enough to see some excellent baseball players from around the globe over the past week. I will most likely go see The Championship game tonight as Puerto Rico will play Greensboro, NC at 7pm. It won't be the same though.

Nick did get Jose Valentin's (Puerto Rico assistant coach) autograph along with his sons (starting player). Jose is a former major league baseball player in The US.

FINAL — Greensboro 4, Lafayette 2.

AFTER 6 1/2 — Greensboro 4, Lafayette 2 — Yocum retired the side 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh.

END OF SIX — Greensboro 4, Lafayette 2 — With two on and none out, Lafayette could not execute a sacrifice bunt and then ran itself out of te inning.

AFTER 5 1/2 — Greensboro 4, Lafayette 2 — After Davis singled, reliever JT Yocum retired three in a row.

END OF FIVE — Greensboro 4, Lafayette 2 — Nick Bartolone grounded into an inning-ending double play.

AFTER 4 1/2 — Greensboro 4, Lafayette 2 — A throwing error by Ghiselli led to another unearned run. All four Greensboro runs are unearned.

END OF FOUR — Greensboro 3, Laayette 2 — Austin Kiracofe got a two-out single, but Lafayette failed to score.

AFTER 3 1/2 — Greensboro 3, Lafayette 2 — Ghiselli retired the side 1-2-3 with two strikeouts. He now has six.

END OF TWO — Greensboro 3, Lafayette 2 — Peter Ripke's run-scoring single to right cut the lead to one, but with runners at first and second and two outs, Rhoads struck out.

AFTER 2 1/2 INNNGS — Greensboro 3, Lafayette 1 — A curcial error by Lafayette third baseman Parker Rhoads led to three unearned runs, including a two-out, two-run homer from pitcher Jaylen Davis.

END OF TWO — Lafayette 1, Greensboro 0 — Peter Ripke's inside-the-park home run gives Lafayette the lead.

AFTER 1 12 INNINGS — Lafayette 0, Greensboro 0 — Ghiselli strikes out two more and has four in two innings.

END OF ONE — Lafayette 0, Greensboro 0 — Zion Bell was gunned down at the plate trying to score on a Christian Vukas single to center.

AFTER 1/2 INNING — Greensboro 0, Lafayette coming to bat — Brian Ghiselli retired the side in order including two strikeouts.

Ghiselli pitching for Lafayette, Davis for Greensboro. The winner plays Puerto Rico at 7 Thursday night for the CWS title.

On to the Final Four!!

Live webcast of CWS games, click on game link!!!

Scroll down to link Chech Rep vs Lafayette All-Stars
Starts at approximately the 00:46.00 mark, he pitches innings 3 & 4.
Nick pitched 2 innings along with other pitchers that pretty much did the same in a win over The Chech Republic 9-2. Nick had 5 K's in his 2 innings pitched but did give up 2 runs, 1 unearned. He struck out the side in his 2nd inning pitched which was the 4th. On to the Final Four against a strong Greensboro, NC team.Then to The World Championship game on Thursday!!!

AFTER SIX ININGS — Lafayette 9, Czech Republic 2 — Austin Munn doubled but Lafayette could not score.

AFTER 5 1/2 — Lafayette 9, Czech Republic 2 — Christian Vukas struck out the side.

AFTER 5 INNINGS — Lafayette 9, Czech Republic 2 — Tyler Forbes had an RBI triple, and Griff Clark added a sacrifice fly.

AFTER 4 1/2 INNINGS — Lafayette 7, Czech Republic 2 — Christian Vukas retired the Czechs 1-2-3.

AFTER 4 INNINGS — Lafayette 7, Czech Republic 2 — Ryan DeBoy singled but Lafayette could not score.

AFTER 3 1/2 INNINGS — Lafayette 7, Czech Republic 2 — A triple, a walk, passed ball and two steals put the Czechs on the board.

AFTER THREE INNINGS — Lafayette 7, Czech Republic 0 — Lafayette hit into a double play to end the threat.

END OF 2 1/2 — Lafayette 7, Czech Republic 0 — Nick Stone pitching for Lafayette gets a pair of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning.

AFTER TWO INNINGS — Lafayette 7, Czech Republic 0 — Lafayette got two singles but did not score.

END OF AN INNING AND 1/2 — Lafayette 7, CZECH REPUBLIC 0 — A double-play killed a threat.

AFTER ONE INNING — Lafayette 7, CZECH REPUBLIC 0 — Jesse Quintanilla and Nick Leuck each had two-out, two-run singles in the bottom of the first.

END OF HALF AN INNING — CZECH REPUBLIC 0, LAFAYETTE coming to bat — Bell allowed a hit and a walk but got a strikeout to end the threat.

Zion Bell will pitch for Lafayette. If Lafayette wins, it will play Greensboro at 7:30 Wednesday night in the second semifinal. Hoosier North will play Puerto Rico in the 5 p.m. semifinal.

A brutal loss

Lafayette vs Puerto Rico CWS webcast!

Nick came in to pitch the bottom of the 6th inning to halt any further damage. It was a 3 up 3 down inning but the damage had been done. Puerto Rico was just way to powerful on this night.

Gurabo, Puerto Rico, pitcher Daniel Concepcion is glad he got to watch the Lafayette All-Stars defeat Pharr, Texas, on Saturday in Colt World Series opening-night action.

Impressed with coach Dave Alexander's team, Concepcion pitched a a complete-game four-hitter Sunday night in an 8-1 pool-play victory in which he struck out nine and walked none.

Lafayette's Austin Kiracofe was safe on a two-base error to begin the top of the first inning and scored seconds later on Zion Bell's sharp single to center.

Thereafter, Lafayette had only one runner reach second base, and Puerto Rico pulled away with a five-run fourth and a three-run fifth.

Puerto Rico is 2-0 in the Red Division and has outscored the Czech Republic and Lafayette by a combined 26-2.

Puerto Rico will clinch the Red Division's No. 1 seed if it defeats Pharr, Texas, on Tuesday night.

"The start doesn't matter," Concepcion said of trailing 1-0 into the bottom of the fourth. "No matter how the game starts, I will keep doing my job. I always pitch like the game is 0-0. I bring all my stuff, no matter what.

"I know that every day is not going to be my best, but I know that I need to stay in the game. That's what I did tonight. No walks also is very important. That's the name of the game. If I throw strikes, I know I will get outs."

Lafayette starter Nick Moody walked none and allowed only three hits before being chased in Puerto Rico's five-run fourth, which included a two-run double from Jean Rodriguez and a two-run triple from Christian Rivera.

Moody walked two of the first three he faced in the pivotal fourth inning, when he couldn't find the plate.

"They're not intimidating, but they are very good," Moody said. "You have to hit your spots against them, and if you don't, they're going to hit it.

"They did that. They are a good hitting team, and I didn't hit my spots in the fourth inning. They took advantage of it, which is the sign of a good club. Early, I was real confident, but that (fourth) inning got to me."

Moody is encouraged by the fact that if Lafayette defeats the Czech Republic on Tuesday night, it has an excellent opportunity to advance to the medal round for a second consecutive year.

"We're not out of this," Moody said. "We can come out strong and beat the Czech Republic. Then, if we win another game, we're in the championship. I think we can do it."

Lafayette manager Dave Alexander liked what he saw for three innings.

"Nick really threw very well," Alexander said. "I thought he got tentative when a guy got on base instead of pitching the way he was. And then we don't turn a double play in that fourth inning.

"We're out of the inning if we turn the double play. Then, things just went to heck. Their hitters are good."

Alexander didn't like his team's approach against Concepcion.

"We looked at way too many strikes," Alexander said. "It happens. We just didn't play well tonight. But we've got a chance to get back to the medal round."

Puerto Rico manager Julio Campos was confident his team eventually would get to Moody.

"It was like how we have been doing it every day," Campos said. "If we get (behind), our kids know how to make adjustments in each inning and on each pitch. They do those adjustments when we need it.

"Lafayette has a pretty good club. I admire them a lot. Their pitchers do their jobs. (Moody) held us for a long time, but we started hitting after while."

Concepcion was excited to pitch in front of a Loeb Stadium crowd of 2,137.

"I respect Lafayette a lot," Concepcion said. "I saw their game Saturday night against Texas, and they played a really nice game.

"I know that Texas always brings good teams to these tournaments. For me, this was pretty special. I respect the Lafayette crowd. They were pretty good, too."

Our Colt team wins 1st game against Pharr, TX!!

We play powerhouse Puerto Rico tonight at 7:30pm. My son Nick #5 waiting! Puerto Rico put up 18 runs against Chech Republic yesterday, today's game is huge!!

JCOnline:
Brian Ghiselli pitched a complete-game masterpiece, and four 15-year-olds provided the bulk of the offense Saturday night, leading the Lafayette All-Stars to a 7-3 Colt World Series opening-night victory against Pharr, Texas.

A Loeb Stadium crowd of 2,557 watched the West Lafayette right-hander pitch out of a first-inning jam before settling into a consistent rhythm of getting ahead in the count with curveballs. Ghiselli scattered eight hits, striking out eight and walking none.

"Getting ahead in the count definitely was the key to my success," Ghiselli said. "If I can get ahead in the count, I can throw that offspeed pitch for a strike and get them down in the count. Then, I can get them from there.

"Our second inning was awesome. They came out and hit well, and then I calmed down a little bit. At that point, I was ready to go, because I knew I had the guys behind me. That was a great feeling. This definitely is one of the best games I've ever pitched, especially in front of that big crowd."

At the plate, it was 15-year-olds Austin Kiracofe, Peter Ripke, Ryan DeBoy and Griff Clark combining to drive in four runs, including three in the top of the second when Lafayette took a 3-0 lead.

Shortstop Ripke led off with a single to center, and Parker Rhoads was safe on a fielder's choice. With one out, Clark drove in Ripke with a single to center. Kiracofe then followed with a two-run double to center.

Lafayette extended its lead to 5-0 in the fifth, which included a bases-loaded walk to DeBoy. Outfielder Nick Bartolone also had a run-scoring single to center.

Pharr, which scored 26 runs in the South Zone semifinals and finals, pulled within 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, getting a sacrifice fly from Jeremiah Galindo and run-scoring singles from Brian Barbosa and Jacob Garcia.

Lafayette countered in the top of the seventh. Bartolone led off with a single to center, stole second and scored on Ripke's third hit, a long double off the right-field wall. Ripke advanced to third on a flyball and scored on a passed ball.

"It all starts in the batting cage," Ripke said. "When you see the ball, you've got to look it all the way into the catcher's mit. That makes you see the ball a lot better. I got all the nerves out after the first inning, so when I went to the plate, I felt really good and smooth."