Local youth baseball squad wins 94-team tournament
Submitted photo
Five local players from four different school districts helped lead the 12-U Pittsburgh Outlaws Orange travel baseball team to a championship in a 94-team tournament that was held over five days in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The team, which is managed by Kip Kuzior, consisted of 12 players from nine districts within the WPIAL. The schools that were represented were: Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, Chartiers-Houston, Peters Township, Mt. Lebanon, Ambridge, Thomas Jefferson, Yough and Montour. The representative from Yough is a cyber-school student.
Kuzior’s son, Grady, was on the team, as was Fort Cherry’s Colin Sieg. Chartiers-Houston was represented by Cam Shaw, and Peters Township had two players on the team in James Snyder and Owen Ferko. Mt. Lebanon and Thomas Jefferson had two players apiece on the Outlaws Orange.
“It was a great experience for the kids,” Kip Kuzior said. “We were able to get all 12 of our guys on the mound, and they were able to stay in what was called the barracks with the other teams. It probably wasn’t the conditions that kids are used to nowadays with no TV or air conditioning and community bathrooms, but they were able to bond and make a lot of new friends.
“We took batting practice 2 or 3 times a day and had dinner together to provide some structure in between games, but we let them be kids and enjoy the moment. We also went to the baseball Hall of Fame, which was a first for some of these kids.”
The Outlaws Orange went 5-0 in pool play in winning their first, third, fourth and fifth games by scores of 17-2, 27-1, 20-1 and 17-0. They were tested against 5 Star Virginia in Game 2 of pool play, but pulled out a 5-3 victory.
The Outlaws Orange success in pool play provided them with multiple byes into the round of 32. They won four games to reach the final against a familiar face.
The Outlaws Orange defeated the Outlaws Gray, 16-4, to capture the Cooperstown Dreams Park championship July 12. Sieg, who defeated 93 others to earn the title in the road-runner competition, was the winning pitcher against the Outlaws Gray.
“It was a feather in the cap for the Pittsburgh Outlaws organization to have two teams playing for the championship because we knew someone was going to get the title,” Kuzior said. “We played four games on the last day, and we were fortunate to have good depth at pitching, which is key in tournaments with this many teams. We also hit the ball well. We had 44 home runs as a team and allowed just five.”
The Pittsburgh Outlaws are based out of Canonsburg, and the Outlaws Orange are the first team from the organization to win a Cooperstown Dreams Park title.
The Outlaws Gray are managed by Canon-McMillan graduate Anthony Wuenstel, who guided Washington County to the championship game of the Pony League World Series last year. Wuenstel will return to the dugout for Washington County in roughly one week, as the Pony League World Series will again be held at Lew Hays Field.
The Outlaws Orange finished their season at 51-6.
Kuzior was assisted by Matt Gavlik.