CHRISTOPHER CALABRESE (LEFT) & JACK DALTON (MIDDLE) CONGRATULATE WILL ADAMS (RIGHT) AFTER SCORING THE WINNING RUN VS USA PRIME RAIDERS 6-5 IN POOL PLAY ACTION.

The FW Rebels played in their first AAA tournament after they were promoted to that division two weeks ago.  Saturday pool play started off just like any other Rebels tournament as they went 2-0 with a 6-5 Win over USA Prime Raiders Jordan & 17-3 over HVA Storm McMahen.  The win over the Storm was their 14th consecutive tournament victory which is really unheard of.  The 24-team tournament featured 7 teams that went undefeated in pool play and the Rebels ended up as the #6 seed for bracket play.  Rebels magic was alive and kicking in their bracket game vs Frozen Ropes Perea but ultimately they fell just short losing 6-5 vs the #5 ranked AAA team in Texas.  Here is a recap of the three weekend games:

FW REBELS 6      USA PRIME RAIDERS JORDAN 5

Jack Dalton got the start on the hill for the Rebels and allowed a scoreless 1st inning.  In the bottom half of the inning, Dalton singled, stole second...and then advance to 3rd on a wild pitch, and then scored on a wild pitch to put the Rebels up 1-0.  The Raiders scored 2 runs in the top half of the 2nd and the Rebels answered with 1 run in the bottom half after Drew Horstman scored on a wild pitch.  Horstman had singled to reach.  The score stayed that way until the 4th inning when the Raiders scored 2 runs to take a 4-2 lead.  In the bottom of the 4th, Dalton walked with 1 out.  Then with two outs, Jackson Jordan ripped a double down the left field line to make it 4-3. Horstman followed with a run scoring single to tie the game at 4.  The Raiders scored a run off Quentin Enos in the top half of the final inning without recording a hit.  An error, a hit batter, and a walk enabled the Raiders to take a 5-4 lead heading to the final inning. Jon Doko got things going with single.  Karson Symonds pinch ran and stole second.  Enos hit a sharply hit ball to the right fielder who was able to throw him out at 1st but it advanced Symonds to 3rd.  Christopher Calabrese singled sharply to right center to tie the game at 5.  Will Adams & Evan Swindell both had lengthy at bats that led to walks to fill the bases with one out.  Jace Franke then hit a ground ball to the SS and with the infield playing in, he threw home to the plate to retire Calabrese. However, the catcher tried to get a double play and threw wildly to 1st allowing Adams to score the winning run.

FW REBELS 17    HVA STORM MCMAHEN 3

The Rebels' bats came alive in their second game of the day as they scored 17 runs on 13 hits while walking six times.  That was more than enough for Rebels' starter Jackson Jordan who allowed 1 run in his 2 innings of work while Jace Franke finished things up on the mound.  Every single Rebels player either knocked in a run or scored a run.  They were led by Drew Horstman who went 2-3, with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI.  Karson Symonds had a perfect game at the plate going 3-3 with a double and 2RBI.  Jace Franke went 2-2 with a double a walk and 3 runs scored.  Jon Doko smashed a triple to left and finished 1-2 with 2 RBI and a run scored. The win over the Storm was the 14th straight tournament win on the season for the Rebels.

FROZEN ROPES PEREA 6   FW REBELS 5

The Rebels were paired with one of the better AAA teams in the area and both teams threw their aces.  Jack Dalton and the Raiders pitcher simply dominated as neither team was able to score a run in the first three inning.  Dalton faced 10 batters in the first three innings while the Raiders pitcher was perfect.  With two outs in the 4th, the Raiders scratched across a run after a single, a balk, and another single.  Will Adams opened the bottom of the 4th with a walk.  Adams stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.  With two outs, Jack Dalton walked and courtesy runner Jace Franke came on and stole 2nd.  With Evan Smith at the plate, the Raiders ace uncorked a wild pitch allowing Adams to score.  On the same play the catcher threw the ball away and it enabled a hustling Franke to score all the way from 2nd.  The score stayed that way going to the final inning.  Frozen Ropes rallied for five runs thanks to two Rebel errors, three singles, and a hit batter.  The score was Ropes 6 Rebels 2 heading to the bottom of the last inning.  Jon Doko got hit by a pitch to open the inning and Karson Symonds ran for him.  Quentin Enos had a great at bat and singled to left.  It was the first Rebels hit of the day.  Christopher Calabrese followed with a single of his own that scored Symonds to make it 6-3.  Enos & Calabrese moved up on a wild pitch.  Will Adams battled and hit an RBI ground out scoring Enos to make it 6-4.  With two outs, Jace Franke smacked a single to center to score Calabrese to make it 6-5.  Franke stole 2nd and then Jack Dalton walked on 4 pitches.  That's where the Rebels magic came to an end.  All of the walk-off's this team has experienced the last two years and it was too much to ask for today.  Still, this was a great ballgame and the Rebels now know they are exactly where they belong.