Braves rally past Reds to capture youth baseball title | Local Sports

SMITHFIELD — The Smithfield Braves fell behind early Monday evening, but panic never seemed to set in.

Instead, the Braves settled in behind a trio of strong pitching performances, took advantage of timely at-bats and patient plate appearances, and pulled away for an 8-1 victory over the Smithfield Reds to capture the Cache North Minor Baseball Tournament championship for third-and fourth-grade players at Forrester Acres.

The title capped an impressive postseason run for the Braves, who entered the nine-team tournament as the No. 4 seed before edging the No. 5 Richmond Braves 6-5 in the quarterfinals, upsetting the top-seeded Richmond Cardinals 9-3 in the semifinals and finishing the job against the Reds.

“This game’s going to stick with me,” Braves coach Rhett Nielsen said. “(The Reds) have good pitching, good coaches, good players all around. That’s a good team and we fought back from a deficit, and we won. I’m proud of my kids.”

The Reds struck first in the opening inning. Kyson Alvares and Tyler Dean drew walks before Leo Law lined a single to left to load the bases. After Colton Nielsen recorded back-to-back strikeouts, Brantley Hamilton worked a bases-loaded walk to force home Alvares for a 1-0 lead.

Law looked sharp in the bottom of the first, striking out two in a row before Colton Nielsen, Finn Hall and Zayden Manwaring loaded the bases with walks. The Reds escaped the jam when the Braves grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

The momentum shifted in the second.

After Manwaring entered in relief and struck out three batters in a scoreless top half of the inning, the Braves’ offense came alive. Max Downs reached on a walk before Liam Jones delivered a run-scoring single to left to tie the game. Jax Luthi and Rhyus Hollingshead followed with walks to load the bases, and the Braves took advantage.

Jackson Day drew a bases-loaded walk to put Smithfield in front before Alex Varela followed with another RBI walk, giving the Braves a 3-1 advantage after two innings.

The Braves continued to build the lead in the third.

Manwaring, Coyle and Downs all reached to load the bases before Emmett Nielsen and Jones each drew RBI walks. Hollingshead later brought home another run with a walk, while Day and Varela each added RBI free passes as the Braves stretched the margin to 8-1 before the 75-minute time limit brought the championship to a close.

Although the Braves leaned on their patience at the plate, Nielsen also credited several players for stepping up with quality swings throughout the game.

“The three pitchers that pitched tonight — Zayden, Colton and Jackson — all threw well, and they’ve thrown well for us all season,” Nielsen said. “We had a few kids step in and get hits that they haven’t played baseball for as long as some of the others. Gracie had a great hit, and we had Trafford (Allen) get a good hit. So I’m very proud of our kids.”

On the mound, Colton Nielsen weathered a bases-loaded first inning by striking out two batters to limit the damage before Manwaring fanned three hitters over a scoreless second inning. Jackson Day finished the game by working around a pair of baserunners in the third, striking out Hamilton and retiring James Barker and Spackman to preserve the victory.

The Braves finished the summer with a 4-2-2 regular-season record before catching fire in the postseason. Their championship run included victories over the No. 5, No. 1 and No. 7 seeds, including a second win this season over the Reds after a 13-11 regular-season victory in late May.

For Nielsen, however, the championship was only part of the reward.

“This is my first year coaching minors with my son, who’s eight, but I’ve been coaching baseball and a number of other sports for seven or eight years,” Nielsen said. “The most important thing for me is for the kids to have fun. I want them to learn, but I want them to have fun. I want them to leave the end of the year and say, ‘I want to play again,’ and I think every one of my kids is going to do that this year.”

Nielsen said his coaching staff emphasized both baseball fundamentals and life lessons throughout the season.

“The game’s meant to be fun. You don’t need to ride the highs or the lows. Let’s just stay consistent and have fun,” Nielsen said. “We also focused on, ‘You can do hard things.’ These kids learned that when they started out, they might not have had a good day hitting or fielding or even pitching, but they can do hard things and they know that.”

The championship featured contributions throughout both lineups.

For the Braves, Jones supplied the game’s lone RBI hit with his second-inning single, while Downs, Emmett Nielsen, Hall, Manwaring, Coyle, Hollingshead, Day, Varela, Luthi, Colton Nielsen and Trafford Allen all contributed during the tournament championship run.

The Reds, meanwhile, received a pair of singles from Law and saw Alvares, Dean, Suchan, Hamilton, Spackman, James Barker, Pierce Oliver, Albert Perez and Asher Olsen help lead a memorable postseason run. Entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed, the Reds upset No. 2 Smithfield Dodgers and No. 6 Smithfield Brewers to earn a spot in the championship game after posting a 3-4-1 regular-season record.