The Northwest Vipers 8 & Under Machine Pitch baseball team traveled to Shawnee, Kan., July 13-18, for the USSSA World Series. The Vipers finished in second place with a record of 7-2 in the tournament.
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The Vipers started the tournament with pool play where they went 3-0 with wins over the Volcanoes of Lee’s Summit, the Indians of Independence and the KC Barnstormers of Kansas City, Kan. In their first pool play game, the Vipers defeated the Volcanoes by a score of 8-0. Collin Breckenridge of King City paced the Vipers’ offense with three hits. He was followed by Eli Dowis of Conception and River McCallon of King City each with two hits. Tanner Sears of Higginsville had three RBI, Tristen Lager of Stanberry had two RBI and Jacob Lewis of Winston, Tyler Houchin of Maryville and McCallon had one RBI apiece.
In their second pool play game, the Vipers defeated the Buffalo Wild Wings Indians by a score of 13-2. Breckenridge led the Vipers with three hits, followed by Sears, Houchin, McCallon, Lager, Drake Simmons of Parnell and Logan Craig of Eagleville all with two hits. Sears and Lager each had three RBI, followed by McCallon, Simmons and Craig with two and Jacob New of Sheridan with one.
In their final pool play game, the Vipers defeated the KC Barnstormers by a score of 20-0. Every player tallied at least one hit in the win over the Barnstormers. Creid Stoecklein of Maryville had two runs scored. Simmons had three hits followed by Breckenridge, Dowis and Houchin each with two hits.
The Vipers had a 3-0 record and earned the top seed heading into the double elimination tournament part of the World Series. In their tournament game, the Vipers faced Wully Bully from Overland Park, Kan. The Vipers came on top by a score of 9-6. Houchin recorded the team’s first home run of the season in the 1st inning when he hit a grand slam home run. Breckenridge, Dowis, Sears, Houchin and Lager all had two hits each. Houchin had five RBI.
The win over Wully Bully advanced the Vipers further in the winner’s bracket where they faced the reigning state champion Stix from Blue Springs/Lee’s Summit. A walk-off two-run double by Dowis gave the Vipers a come-from-behind 12-11 victory over the Stix. Dowis had four hits, followed by Breckenridge and Lewis with three hits apiece. Dowis and New each had three RBI, followed by Sears with two and Lager with one.
The Vipers advanced to the winner’s bracket final where they faced the Tri River Mudcats of Kansas City. The Vipers suffered their first loss of the World Series, when they fell 14-6, to the Mudcats. Breckenridge, Dowis, Houchin and Lager all tallied two hits for the Vipers. McCallon had two RBI followed by Breckenridge, Dowis, Houchin and Craig each with one RBI.
The loss dropped the Vipers to the loser’s bracket where they had a re-match with the Stix. This time the Vipers handed the Stix a 10-6 loss to eliminate them from the tournament. Breckenridge, McCallon, Sears and New each recorded two hits to lead the Vipers’ offense. William Andel of Maryville had two runs scored. Simmons had two RBI to lead the Vipers.
Next up for the Vipers was a re-match with the Mudcats in the championship of the World Series. Since the Vipers already had one loss on their record, they would have to beat the Mudcats twice to claim the tourney title. In the first game, the Vipers jumped out to an early lead and didn’t look back and they cruised to an 11-3 victory. Leading the way for the Vipers were Houchin and McCallon each with three hits. They were followed by Sears, Craig, New and Lewis each with two hits. Dowis, Houchin, McCallon, Simmons, Sears, Craig, Lewis, Lager and Andel each tallied one RBI in the win.
In their ninth game of the World Series, the Vipers battled the Mudcats in the tournament finale. The Mudcats got on the scoreboard first and held off the Vipers’ comeback to win 11-8 and claim the World Series title. Dowis, Simmons and New each had two hits to lead the Vipers’ offense. Simmons hit the team’s second homerun of the season and tournament with a 2-run dinger in the 6th inning. Dowis had three runs scored and Simmons had three RBI to lead the Vipers.
In addition to playing nine games, the boys also participated in skills contests to include a base running contest, a homerun derby and an around-the-horn contest. At the conclusion of the World Series, the Vipers had four players named to the All Tournament Team. Those players were: Collin Breckenridge, Eli Dowis, Tyler Houchin and River McCallon.
"The improvement made by these boys from late March until the 40th game of the season was remarkable," said Vipers Coach Rob Dowis. "We were within one or two plays or hits of winning the USSSA World Series against the best Class AA teams from the Midwest. Each and every player made a significant contribution to a successful tournament run. The boys and their parents are to be congratulated on a great season."
The Vipers finished their season with a record of 30-10. They finished the season ranked 4th in the nation, out of over 150 teams, in the USSSA Class AA rankings and finished ranked second in the state of Missouri.
Team members are William Andel, Jacob Lewis, Creid Stoecklein, Jacob New, Collin Breckenridge and Tristen Lager; and back row – Drake Simmons, Eli Dowis, River McCallon, Tyler Houchin, Tanner Sears and Logan Craig.