Warriors finish fall on top

Published 5:37 pm Wednesday, November 25, 2015

 The Virginia Warriors 10U travel baseball team from Suffolk celebrates after winning the Nations Baseball Fall State Tournament in Yorktown earlier this month. Front row, from left: Nick Conboy, Landon Patton, Kayden Walden, Chase Tomczak, Preston Groves and Dylan Donnelly; middle row, from left: Camden Bauswell, Zachary Bronaugh, Matt Carson, Cole Harrington, Jackson Runyon and Hayden Jones; back row, from left: Chip Runyon, Cory Bauswell, Steve Patton, Carl Taylor and Earl Jones. (Submitted by Chip Runyon)

The Virginia Warriors 10U travel baseball team from Suffolk celebrates after winning the Nations Baseball Fall State Tournament in Yorktown earlier this month. Front row, from left: Nick Conboy, Landon Patton, Kayden Walden, Chase Tomczak, Preston Groves and Dylan Donnelly; middle row, from left: Camden Bauswell, Zachary Bronaugh, Matt Carson, Cole Harrington, Jackson Runyon and Hayden Jones; back row, from left: Chip Runyon, Cory Bauswell, Steve Patton, Carl Taylor and Earl Jones. (Submitted by Chip Runyon)

The Virginia Warriors 10U travel baseball team from Suffolk capped off its fall season with a 6-5 victory over the Norfolk Destroyers in the finals of the Nations Baseball Fall State Tournament in Yorktown earlier this month.

The Warriors went 5-0 in Yorktown, beating the EvoShield Canes, Carolina Titans, Virginia Mariners and twice defeating the Norfolk Destroyers.

“Our team seemed to be peaking right around tournament time,” said Warriors coach Chip Runyon.

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The Warriors started the two-day tournament off strong by beating the EvoShield Canes 9-7 and the Norfolk Destroyers 10-0 on Saturday morning.

Saturday’s performance earned the Warriors the No. 2 seed going into Sunday’s elimination play.

During Sunday’s championship bracket play, the Warriors won three one-run games beginning with a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Titans. Game two saw the Warriors come out on top 10-9 on a come-from-behind, walk-off victory over the Virginia Mariners.

In game three, the Warriors earned another dramatic walk-off victory against the Destroyers to win the championship.

“The kids were resilient all day,” said Warriors coach Earl Jones. “We always tell them to keep battling, keep playing hard.”

The tournament title helped the Warriors earn a No. 1 ranking in the state of Virginia for the Nations Baseball 10U Elite Division for the fall. The Warriors were also the Nations Baseball East Coast World Series runners-up this past summer in the 9U division, finishing with a No. 2 state ranking.

“We have really competitive baseball being played in our area and in the state of Virginia,” said Runyon. “Our group is talented and driven to be good baseball players. I think we’re helping them accomplish that, and we’re having a lot of fun along the way, too.”