The Stampede Scout 15u team won the prestigious PBR Mid-Atlantic Program Invite tournament in Richmond, VA, capping off a strong pool play showing by winning 3 straight games on Sunday (June 15th) to clinch the title.  Along the way, the Scout beat the #1 seeded Philly Scout team (who is a nationally ranked club) and #2 seeded Complete Game (also out of PA) to bring the championship back to Charlotte.
      The team started the tournament by routing the Canes Prospects team out of VA by a score of 11-1.  Farris Carinci, Noah Shorts and Connor Ramey each had a pair of hits in the contest, while Carinci, Max Puckett and Banks Stevenson scored 2 runs apiece.  Ramey led the team with a pair of RBI's to pace the offense.  On the bump, Henry Earl and Khalil Boyd combined on a 3-hitter, allowing only 1 ER while striking out 7.
      In game 2, the Scout were dealt their 1st loss of the season at the hands of the Richmond Braves Platinum team, a powerhouse program in the host city.  The Scout struggled early, but were the better team the last 4 innings despite losing 6-3. The team was held to just 4 hits (Cooper Morris, Noah Shorts, Farris Carinci, and Evan Sears), but one of those was a bomb off the bat of Sears for his first HR in a Stampede uniform.  Max Puckett and Khalil Boyd provided masterful performances out of the bullpen, throwing a combined 4 2/3 innings and allowing just 2 hits.
      Game 3 saw the Scout return to their winning ways, blowing out a strong Rawlings Prospects team out of Maryland by the score of 12-0. Four Scout pitchers (Josh Stephens, Chase Biermann, Stone Johnson and Connor Ramey) combined on a 1-hit shutout to secure the win. Offensively, the team threw a hit parade, pounding out 14 in just 5 innings.  Max Puckett, Cooper Morris, Banks Stevenson and Connor Landers had 2 hits each while 6 other players also had hits.  Stevenson, Stone Johnson and Morris had 2 RBI's apiece, while Landers, Evan Sears and Puckett scored 2 runs each.
      Next it was on to bracket play.  Only 8 of the 26 teams MADE the bracket....and the Stampede were the 4 seed.
      Game 1 saw the Scout matched up with the Keystone Bombers National Team.....and saw the Stampede score early and often to send the 5 seed packing with a 10-2 win.  6 different players had hits in the contest, led by a pair from Chase Biermann, who scored twice and had 2 RBI's.  Evan Sears continued his hot hitting with a bases loaded double in the 1st inning to get the Scout off to a strong start. On the mound, Cooper Morris and Henry Earl held the Bombers to 5 hits and 2 runs to secure the victory.
      The Semi-Final game saw the Scout matched up with the Nationally-ranked Philly Scout team out of PA, the #1 seed in the tournament.  The Stampede scored 3 in the opening inning and 1 in the 2nd and held on for a 4-0 win.  The story of this game was the phenomenal pitching of Josh Stephens.  Stephens pitched a 7 inning, complete game shutout against a team that was averaging 10 runs per game in the tournament.  The Philly team could only muster 5 hits in the contest, and Stephens struck out 5 while walking only 1.  Cooper Morris and Evan Sears paced the offence with 2 hits apiece and the Scout defense played a flawless game to pull off the upset of the tournament.
      Finally, CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!  The Scout matched up with Complete Game out of PA, the #2 seed.  Each team scored all their runs in the very first inning, with the Scout taking a 2-1 lead that they never relinquished on their way to the title.  Stone Johnson and Khalil Boyd were impressive on the bump, limiited a strong hitting team to just 3 hits while striking out 5.

For the tournament, Evan Sears was a monster, leading the team with a .625 avg with 3 XBH, 5 runs scored and 5 RBI's.  Cooper Morris led the team in hits (7), Max Puckett led in runs scored (7) and Puckett, Sears, Connor Ramey and Banks Stevenson all tied for the team lead with 5 RBI's.  The team stole a whopping 24 bases on the week, averaged 7 runs per contest and finished  with a .338 team batting average. The pitching was elite as well, finishing the week with a 2.12 ERA while striking out 35 in 33 IP and allowing only 22 hits.  Add to that a defense that made only 6 errors in 6 games (and only 1 in the 3 games on Championship Sunday) and you have a complete weekend of outstanding baseball by the Scout!

Well done guys.  The Stampede organization is proud of you.  Way to bring a title back to the Queen City!!!