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Tournaments  | Championship  | 9/20/2020

5 Star Performance run rules their way to title

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: 5 Star Performance 2022 (Perfect Game)
5 Star Performance 2022 National downed the Hunter Pence 2022 Cunningham squad by a score of 10-1 on Sunday evening to capture the crown of the PG South Elite Fall Championship (Underclass). The big story for 5 Star was the offensive production as four out of their five wins came via the run rule including both the semifinals and championship games.

It was a rainy day on playoff day, thanks to the effects of Tropical Storm Beta, but both teams entering the championship showed that despite the weather, runs would be scored in large amounts. 5 Star got on the board right away with three runs in the top of the first inning. They scored thanks to some keen discipline in working walks, some missteps by the defense, and a couple of late singles to give their starter the early lead.



The starter was Carson Courtney who dazzled on the mound to the tune of five full innings with only one earned run allowed and ten strikeouts. He filled up the strike zone with a low-80s heater, a solid breaking ball, and, perhaps most importantly, competed within the strike zone. Courtney allowed the only run of the day to cross in the first inning after a missile triple off the bat of Hunter Pence catcher Dillon Lester.

The wheels came off for Hunter Pence in the fourth inning of this one, where 5 Star opened up the floodgates and added five runs to put them within the eight-run-rule heading into the fifth inning. After tacking on an insurance run in the top of the fifth, 5 Star closed it out in the bottom half, securing the victory and the championship.

Courtney was named the MVP of the event as, in addition to tossing a complete game with double digit strikeouts, he batted .533 on the weekend with seven RBI and four runs scored. The MV-Pitcher of the tournament was Easton Ballard, also of 5 Star. Ballard dazzled in the first game of the weekend for 5 Star as he tossed six shutout innings while allowing just two hits, one walk, and punched out eleven hitters while running his fastball up to 85 mph.