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Renegades, Bulls and Dodgers remain unbeaten after second round of Connie Mack series

Albuquerque Baseball Academy is eliminated
Southern California Renegades' JW Bayless pitches to Midland's Mikey Vanderheyden in the top of the fifth inning during Connie Mack World Series Game 11 on Tuesday at Ricketts Park. (Curtis Ray Benally/Special to the Tri-City Record)

FARMINGTON – Despite giving up a four-run lead, Dulins Dodgers pulled out a dramatic 5-4 extra-inning win Tuesday night at Ricketts Park, beating the PPA White Sox Scout Team in a battle of unbeaten teams.

The Dodgers, led by RBIs from Anthony Del Angel and Carson Sharp, led 3-0 before the game was halted in the top of the fourth inning for nearly 40 minutes because of lightning at Ricketts Park. When play resumed, the Dodgers extended their lead to 4-0 after Sharp scored on a fielder’s choice.

The White Sox Scout Team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Spencer Browning’s sacrifice fly scored Jackson Harris before Ethan Carswell drove in Hunter Rose and Buck Anderson advanced on an error that scored Carswell.

The White Sox tied the game in the top of the seventh with a one-out double by Lincoln Boyle that scored Daniel Wulfert.

The Dodgers reclaimed the lead in the top of the eighth inning. With runners on first and third and one out, White Sox pitcher Jackson Harris was called for a balk while facing John Clark, bringing Corley to the plate for what proved to be the game-winning run.

The Dodgers, Southern California Renegades and Midland Southwest Bulls remain unbeaten after two games. The Dodgers will receive a bye and will be off Wednesday. After Wednesday’s games, the six remaining teams will be re-seeded in preparation for Thursday’s tripleheader at Ricketts Park.

United eliminates Albuquerque Baseball Academy

Dallas’ D-Bat United scored five runs in the top half of the seventh inning to stave off elimination Tuesday night at Ricketts Park and beat the Albuquerque Baseball Academy 5-1.

The loss puts an end to the ABA’s tournament run, losing both their bracket games in the double-elimination format. The ABA lost their opening game 8-3 against the Midland Southwest Bulls on Sunday.

D-BAT United's Cole Koeniger hits the ball to right field for a single and RBI against Albuquerque Baseball Academy in the top of the seventh inning during the Connie Mack World Series Game 7 on Tuesday at Ricketts Park. (Curtis Ray Benally/Special to the Tri-City Record)

The United victory extended their tournament into Wednesday’s third round and a clash at Ricketts Park at 10 a.m. against the Dallas Patriots. Both teams avoided being eliminated from the tournament after opening-round losses.

The ABA had a 1-0 lead heading to the top of the seventh inning thanks in large part to the pitching of Matt Castillo. The Los Lunas High School graduate and commit to New Mexico Junior College threw 90 pitches in six complete innings, striking out eight, walking one and allowing three hits before he was replaced by Adriel Figueroa-Brita.

The United rally was led by a bases-loaded, one-out single by Talon Pate, which led to a pair of errors in the field, scoring Owen Skinner, Jarett Boswell and Brady Boozer. The United scored two more runs after Luke Feist allowed Cole Koeninger to drive in two more runs with a single to right field.

Logan Brown, who came onto the mound for United in the fifth inning, earned the win, striking out five batters and allowing only one hit and one walk in three innings.

Renegades rally to topple Midland Redskins 3-2

Piedra Vista High School’s JW Bayless threw three shutout innings and the Southern California Renegades rallied from a 2-0 deficit to top the Midland Redskins 3-2 in a second-round clash at Ricketts Park.

The Renegades, last year’s Connie Mack World Series champions, earned the walk-off win on a bases loaded wild pitch to Sean Green thrown by Redskins reliever Shawn Sullivan. Evan Thomas rushed home and slid safely across home plate to earn the dramatic win.

The Renegades trailed for much of the game, thanks to a 2-run top of the second inning by Midland, led by runs scored by Mikey Vanderheyden and Ben Voegele. Luke McLeod knocked in a run with a one-out single to right field to give the Redskins the advantage.

The Renegades got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Micah Taguian scored from third base on a fielder’s choice. Redskins starting pitcher Rayvin Pagan had a strong showing on the mound, but began to show signs of strain after Taguian got aboard with a leadoff double followed by a walk to Evan Thomas.

Sullivan, who made his first appearance on the hill for the Redskins in a relief spot last weekend during pool play, struck out three batters in the sixth inning but also gave up the tying run when Tomas Cerniuis led off the inning with a single before scoring on a throwing error from Redskins catcher Vanderheyden.

The Redskins had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning when McLeod led off with a single. Two batters later, when Wil Van Wie grounded to Renegades shortstop Travis Curry, McLeod got tagged as he was trying to reach third base, taking the lead runner out of the equation.

Southern California Renegades' Evan Thomas scores the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning against Midland during Connie Mack World Series game eleven on Tuesday at Ricketts Park. (Curtis Ray Benally/Special to the Tri-City Record)

“That play was crazy, but that’s just good baseball instincts,” said Renegades coach Si Pettrow.

With the score tied at 2 in the bottom of the seventh, Thomas got on base with a one-out single before Sullivan walked Ben Finnegan and intentionally walked Cernius to load the bases, leading to the dramatic finish.

Bayless becomes the first Farmington-area pitcher to win a game at the Connie Mack World Series since Zach Raichel won a pool play game for the Albuquerque Baseball Academy in 2022.

Bayless earned the win and finished with three shutout innings, striking out four and allowing only hit.

“It really is something very cool,” Bayless said after the game. “And to do it with this team, which is always in contention and coming in here as the defending champs, it really does mean a lot.”

The win advances the Renegades to a third-round contest against the Midland Southwest Bulls, which will be played Wednesday at Ricketts Park with a start time of 7:30 p.m. The time of that game is still to be determined.

The Redskins, with the loss, will need to win out in order to extend their legacy as the winningest team in the history of the tournament. The Redskins will be back in action Wednesday at Ricketts Park against the White Sox Scout Team.

Midland Southwest outlasts Tulsa Sandlot

The Midland Southwest Bulls advanced to the third round of the 2025 Connie Mack World Series after a hard-fought 3-2 win Tuesday morning over the Tulsa Sandlot at Ricketts Park.

The Bulls, trailing 1-0 heading to the top of the sixth inning, grabbed the lead for the first time when Cole Neatherlin drove in a pair of runners with 2-out, 2-on double that scored Tripp Green and Luke Hamm and gave the Bulls a 2-1 advantage.

The Bulls added to their lead in the top of the seventh inning with a 2-out RBI single off the bat of Jeremiah Taylor that plated Carter Alderson with what proved to be the game winner.

Midland Southwest's Cole Neatherlin hits the ball to left field fence for a double and 2 RBIs in the top of the sixth inning against Tulsa Sandlot during the Connie Mack World Series Game 10 on Tuesday at Ricketts Park. (Curtis Ray Benally/Special to the Tri-City Record)

Tulsa scored a run to narrow the Midland SW advantage in the bottom of the seventh when Jacob Wehba scored on a fielder’s choice, leaving the Sandlot with only one out left to stay in the contest.

Caleb Rey hit a sharp grounder to Midland SW third baseman Zachary Drew, who got the ball to first baseman Luke Hamm in time to secure the win.

Tulsa had a 1-0 lead after three innings after Carson Brumbaugh scored on an RBI single from Kooper Ranallo. The team appeared to be in good hands with starting pitcher Chris Whitaker on the mound.

Whitaker threw five shutout innings, striking out a pair and walking a pair while surrendering only one hit through 74 pitches. He was replaced in the bottom of the sixth by Carlos Lopez, who surrendered a pair of runs after throwing just two-thirds of an inning.

Midland SW starting pitcher Jackson Thomas got pulled after 3 2/3 innings in favor of Jonathan Christner, who wound up earning the win, throwing 3 1/3 innings and allowed only one run on one hit.

Midland SW will face the Southern California Renegades at Ricketts Park in a third round, championship bracket game on Wednesday. Game time still to be determined.

Tulsa Sandlot, with their first loss of the bracket portion of the tournament, will look to fight off elimination in a consolation round clash against the Zinger Prospects.

Patriots, Prospects survive consolation round games

The Dallas Patriots and Zinger Prospects, which both lost opening-round games, won their respective consolation round matches on Tuesday.

The Patriots outscored the Texas Twelve 7-6, while the Zinger Prospects, in search of their first win since coming to Farmington last weekend, scored 10 runs in the top of the fifth inning and topped the Oklahoma Express 13-9.

The wins allow both the Patriots and Prospects to keep their tournament hopes alive in the double-elimination event. For the Texas Twelve and the Oklahoma Express, their tournament runs come to an end with 0-2 slates during bracket play.