The Central Florida Suns 10U team won the USSSA North Florida Dual Super NIT tournament, held February 21-22nd in Newberry, to qualify for USSSA Wilson/Demarini Elite World Series for the second consecutive year. By winning a Dual Super NIT, the team also earned a berth in the Louisville Slugger Major Championship. The Dual Super NIT championship game was broadcast live on MLB.com. The tournament victory also has the Suns currenly ranked #1 nationally in USSSA points for the 10U Major division.

 

The Suns lost their first game of the tournament in pool play but went on to win five consecutive games to clinch the tournament victory. The game one loss 13-6 to the Wolverines  was a wake-up call for the Suns, who entered the tournament ranked #3 in the country. Game two of Saturday's pool play was a 17-8 victory over the Five Star Tigers, the team the Suns would eventually face again in the championship game.

 

Sunday's bracket play started off with an early 8:30 am game versus the CBC Riverhawks, with the Suns coming out victorious with a 5-3 win. The next bracket play game would see the Suns face the #7 nationally ranked Bandits Elite. The Suns went on to win the quaterfinal matchup by a score of 7-2. The win put the Suns in the semifinals to face off against the #2 ranked Central Florida Vipers. The Vipers defeated the previous #1 ranked team, Team Tampa 6-2 to face the Suns.

 

The Suns defeated the Vipers by a score of 9-2 to reach the championship game. The championship game was a rematch of Saturday's second pool play game versus the Five Star Tigers. The Tigers had an impressive run on Sunday to get to the championship game by defeating Team Demarini, the #8 nationally ranked Pinellas Park Crushers, and the top seed coming out of pool play, the West Florida Hammerheads.

 

The USSSA Super Dual NIT championship game was broadcast live on MLB.com. The winner of the game would earn berths in both the Wilson/Demarini Elite World Series and the Louisville Slugger Major Championship. The Suns felll behind 1-0 in the second inning, but put up 3 runs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead. The momentum from the 3 runs seemed to boost the teams energy, having been at the ballpark for almost 11 hours. A shutdown top of the fourth on defense was what the Suns needed to taste victory.  A 6 run bottom of the 4th at the plate would clinch the victory with a 9-1 mercy rule win for the Suns.

 

The Suns goal from the start of the fall season was to get back to the prestigious USSSA Wilson/Demarini Elite World Series. This event is held each year at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports. It features only the top teams in the country who have qualfied by winning a Dual Super NIT or Super NIT tournament. With this tournament being a Dual Super NIT, it meant the Suns would also earn a berth in the Louisville Slugger Championship held this year at the Big League Dreams Ballpark in Mansfield, TX.

 

The tournament victory continued a hot streak for the Suns, who had previously won their last two tournments,  the Nations Baseball Super Bowl Turbo tournament and the USSSA UFC X tournament.

 

To watch the archived video of the USSSA North Florida Dual Super NIT Championship Game on MLB.com click here