The Hamilton Jr Chargers U11 Red team posted a perfect 3-0 record on their way to a tournament championship in the season finale, Summer Classic Tournament. This was the first tournament crown this season, having lost in the championship games in two prior tournaments.

In the Summer Classic, the Charger boys squared off against the New Berlin Pumas in an opening night battle under the lights at Village Park. A sluggish start and opportunistic play by the Pumas left the team trailing 3-0 after four innings of play. With two outs and nobody on in the top of the fifth, the Charger boys came alive. A hard hit single by Bryson Wallenkamp was followed by a walk by Eli Todd. Sam Bauer then singled, loading the bases for Miles Carlson. Carlson drew a walk to put the Chargers on the board. Rocco Rubens stepped to the plate taking a wild pitch for a called strike, scoring Todd from third and advancing the baserunners to second and third. Rubens then delivered a double to left field, clearing the bases and putting the Chargers up for good, 4-3. Myles St Louis then pounded a line drive triple to left field, and Landyn Pudlosky completed the six run rally by beating the throw on a dropped third strike, allowing St Louis to score and advancing the lead to 6-3.

In the top of the sixth, the team added three more runs. Henri Alesci and Easton Erdman both hit singles in the inning, with Wallenkamp, Todd and Bauer all getting walked. Carlson hit a sacrifice fly to right fielding, batting in the final run of the inning and putting the boys up 9-3.

Alesci entered the game in the bottom of the sixth, striking out two Puma players before recording a ground out to close out the game. St Louis was awarded the win for the Chargers, allowing no runs, two hits and striking out three in 2.1 innings on the mound. Landon Mueller started the game, pitching a solid 2.2 innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out two.

Game two against the Hortonville Polar Bears was a great example of why the slaughter rule exists. The Chargers routed the Polar Bears 16-0 in the three inning affair. Wallenkamp earned the complete game victory, allowing just one hit, one walk and striking out two. Mueller (1B,1B, BB), Erdman (3B,1B) and Wallenkamp (3B,1B) all posted two hit days, and Rubens was perfect at the plate with a hit and two walks. Wallenkamp lead the way with four RBIs, with Mueller and Alesci (2B) knocking in three apiece.

In the championship game, the Chargers faced off against a daunting opponent in the Greenfield Hawks (44-14). Alesci (W) started the game and pitched four superb innings, allowing just one run, striking out seven and surrendering just five hits. Myles St Louis entered the game in the top of the fifth with a commanding 6-1 lead, but this Greenfield team wasn’t ready to call it quits. The error bug seemed to land on the Charger fielders and the Hawks racked up four unearned runs over the next two innings. With two outs and the tying run on third, the game ended on a fly out to shortstop Michael Miller.

At the plate, Mueller lead the way with two hits. Wallenkamp contributed three RBIs on a double, and Alesci added a two RBI day in the victory. Rubens walked three times and stole five bases.

The U11 Red Charger squad ended the season with a hard fought 26-15 record, while finishing in third place in the WSYBL- A Division with an 11-5 record. The U11 Red team also placed 2nd in the Gameday USA Battle on the Turf tournament, working all the way from the 10th seed, and finished 2nd at Patriot Games tournament in Mauston. The boys were challenged all year with A Level and Open Level tournaments and responded well. There were a few improbable comebacks (Glendale, down 7 after 6 & Muskego, down 12-0 after 3) and some really good wins against some very good teams (Edge Baseball, Citius-Illinois, Stiks, Greenfield, Oak Creek). Congrats on a fantastic season.