CHESTERFIELD – Chesterfield Baseball Clubs narrowly lost in the third round of last week’s Bronco-11 World Series, falling to the eventual champions from Chicago.
CBC won a first-round game over Ciudad Juarez, Mexico by a count of 6-5.
Patrick Gibrall picked up the win, while infielder Dylan Meyer enjoyed a three-hit game. Four other players joined in with multi-hit games, as Conner Hedgepeth, Gabe Smith, Nolan Harris and Gibrall each had two base knocks.
CBC then faced off with Chicago in the second round of the split-bracket tournament.
Chesterfield nearly overcame a slow start after trailing 7-5 at the end of the third, but Chicago provided a potent late game punch by scoring seven more runs in the fifth and sixth innings to win 14-5. CBC had some defensive struggles as they committed five errors.
CBC was led by Hedgepeth, who added two hits and three RBI.
By way of an 11-0 win over Beijing, China, Mexico won the right to face Chesterfield again for a chance to stay alive for the championship.
In what started out as a pitcher’s duel between CBC’s Smith and Mexico’s Abraham Cervantes, CBC led 1-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning, when their bats erupted for eight runs. While Mexico mounted a comeback, it wasn’t enough and CBC advanced, 9-3.
In that game, Smith pitched six and one-third innings, striking out nine batters. Gibrall had two hits, and Max Alteri drove in two runs.
CBC then got their chance at redemption against Chicago. After rallying for four runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, Chicago answered with two runs in the top of the seventh, and a CBC rally fell short to give Chicago the 6-4 victory.
Hedgepeth had a .462 batting average and was named the tournament’s Offensive Most Valuable Player for his efforts.
The Bronco-11 World Series pits teams from all over the world against one another at Harry G. Daniel Park at Iron Bridge.
Chesterfield has hosted for the past 10 years, and last won it in 2013 and 2014.
Statistics
CBC batting averages were: Alteri .500 (2/4), Hedgepeth .462, Gibrall .455, Smith .455, Harris .455, Meyer .366, Cole Caffall .250, Jalen German .250 and Michael Williams .154
CBC pitching stats (win-loss, innings, strikeouts, walks): Smith (1-0, 8, 12, 4), Hedgepeth (0-0, 6, 10, 5), Gibrall (1-0, 3, 6, 3) M. Williams (0-1, 3, 0, 3) and David Waite (0-1, 2/3, 0, 1).
