That is, until now.
After two back-to-back trips to a World Series in Colorado in 2010 and ‘11 without a title, the Saints won their first World Series title at the Xtreme Diamond Baseball World Series in San Diego on Sunday afternoon, defeating AZ Prowlers of Peoriz, Ariz., 5-2, in the Major Division title game.
“I feel today they played harder for one another than they have in three years,” said Saints coach Michael "Whitey" Spencer, who guided Capital High School to the 3A state baseball title in 1998. “We played darn near perfect.”
The Saints (44-7), who are comprised of mostly high school underclassmen, steamrolled throughout the five-day tournament. They outscored their opponents 47-13 while posting a perfect 7-0 record. All season, the Saints, who are a 15U team, played in tournaments one age group higher at 16U, including at the Xtreme Diamond World Series.
Spencer credited his team’s pitching, behind Zach Owens, an incoming sophomore at Timberline High School and Elijah Hill, an incoming sophomore at Tumwater High School. Hill got the win on the mound in the semifinal win over state rival Laces Academy of Seattle, 9-6, then came back to get the final four outs and the save in the title game. Owens, who started the title game on the mound, earned the victory.
In the championship game, the Saints’ bats got hot early, scoring all five of their runs in the first inning.
“We’ve knocked on the door (in the past), and we finally kicked it down this weekend.”
