Albany Eagles soar to second straight Memorial Day tournament championship

For the second consecutive year, the Albany Eagles went undefeated in their Memorial Day weekend tournament, this time winning five games to capture the 11s AA championship at Twin Creeks.

Alex Rowland started off the tournament by driving in the first two Eagle runs and shutting down the Brisbane Breeze with three straight strikeouts in the final inning of a 17-0 victory. Emmett Smay went 3-3 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored to pace the offense.

In Game 2, the Albany bats came alive in the 3rd inning when Matthew Mino started a one-out rally with a double. Jack Johnson, Kye Moffat and Rowland followed with three consecutive triples to take the lead 4-3.

After a walk and an out, Alex Oyle extended the lead with a clutch 2 RBI double. Nick Kubler added an RBI single in the late innings to pad the Albany lead. Rowland retired the last eight Cubs batters to secure the 11-3 win.

In Sunday's first contest, Arlo Rudy pitched three innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and 0 walks in a 9-1 Albany victory. Liam Pauley and Julien Scribner connected on back to back singles in the 3rd inning to help the Eagles beat the Santa Clara Tribe. In Sunday's second game, Jesse Barber and Ben Kleven capped a seven-run 1st inning with consecutive two out RBI singles. Johnson came in to close the game, preserving the 9-3 win over Fremont Cal Ripken.

In Monday's championship game, the Albany Eagles faced the Santa Clara Tribe once again. Rudy went 3-3 with a walk and three runs scored and struck out the side in the 6th to help the Albany Eagles to their 12-8 victory.

Daniel Dempster pitched in with 2 shutout innings, retiring six of the eight batters he faced. Mino got into the mix defensively by racing to the left-field line to make a spectacular catch to retire the side in the fifth inning. Tyler Caldwell contributed the big hit with a 2-RBI single in the 3rd.

Albany Juniors sweep Sunrise Memorial Tournament

A superlative effort carried the Albany Juniors to
the 14U championship at the Sunrise Memorial Tournament.
Albany beat the Sunrise Scrappers for the second time in two days
to claim the title.
During the tournament, Albany used nine pitchers, who limited the
opposition to eight runs and 13 hits in five games.
In the championship game, Albany impressed Sacramento area
baseball fans with some extraordinary work in the field.
After a slow start, the Albany bats came alive for 37 hits in the
last three games.

Albany Juniors:
Colin Armstrong
Zach Chiang
Garrett Freeberg
Nathan Gill
Kyle Harty Strang
Paul Kennedy
Nick Lamb
Marcellus Love
Ryan Masterson
Tom Miller
Jesse Santos
Kyle Tannahill
Patrick Xu

Results
Saturday
Rancho Cordova 0 0 0 1 1 0 - 2 2 0
Albany Juniors .. 0 1 5 2 0 x- 8 6 2
Gill, Harty Strang (3), Santos (5), Miller (6) and Masterson, Love
(5).
WP-Gill (1-0).
Highlights: Lamb 2-run single, Armstrong, 1-run single, Miller, 1-run single, all with 2 outs. Albany had five hit-batsmen, four of whom scored.

Saturday

Albany Juniors ...  0 0 0 4 0 0 0 - 4 6 1
Fair Oaks Rockies 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 2 3 0
Chiang, Masterson (3), Kennedy (6) and Santos, Love (5).
WP-Masterson (1-0).
Highlights: Harty Strang 2 run-single, Kennedy 2 run-single in 4-run 4th inning. Chiang, Masterson and Kennedy combined to strike out 12 batters.

Sunday
Sunrise Scrappers 0 0 0 1 1 0 - 2 2 0
Albany Juniors .... 2 6 1 2 1 x - 12 14 2
Love, Tannahill (5) and Santos, Masterson (3).
WP-Love (1-0).
Highlights: Xu 3-4, Kennedy 2-2, 2-run double, Santos 2-2, 2 RBI, Miller 2-2. Love and Tannahill limited Sunrise to four baserunners.

Monday

Playoffs
Semifinals
Niles Canyon Bulls 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 2 3 3
Albany Juniors ..... 3 1 0 3 0 0 x - 7 11 3
Chiang, Tannahill (6) and Santos, Love (6).
WP-Chiang (1-0).
Highlights: Gill 2-3, 2 doubles, Chiang 2-2, 1 RBI, Kennedy 2-3, double, Lamb 2-3, Xu 2-4, Harty Strang, double, 3 RBI.

Championship
Sunrise Scrappers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 3
Albany Juniors ..... 2 0 1 2 2 0 x - 7 12 0
Masterson, Gill (6) and Santos, Love (3).
WP-Masterson (2-0).
Highlights: Miller 2-2, 3 RBI, Kennedy 2-3, double, 1 RBI, Santos 2-4, 1 RBI. Masterson finished the tournament with no runs allowed in eight innings on the mound. Returning high schoolers Masterson and Harty Strang both came up with several fielding gems.