Griffons win Washita Valley Regional

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Griffons completed a clean sweep of the Washita Valley NBC Regional tournament over the weekend.

After opening the tournament with a defeat of one of their biggest rivals in Zach Juliano and the Joplin Outlaws, 8-0, the Griffons went on to beat the West Texas Outlaws, 14-4, to earn a trip to the tournament semifinals on Saturday.

The Clearwater Cowboys were next in line and gave the Griffons a scare, plating three runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the score at 9. The Griffons ultimately went on to the game by a final score of 10-9 to raise their tournament record to 3-0 and earn a trip into the winner's bracket finals. For the second time in the tournament, West Texas was the team that stood between the Griffons and a tournament championship and that game turned out much like the first meeting between the two squads as the Griffons earned a 9-4 victory.

In a tournament that saw them cruise through four games, beating the opposition by a combined score of 41-17, the Griffons had little trouble posting a 4-0 record and earning the Washita Valley Regional championship. As a team, the Griffons finished with a team batting average of .376 (47-for-125) and a team ERA of 4.94.

Right fielder Patrick Deao led the offensive effort for the Griffons as he finished the tournament going 8-for-16 at the plate with 10 RBIs and three runs scored in four games. Designated hitter M.J. Sartin nearly echoed that performance with a 7-for-14 effort that featured eight RBIs and four runs scored.

With the tournament championship comes an automatic NBC World Series berth. The 76th annual World Series is set to begin this Friday, July 30, in Wichita, Kan., and will run through Aug. 14.

Brackets for this year's tournament have not yet been released.

In the meantime, the Griffons are scheduled to play an exhibition contest on Thursday against the Crowder Dirtbags in Neosho, Mo., at 7 p.m.