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Xplosion detonates at regional competition
The Sterling Xplosion U10 travel baseball team dominated its opponents and compiled a 7-0 record on the way to winning the ninth annual Elite Championship Tournament Baseball (ECTB) Memorial Day Tournament in Allentown, Pa.
The 16-team, three-day tournament featured top youth teams from Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
In 2006, the team's first season together, the Xplosion finished as runner-up in the third annual Fauquier Mustangs Memorial Day Tournament. As a U9 team last season, the Xplosion finished second in the ECTB Memorial Day tournament, losing 2-1 in the championship.
“Going into the tournament, we had put a nice string of wins together in the Old Dominion League play, so we had some momentum,” Xplosion coach Kenny Burch said. “It was just a matter of getting the boys to believe in themselves and to have confidence.”
This year, the team returned fully loaded and determined as the Xplosion outscored opponents 79-16, including a convincing 10-2 win over another local team, the top-seeded Loudoun Longhorns, in the championship game.
Several of the Xplosion's wins came by way of the league mercy rule that declares a team the winner if it is up by more than eight runs after four innings.
“By jumping out to big leads, we were able to spread out our pitching, saving our better arms for the later games of the tournament,” said Burch, who also cited consistent hitting by the entire lineup as a key to the tournament victory.
The Xplosion is ranked second in its class in Virginia by the United States Specialty Sports Association. It also is currently in first place in its local league, the Old Dominion Baseball League.
The Xplosion will compete against teams from across the country in the Cal Ripken Experience Tournament July 19-26 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
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