‘Legendary’ performance leads Chucktown baseball team to 9U state title

Press Staff Report

WEST DES MOINES — The Chucktown Legends emerged as 9-and-under AA Division II State Champions at the USSSA baseball tournament held July 9-11 at Holiday Park.

The Legends went 1-1 during pool play. First, they defeated Dallas Center-Grimes 8-7 after falling behind 7-1 after three innings. Bryce Caffrey drove in the winning run just before the time limit.

In the second pool-play game River City Crush (Clinton) defeated the Legends 12-3.

In the single elimination round, the Legends were the No. 8 seed in the Gold Bracket. There, they faced the No. 1 seed Eastern Iowa Vipers (Eldridge).  The Legends were clinging to a 3-2 lead when Sabastian Parrott launched a three-run triple into deep right field to make the score 6-2.  The Legends would tack on five more runs while advancing to the semi-finals with an 11-2 win.

The Legends would get a second chance at the River City Crush in the semis and were able to come back with an 8-run fifth inning to seal the 10-7 victory.

The Legends then faced a familiar foe in Waverly-Shell Rock in the championship.  In what was easily the best game of the entire tournament, Chucktown defeated the Go-Hawks 5-4 with Miles Vais striking out the last batter with the tying run on third.

“The entire Legends team contributed to the championship with each member excelling at their role throughout their tournament,” Legends coach Tad Barry said. “The boys always had a ‘team first’ mentality and picked each other up all weekend.

“It was an unforgettable experience for the players, coaches and fans. The team theme continuously rang true — Heroes get remembered, but LEGENDS NEVER DIE!”