HB Vikings bring home title
Mike Sciacca
The HB Vikings, a 13-and-under travel baseball team, returned to Surf
City with a national championship trophy after winning its division
at the United States Specialty Sports Assn. Elite 24 World Series.
The eight-day tournament was held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports
Complex in Orlando, Fla.
The Vikings went 7-0 in a tournament that featured the top
13-and-under teams from around the nation. Each team had to win
qualifying tournaments in order to advance to Orlando.
The Vikings are under the direction of manager Mark Ward, a
varsity baseball assistant coach at Marina High School, and coaches
Mike Filia and Wes Etheridge.
The team finished second at last year’s tournament. But the
Vikings gained a measure of revenge by defeating the reigning
division champion, Texas Express of Fort Worth, 9-5, in the division
final.
In last year’s title game, Texas Express rallied from two runs
down in the seventh inning to edge the HB Vikings, 9-8.
Callan Dawson got the victory in the title game and went 2-0 in
the tournament. Dawson also went 8 for 11, with 8 RBIs on offense in
the Vikings’ final two tournament games.
He was named the division’s Offensive Player of the Tournament.
Shortstop Robert Chavarria was named the division’s tournament
MVP. Chavarria hit .578 and had 15 stolen bases, Ward said.
“Both Robert and Callan were unbelievable,” Ward said. “Robert
sparked us in every game and Callan was outstanding on the mound and
at the plate, especially in those final two games.”
In addition to the title-clinching win over Texas Express, the
Vikings defeated Team Kelley of Texas, 5-1; scored four runs in the
seventh inning in their second game to edge Greensboro Elite of North
Carolina, 9-8; beat the Richmond Reds of Virginia, 5-1; twice
defeated Team Mizuno of Florida by scores of 4-2 and 5-2; and scored
a mercy rule victory over the No. 1-ranked Mississippi Bandits, 9-1,
in the semifinal round.
In addition to the honors bestowed on Chavarria and Dawson, six
other Vikings made the division’s All World team. The players were
Pablo Contreras, a pitcher, center fielder and second baseman, who
hit .400; Kyle Kirby, 2-0 as a pitcher and a second baseman; Michael
Lopez, a pitcher and outfielder who hit .433; catcher Vincent Ponce,
who didn’t allow a stolen base and only gave up one passed ball in
seven games; Josh Sabourin, a first baseman who hit .383 and had nine
RBIs; and Eric Snyder, an outfielder who had three unassisted put
outs at the plate and who played “flawless” defense, Ward said.
Also making strong contributions to the Vikings’ championship run
were Jordan Geiger, Victor Gomez, James Herron, Chad Lewis, Eric
Rodriguez and Jed Vandernaald.
“There are a few outstanding things about this team, and one is
that they know how to play under pressure,” Ward said. “When they go
out on that field, they have a very deep will in their hearts to win.
“What’s also special is that they show a lot of respect to other
teams, to the umpires. These kids had an uncanny way about them in
how to pull for each other, which was incredible to see. This team
really is special. They were a true team.”
As 12-year-olds last year, the Vikings had a record-setting run in
winning their division over 87 other teams at the National American
Tournament of Champions in Cooperstown, N.Y.
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