The 17th annual Artie Escobado Memorial Tournament wrapped up Sunday afternoon. The day's first games featured Azteca 18U facing off against the Greeley Grays while the Wow Factor took on Spradley 18U.
The Wow Factor beat Spradley 18U to advance to the championship game to take on the winner of the Azteca 18U vs. Greeley Grays game.
With some great pitching and clutch hitting, the Azteca Blue team moved on to advance to the finals to face off against Wow Factor.
More: Azteca Blue beat Azteca White in extra innings in Artie Escobado Memorial Tournament
Sander sends Azteca to the finals
Azteca Blue 18U went up against the Greeley Grays, who secured the second seed in their division to reach the semifinals.
Zachari Sanders was on the mound for the Blue team giving up two hits over seven innings, only throwing 97 pitches while striking out nine in the process.
Offensively, the Blue were led by Colton Calderon who had two doubles and three RBIs. The team scored three runs in the third inning and two more in the fifth. Sanders shut out the Grays with ease, winning the game 5-0.
“We are not satisfied yet,” Gavin said. “We still have a big one ahead of us tonight. Zach Sanders did an awesome job on the bump, throwing strikes. He had multiple pitches working in the zone and then we came through executing-wise offensively and then we came through with some big knocks to drive in some runs.”
Heading into the final game, the message is still the same to the team.
“Just keep having fun,” Gavin said. “We signed up for five games this weekend minimum, and we get to go to the fifth and obviously it's the most important one on the weekend. So, just keep that same approach, have fun, play baseball the right way and we'll live with the result.”
Azteca Blue win back-to-back Bado tournaments
In the final game of the tournament, the Blue 18U team went up against the Wow Factor.
Taking the mound for the Blue was Frankie Flores Jr. He was stellar, going five innings without allowing a single run across the board.
Offensively, the Blue exploded in the third inning, scoring nine. They scored their last and final run later in the fourth to seal the victory and the second straight championship victory in the Artie Escobado Memorial Tournament.
"Feeling good, it was a long weekend,” Gavin said. “We didn't play our best baseball early on, but we played it on Sunday when it mattered most, and the boys stepped up big time.”
Flores also spoke after the championship game about his performance on the mound and what it means to win the tournament back-to-back years.
“I felt good today,” Flores said. “My goal was to throw more strikes than usual, and I thought I executed that well. I got a lot of plays for my teammates, and everyone made plays. The team hit the ball well and I felt well on the mound.”
With this tournament completed, the Azteca Blue 18U will look to improve upon their record for the rest of the summer.
“We still have two really fun tournaments left,” Gavin said. “We get to go on the road, starting on Tuesday and it's a really fun traditional tournament. I reminded the team that this is the only time this team will be together. So, make sure you're enjoying that for what it's worth.”
Flores is also excited to move on to the next one.
“It's always fun to win with the team,” Flores said. “I love these guys. You guys are fun to be around, and I think we have a great tournament next tournament.”
Flores would take home the tournament's Most Valuable Pitcher award and Calderon would take home tournament MVP.
For a complete list of all the player awards, as well as recaps of all the scores from the 17th annual Artie Escobado Memorial tournament, please visit runyonsportscomplex.com.
More: Pueblo Azteca Blue 18U earns another win on Day two of the 'Bado Tournament
Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @chowebacca. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Back-to-back Bado Champs: Pueblo Azteca Blue 18U sweep tournament
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