New Balance Elite Mavericks earn bounce back victory at Big South Regional Championships

by Dean Fox

FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- The New Balance Elite Mavericks found balance Friday morning in 13U pool play at Liberty Park.
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After dropping a tough decision in the 8 a.m. game, the Mavericks rolled to a 17-0 three-inning victory to gain a split on the day entering Friday at the Big South Regional Championships.

Johnny Pfefferle hit a three-run homer and Dom Monaco allowed only hit on the mound to key the victory. Pfefferle, Monaco, Tyler Rose and Matthew Canella all had two hits apiece for the Mavericks, who also drew 12 walks. Every Mavericks starter scored at least one run.

Monaco was also a star at the plate, going 2-3 with a pair of doubles, scoring twice.

Roman Petricca walked and eventually scored on a passed ball to open the scoring. Pfefferle followed with an RBI single that scored Evan Cardwell, and then Pfefferle scored on a passed ball that made it 3-0.

The Mavericks scored four runs in the second inning, including three on Pfefferle's blast over the left-field fence. The home run came on an 0-2 pitch with two outs, and scored Cardwell and Grant Snider to make it 7-0.

"He line-drived that one out of here," Mavericks coach Brent Chance said. "I told him in the batter's box, 'Try to knock one over the fence,' and he said, 'All right, coach.'"

Then came the third inning. With threatening skies, the Mavericks put the game away with a 10-run effort.

Colby Tucker had the only hit for the Outlaws, who left eight men on base in their three innings.
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"(Monaco) struggled at times, but he got out of it," Chance said. "They had bases loaded twice, but he got out of it."

It was a big win for the Mavericks, who lost 8-5 to the Warren County Warthogs earlier in the day. The Warthogs scored three times in the sixth and final inning to break a 5-all tie.

"It's really big to come back," Chance said. "We've played this team before and so we knew we wanted to put the pressure on them, get guys on base and score runs."