8U Broncos Drive for Five Comes Up Short

The 8U Northville Broncos rolled into Adrian looking for their 5th straight Championship, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. The Broncos came away with a second place finish in the 6th Annual Adrian Lookouts Start of Summer Classic.  This was the first loss of the season for the Broncos who now hold an impressive 21-1 record.

The Broncos arrived in Adrian wondering if Andrew Miller would bounce back from a scary injury he received while preparing for the Adrian tournament. After losing a ball in the bright sun, Miller took a hard liner to the nose. The Broncos feared the worst, but Miller Time had one directive for the ER doc, "You have to get me ready for my tournament on Saturday". Fortunately for the Broncos, the doctors fixed him up and cleared him to play. So sporting two black eyes Miller joined the team when they trotted onto the field to begin their quest.

This tourney started off with the Broncos going up against the Adrian Dirtbags. This was the second meeting between the two teams.  The Broncos had previously knocked off the Dirtbags in the championship game of the Northville Earlybird Tournament, so the Dirtbags were definitely looking to even the score.  The Broncos however had other plans. The Broncos continued to be stingy on defense holding Adrian to 1 run in the top of the first, then unleashed the offense scoring 5 in the bottom on 5 hits.  The Bronco herd of scorers included Minghine, Helner, Boisineau, Broughton and Deak. The Broncos hung an egg on the Dirtbags in the second inning and came back with 5 more in the second. Andrew Miller answered the "bounce back" question when he opened up the second with a hard single to left. Dominic Minghine drove in 2 of the 5 second inning runs with a bases clearing triple to center scoring Schueller and Wilczewski. After giving up one in the third, the Broncos finished off their scoring with 2 more in the third. Caden Besco opened things up with a double to right center. Eventually Besco and Boisineau would both score giving the Broncos a Mercy shortened 12-2 win over the Dirtbags.

In the weekends second game, the Broncos went up against the Sting. Unfortunately for the Sting, it would be the Broncos who would do the stinging. The game started with the Broncos getting out to a 2-1 lead. In the second inning, the Bronco bats came to life.  Carter Jurcisin opened with a single and scored the first run of the inning.  He was followed by Pace, Miller, Redwine and Clark adding 5 runs to the Bronco tally. Brady Heron opened the third with a single to right scoring the first of 5 runs in the third. He was joined by Helner, Besco, Boisineau, and Broughton. The Broncos went on to win this one 14-6.

That win gave the Broncos the number one seed as they went up against Ash Carleton. The Broncos jumped on them early scoring 4 in the first inning. Minghine opened things up with his 3rd double of the tournament and would go onto score as would Helner, Besco and Pace. The Broncos added 6 more in the second with Gabe Clark opening up the second inning score fest. They would add 5 more in the third off runs by Broughton, Pace, Jurcisin, Miller, and Wilczewski and go on to win 15-5 propelling themselves to their 5th straight championship game.

Their foe would be a familiar one, the Adrian Dirtbags. The Dirtbags were seeking revenge for two prior defeats at the hands of the Broncos. They opened strong scoring 3 runs in the first, and then held the Broncos scoreless for two straight innings. They added 3 more in the top of the third, before Jurcisin would score the first Bronco run in the bottom. Eventually Adrian would go up 10-1 before the Broncos roared back to life. In the 5th inning Joey Broughton ignited the Bronco bats when he laced a triple to right center field. He would come into score as would two more Broncos tightening the gap to 10-4. The Bronco defense shut down the hot Adrian bats, and came up in the 6th needing 6 runs to tie the game.  Trevor Schueller opened the 6th with a single, followed by 2 more by Heron and Minghine. That left the bases loaded for Caden Besco who pounded a triple to right field scoring 3 runs. That brought up Will Boisineau who drove in Besco with a double to left. When Broughton came to bat, he represented the tying run but a rule quirk meant that he and Will had to score on the same play.  So when Broughton hit a double, Boisineau was held at 3rd. That left it up to Evan Deak to get those runs in.  When Deak hit a grounder to the right side, Boisineau scored and Broughton came screaming around third.  The first baseman who had fielded the ball paused long enough to look at the scoring Broncos to allow Deak to beat out an infield single giving the Broncos the tie sending it to extra innings. In the top of the 7th, the Dirtbags would squeak out one run to go up 11-10. Unfortunately for the Bronco Nation, that would be enough as the Broncos were unable to find some additional magic in the bottom of the 7th losing the Adrian 11-10.
While all in attendance didn't get to see the Broncos take home another piece of Championship hardware, they were treated to an outstanding battle and tremendous demonstration of character by this young Bronco squad. You can't win them all, but for 21 straight this team did. Thanks for the wild ride Broncos!