Winning the Gold

Stuart at Bat

The Celebration After the Big Win

 SC Sliderzz Baseball Team
Gold Medal Winners
Utah Summer Games
9u Age Division
June 2010

Ky Stuart #12

One of the big tourneys for the Sliderzz this summer was the Utah Summer Games held in Cedar City. We played up a year in the 9u age division because there wasn't an 8u age division. We were all pretty excited about the prospect of taking home a gold medal, but we knew we would have to play great baseball three days in row in order to make it happen. There were a few teams from Northern Utah that we hadn't played before, and a good Rebels team from St. George that we hadn't beaten yet, as well as the Cedar Stix that we had split with in the past.

So, we went with optimistic attitudes, knowing that we really had nothing to lose, being the underdog as an 8 year old team. The outcome though, couldn't have been any sweeter for us. The first day brought two great victories over a couple Northern Utah teams, and winning both games on day two secured our spot in the championship game. Kyler had some great pitching those first two days, and when we played the Stix he pitched his first no hitter, in a Sliderzz victory 10-0. Our boys really were playing some great baseball and it was exciting and fun to watch.

The championship game proved to be the toughest match up to that point, and we were going head to head with the Rebels, a team that we hadn't beaten in the last handful of games. It was a battle, but we came out strong to put the pressure on them. After a few innings, they had their rally, and we were behind at one point. Then we came back and the score was tied 6-6 for an inning or so. I could barely handle the stress! It was so fun though, especially when we took the lead and pulled ahead enough to know that we would probably win the game. That we did, and the celebration was exciting and great. I was so proud of our boys and their determination to play baseball like champions, like gold medalists, and that is what they were.