2025 18+

OC Moonshots 10, Team USA 9

Submitted by Ryan Benson, Moonshots manager

Our championship game was certainly a dog fight! Team USA got ahead early, scoring one in the first inning. However, that didn’t last for long, as Toby Welty hit a 3-run bomb to left field for the Moonshots to take the lead in the second.

The Moonshots played some stellar defense behind our starting pitcher, Kyle Douphner, and were able to hold this lead until the seventh inning. In the seventh our star infielder Nick Allenbach sustained a heartbreaking leg injury during a collision at second base, causing a brief delay in play. Team USA used this delay to shift the momentum in their favor and scored two runs to tie us up at 8-8.

Once we resumed, Aaron Lambert had something to say about that. He hit a double to center field to get us started in the bottom half of the inning before Peter Escobedo followed up with a clutch single, scoring Lambert and securing a 9-8 lead for the Moonshots.

Mason McGarvey then came in to pitch for the Moonshots and closed the game out with five strikeouts over 2.2 scoreless innings.

Toby Welty was a standout player in the championship game, going 3-4 with five RBI and was just a double away from completing the cycle.

“This tournament was an unbeatable experience for all of us and we can’t wait to play again!” Ryan Benson