MARA NATIONAL ALL STARS CAPTURE 9U WESTERN NC STATE TITLE

On July 14th, the Matthews Athletic & Recreation Association (MARA) National League All-Stars captured the Cal Ripken Baseball Western NC 9U State Championship by defeating South Buncombe 10-7.

After opening pool play with a loss to Indian Trail, the Nationals reeled off three straight victories against Surry Central, St. Stephens and Erwin to reach the single elimination playoff round.

Matched against the MARA Eliminators in the first round of the playoffs, Grant Tatich singled home Andrew Norton in the bottom of the sixth to break a tie and give the Nationals an exciting 5-4 victory. 

In the State semi-finals, the Nationals rolled to an 11-1 victory over No. 1 seed China Grove behind 5 strong innings of pitching by Jordan Rumble and an 11 hit attack. The victory advanced the Nationals to the State Title Game against South Buncombe who had previously defeated Indian Trail in the other State semi-final.

Leading the Nationals into the championship game with the battle cry of “Whose Time?...Our Time !!”, Sean Sessoms sacrificed Drake Smith home for the first run of the game in the first inning. South Buncombe took the lead with a three-run blast in the bottom of the first. The Nationals battled back to tie the game 3-3 with consecutive hits by Andrew Norton, Drake Smith, Grant Tatich, and Sean Sessoms.  South Buncombe went up 4-3 in the fourth but the scrappy Nationals scored 5 runs in the fifth inning to go up 8-4.  South Buncombe answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to trim the Nationals lead to 1 run.  The Nationals added two runs in the sixth inning for starter Jared Birnberg for a 10-7 lead.  Birnberg retired the first two batters in the bottom half of the sixth and Andrew Norton snagged the final out to seal the victory for the Nationals, giving them the 9U Western NC State Title in their first year of play in Cal Ripken Baseball.

Coached by Scott Smith, David Rumble, and Tim Sessoms, the Nationals head to Garrisonville, VA to compete in the Cal Ripken 9U SE Regional Tournament held on 7/22 – 7/28.

Members of the 2008 Western North Carolina 9U State Champions are,

Jared “Bernie Mac and Cheese” Birnberg
Avery “Greyhound” Buskill
Brian “Speedy” Dardis
Robbie “Whapper” Kenny
Cole “CJ” Magee
Andrew “Kahuna” Norton
Jordan “Big Red” Rumble
Sean “Rip” Sessoms
Drake “Drake-O” Smith
Austin “Groovy” Swett
Grant “Tater Chip” Tatich
Zach “Z-Town” Towner
Colton “CW” Weatherup