The Sussex Hamilton Jr. Chargers U11 White team added more hardware to its 2022 collection.
The Jr. Chargers were runners-up in the Bigler Baseball Invitational, which took place July 8-10 in Pewaukee, Cedarburg and Brookfield. The U11 squad had already won the Geiger Awards Home Run Classic title in May.
The Chargers' second-place finish didn't come easily. In pool play, the Chargers trailed the Elmbrook Braves, 5-2, in the fifth inning before rallying for seven runs in the 9-5 victory. Against the Verona Wildcats, Hamilton was behind, 9-2, through four innings before the offense erupted for 12 runs in the last two innings to hold off the Wildcats, 14-13.
In the semifinals, the Chargers jumped out to an early 8-4 lead before Ace tied the game, 10-10, in the fourth inning. But Hamilton wasn't finished scoring. The Chargers totaled six runs in the top of the sixth to eliminate Ace and advance to the championship.
In the title game, the Chargers came up short, falling to 6 Tool Gold, 14-6.
Here are some individual tournament highlights:
Charlie Zambon had nine hits with an OBP of over .700 for the tournament. He also made some good plays on defense too.
Will Leitzke hit a home run, pitched five strong innings and drove in seven runs.
Nat Pfannenstiel had five hits, pitched five innings, caught 14 innings and had seven RBI.
Devaj Sokhal had three hits and walked five times.
Masen Rebholz threw three scoreless innings and drew six walks.
Nathan Roth drove in five runs and was on base seven times. He pitched five solid innings and walked away with the most bruises after getting hit by a pitch and taking a line drive off the shoulder while on the mound.
Colton Fuller had five hits and three walks. He pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing only two earned runs.
Matthew Maillet was on base four times, scored two runs and made some great hustle plays in right field, including a sweet running catch against Ace. He also had a couple of bad luck/loud outs to left field in the title game.
Landon Mrotek collected four hits and three walks. His single against Ace in the sixth inning with two outs scored Roth and Maillet, giving the Chargers the lead for good.
Miles Carlson also played in one game and contributed two hits and two RBI.