Photo of the junior division champs courtesy Bancroft Creative Group, MLB

We told you last week about the Major League Baseball Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) tournament that a number of local ballplayers were competing in, including Wilson’s Soloman Williams and Chase DeJong, Poly’s Thomas Walker and recent alum Mario Gordon, and Lakewood’s JP Crawford.  Over the weekend, the West division RBI teams brought home both the Junior and Senior titles, with a dominating performance that undoubtedly made a good impression on big league scouts (seven of nine games were ended by the mercy rule for the Junior squad).

DeJong got the start and the win in the championship game, as the West beat Santo Domingo 10-3 for the title.  Crawford was the tournament MVP, going 2-for-2 with two walks, a triple and three RBIs in the squad’s finale. “As long as our pitchers were throwing strikes, we were going to win,” he told MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. 

DeJong gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings with 8 Ks. “A lot of teams, they collapse under pressure when they get down,” De Jong told Gonzalez. “This team, we thrive off it.”

You can read Gonzalez’s full account of the game by clicking here—congrats to the local kids for continuing their winning ways!