It was a special 29-13 season for the FW Rebels.  That's a .690 winning percentage.  Still, some of the wins were more thrilling, heart pumping, and satisfying than others.  The 11 Rebels fought every game to the very end which created some incredible come from behind victories.  In other games, the Rebels played flawlessly to knock off some top local teams.  Here are the Top 10 victories of 2018:

#10 FW Rebels 5   Burleson Rampage 2

Sunday, June 3.  Semifinal Game in Bring the Heat Tournament in Burleson.  Winner to Championship.

 This was the second game of the day on Sunday (Bracket Play) in the Bring the Heat tournament that the Rebels would end up winning.  Jack Dalton started on the mound and was dominant.  It was one of his best pitching performances of the season going 4 innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8.  Out of the 63 pitches he threw, 40 were strikes.  It was exactly the outing the Rebels needed on the way to the tournament championship.  Dalton also went 2-2 at the plate with a double and an RBI.  Evan Smith & Jackson Jordan also provided RBI singles in the game. Drew Horstman pitched the final inning and allowed just one run with the game ending on a popout to Smith at 3rd.  The Rebels were on their way to their 2nd championship game of the season.

#9 FW Rebels 16   Dallas Raiders Crockett 4

Sunday, April 15.  Tax Man Tournament at DBat Midtown.  Winner to the Semi Finals.

 This wasn't as much of a good ballgame, but what it was enabled the Rebels to feel confident in themselves and believing they were a good ball club.  After going 0-2 in pool play, the Rebels got a rematch vs the Dallas Raiders who beat them the night before 7-2.  Jack Dalton set the tone by crushing an 0-2 fast ball over the right centerfield fence for a leadoff home run. The Rebels banged out 15 hits in the game led by Dalton & Drew Horstman who collected three each.  Luke Cornell, Evan Swindell, and Christopher Calabrese each scored two runs in the game while Will Adams & Evan Smith both drove in two.  On the mound, Evan Smith threw four effective innings allowing three runs on just three hits.

#8 FW Rebels 6   Keller Chargers 1

Sunday, June 3.  Bring the Heat Tournament in Burleson.  Winner to the Semi Finals.

 A couple of teams from Keller both had the Rebels on their radar to start this season.  One of those games didn't go so well for the Rebs but the bracket play 6-1 victory over the Chargers was an all around well-played game.  Jackson Jordan was sensational on the mound pitching five innings and striking out eight.  He allowed just one run.  Jordan also provided one of the bigger hits in the game with a two-out two-run double in the first inning.  Evan Smith & Karson Symonds both went 2-2.  Both of Symonds' hits were clutch two-out singles. What made is all sweeter was the annoying behavior from the opposition which even the umpires thought was over the top. 

#7 FW Rebels 13    Burleson Rampage 10

Sunday June 17.  Gene Campbell Memorial Tournament in Arlington.  Winner to Semi Finals.

 This was easily one of the more challenging games of the season for the Rebels as not only did they have to face a difficult opponent, but they had to overcome the most ridiculous small strike zone they experienced all season.  With all of that, the Rebels were down 8-4 heading into the final inning.  A nine-run explosion gave them a 13-8 lead and they held on to win in comeback fashion 13-10.  Jack Dalton went the distance in the difficult conditions and pitched much better than his final line score.  Jon Doko, Evan Smith, Jackson Jordan, and Karson Symonds all collected two RBI in the game while every single Rebel either scored, or knocked in a run.

#6 FW Rebels 4   Southern Elite 2

Sunday, April 22.  Carlile Cup Tournament in Duncanville.  Winner to the Semi Finals.

Southern Elite was one of the better teams the Rebels faced all season and this was a terrific baseball game.  In the first inning, starter Jack Dalton pitched out of a bases loaded, nobody out situation as he struck out the cleanup hitter and got the next batter to ground to second baseman Luke Cornell who alertly tagged the runner and then threw to first for a nifty double play.  Dalton ended up tossing a complete game allowing two runs in four innings with five strikeouts.  At the plate, Drew Horstman went 2-2 with a double and two RBI. 

#5 FW Rebels 10    Ntx Extreme 9

Thursday, April 26.  RYA Premier League battler for 1st place.

 This is the only non-tournament game on the list.  However, the come-from-behind victory over the 11U AAA Ntx Extreme team basically won the RYA Premier League for the Rebs.  This was a revenge game as the Extreme downed the Rebels 16-10 in the season opener.  This time, the Rebels jumped out of the gate and took an 8-3 lead after four innings. Jack Dalton pitched the first four innings allowing two earned runs while walking just two and striking out six.  Still, Extreme stormed back with three in the fifth and three in the sixth to take a 9-8 lead.  The Rebels would not die however.  With one out, Drew Horstman singled to center.  This was Horstman's fourth hit of the day. The next batter, Michael Asante walked setting the stage for Evan Smith.  On a 1-1 count, Smitty crushed a fastball over the left fielder's head clearing the bases to give the Rebels a 10-9 win.  This game gave the Rebels the confidence to know, no matter what, they are always in a game.  Many comeback victories occurred starting with this one.

#4 FW Rebels 8   Colleyville Trouble 7

Sunday, June 10.  Ring Chaser tournament in Burleson, Winner to Semi Finals.

 Colleyville Trouble was a 10U AAA team who had defeated a very solid Benbrook Lake Monster squad to reach this quarterfinal game vs the Rebels.  After two innings, the Rebels held a narrow 2-0 lead.  Starter Jack Dalton got tired in the Texas sun in the third inning and Trouble rallied for five runs. Once again, the Rebels came right back.  Dalton singled and scored on an Evan Smith double to make it 5-3.  Jon Doko drove in Smith and then the game was tied up again on an RBI single by Will Adams.  The game was 5-5 going to the final inning.  Colleyville scored two in the top of the inning on a Home Run and an RBI single to make it 7-5.  The first two hitters for the Rebels both got out to start the bottom half of the final inning leaving them with just one out to play with down two runs.  They would not give up.  Dalton singled sharply to center followed by a hard hit single to left by Drew Horstman.  Jon Doko walked to load the bases.  Evan Smith followed with an RBI single to left making it 7-6.  Jackson Jordan was down to an 0-2 count but battled back to draw a walk.  During his at bat, Horstman scored the tying run on a wild pitch.  This set the stage for Karson Symonds who singled to shortstop and a thrilling 8-7 walk-off victory. Dalton went 3-3 in the game with three runs scored.  Symonds was 2-3 while Smith & Jordan added two RBI.

#3 FW Rebels 8   Bullets 7

Saturday, June 2.  Pool Play in Ring Chaser tournament in Burleson. 

The Rebels knew the Bullets would be a tough game as the Bullets had been playing in nothing but AAA tournaments leading to this tournament.  Jon Doko crushed a mammoth two-run Home Run in the third inning breaking a 5-5 tie.  Jackson Jordan pitched a solid two innings of relief but the Bullets were able to tie it up at 7 in the top half of the last inning.  The Rebels would only need to score a run in the bottom half of the inning to win the game.  Evan Swindell led the inning off with a four-pitch walk. With one out, Drew Horstman hit a ground ball that forced Swindell out at second.  With two outs, Michael Asante confidently strolled to the plate with Horstman at first.  With Horstman runniing on the pitch, Asante laced a liner that landed just fair down the right field line and rolled all the way to the wall.  Horstman sprinted home to give the Rebels a thrilling 8-7 walk-off victory.  This was Michael Asante's final day as a Rebel and he went out in grand style with the walk-off triple.

#2 FW Rebels 12    Southlake Miller 11

Sunday, June 3.  Bracket play game in Ring Chaser tournament in Burleson.

The Rebels had many come-from-behind victories this season, but none was more improbable than the 12-11 victory over Southlake Miller.  Shaky defense allowed Southlake to build themselves a comfortable 11-5 lead after two innings of play.  Jack Dalton came on to pitch the third inning and calmed things down with a scoreless frame so it was 11-5 heading to the bottom of the final inning.  Southlake brought in a hard throwing pitcher but he had problems finding the strike zone.  Jackson Jordan was hit by a pitch to start the inning followed by walks to Karson Symonds & Will Adams.  With the bases loaded, Luke Cornell hit an infield single to make the score 11-6. With one out and Evan Swindell batting, Adams scored on a wild pitch making it 11-7.  Swindell followed with an RBI ground out to score Cornell to make it 11-8.  So with two outs, Dalton smacked an RBI single to make it 11-9.  This set the stage for Evan Smith who hit the most dramatic Home Run of the year deep over the left field wall scoring Dalton to tie the game up at 11.  Still, the Rebels weren't finished yet.  Jon Doko crushed a line drive single to left and was run for by Swindell.  Jordan then nailed a double to left center moving the potential winning run to third.  Symonds was the next batter and he hit a hard grounder towards second on a 1-0 pitch that went into right field scoring Swindell and winning the game 12-11.  Once again, the never-say-die Rebels fought all the way back to win a game that looked like they were out of.

#1  FW Rebels 9    FW Mavericks 6

Sunday, June 3.  Championship game for the Bring the Heat tournament in Burleson.

And finally, the championship game.  Once again, the Rebels would have to come from behind in order to win their first tournamet of the season.  The Mavericks scored four runs in the bottom of the first to take a 4-0 lead.  That lead held up until the third inning when the Rebels began to rally.  Jack Dalton walked to start the inning and went to third on an Evan Smith single.  Dalton then scored on a Jon Doko single to make it 4-1.  Jackson Jordan was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Karson Symonds then walked to make the score 4-2.  Will Adams followed with a hard hit single to left scoring Drew Horstman who ran for Doko.  Luke Cornell also walked to make it 4-4 and Christopher Calabrese singled to give the Rebels their first lead at 5-4.  Jackson Jordan & Evan Smith pitched brilliantly in relief not allowing a hit or a walk in three innings. The Rebels added a run in the fourth as Will Adams doubled on the first pitch he saw.    With one out, Calabrese walked.  Adams was then able to score with Evan Swindell batting on a wild pitch to make it 7-4.  After Swindell was retired, Dalton blistered a 2-2 pitch over the center field fence to give the Rebels a 9-4 lead.  Dalton was brought onto pitch the final inning and allowed a couple of runs but got the final hitter to ground out to shortstop Drew Horstman to win the game, and the tournament.