Rockies win T-ball title in thrilling fashion

The Rockies of Oak Park Youth Baseball's T-ball League won the Village Championship by defeating the Royals 13-11 and 14-6 in the best of three series.

During the playoffs, the Rockies became affectionately known as the Cardiac Kids due to their several come-from-behind victories. In their semifinal game against the Mets, the Rockies were down 9-4 going into the sixth and final inning. They managed to hold the Mets to no runs and then scored six in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull out a thrilling 10-9 victory.

In the National League Championship best of three series, the Rockies fell behind to the Dodgers 18-9 after three innings in the first game, again fought back valiantly to pull to within 19-17 after five innings, but couldn't complete the comeback and ended up falling to the Dodgers 24-17. In their second game against the Dodgers, the Rockies trailed 5-0 after the first inning, but again fought back and entered the sixth inning down 11-9. Down to their last at bats, the Cardiac Kids scored three runs to take a 12-11 lead and then held the Dodgers to no runs to secure another heart-stopping victory.

In the third and final game of the National League Championship series, the Rockies again went down 6-1 after the first inning. Thankfully for their coaches' and parents' sake, the Cardiac Kids started their comeback a little earlier this time and defeated the Dodgers 20-13 to win the title and earn the right to face the American League Champion Royals. The Rockies went undefeated in the regular season and never trailed late in any of their games.

Front row, from left to right: Saul Bazer, Hederik Kosten, Javier Rodriguez, Luca Fleming, Lincoln Beecroft and Owen Miller. Back row: coach Mike Coffey, Luke Coffey, Jackson Burress, Wells Negron, Gaetano Guzzardo, Ian Miller, Archie Beecroft, and coach Chris Negron.