It was quite the weekend for Odessa youth baseball, as the West Texas Thunder 15U and 11U teams finished first and second respectively against tough fields in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The West Texas Thunder 15U team went undefeated over the weekend to win the 16U division of the Five Tool Texas DFW Kickoff.
“They played lights out,” said Assistant Coach Sammy Romero. “I felt the vibe the whole weekend that they were gonna play good.”
The run included a comeback victory in the championship game, where the Thunder overcame an early grand slam to defeat NTX Tribe 7-5.
”The pitching was dominant all weekend,” said Head Coach David Graham.
The stats make that clear.
Pitchers Cooper Popejoy, Noah Solis, Jaidon Vega, Rosendo Molina Jr. and Omar Hernandez allowed just 16 runs over the five-game stretch.
A stellar weekend for the bullpen was highlighted by Popejoy, who threw 11K’s in just five innings to help the Thunder take down the Texas Generals on Monday.
When they did give up hits, the defense was near perfect, with just a single error over the weekend stretch.
On offense, the Thunder scored 42 runs. They outscored their opponents by over five runs per game en route to the championship.
The 11U team also had a successful weekend, finishing second in the Triple Crown Memorial State Championship.
Despite falling to the loser’s bracket early in the tournament, the team won three consecutive games to earn a trip to the championship series.
Awaiting them were the Dallas Nationals, coached by former Texas Rangers outfielder David Murphy.
Thunder pitcher Caiden Orozco threw what Graham called a “complete game gem,” that gave the team a 12-3 victory and forced a second game.
Their run would come to an end in the second game, as they fell to the Nationals 10-2.
”We wanted to bring back the gold as we did in Dallas [last March], but we were proud to bring back the silver,” said Graham.
The loss brought to an end a 6-3 weekend for the young team, where they played four consecutive games on Sunday followed by another three on Monday.
“The heat took a toll on them, but they battled to the end,” Graham said.
In total, the Thunder scored 94 runs on 104 hits in the nine game stretch. They were led by Lucas Mijarez, who had a pair of homeruns in addition to 19 RBIs.
The West Texas Thunder 15U team will be back in action June 3 in Midland, Texas, while the 11U will return to play at the West Texas USSSA Baseball State Tournament, also in Midland on June 11.
