With a walkoff victory in the title game, Arlington Travel Baseball’s 12-under Arsenal team won the recent Coach Fox Tournament championship.
The Arsenal defeated Calvary Baseball from Loudoun County, 4-3 in that final, to finish 4-0 in the competition.
Coached by Omar Casillas, the Arsenal outscored opponents, 28-7.
The annual tournament is held over a three-day weekend in October, featuring competition from the 9-under to 14-under age groups and teams from throughout the metro area. The event is hosted by Arlington Travel Baseball at various fields in the county.
The tournament honors coach Sam Fox, who has been coaching and mentoring on fields in Arlington for more than 50 years. Fox continues to coach for various Arlington teams.
In the tourney final, the Arsenal led 3-1. Calvary rallied to tie the score at 3 on a two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the frame, Gavin Vaughan led off by getting hit by a pitch. He stole second, took third on a wild pitch, then two strikeouts later, scored on the third wild pitch of the inning for the game-winning run.
Miles McBride was the Arsenal’s starting pitcher. He did a good job quieting the Calvary hitters, who belted six home runs in the previous two games. McBride pitched five strong innings, allowing three hits and one run.
Dev Kataria had an RBI double for Arlington, Jack Dempsey added two hits and Ethan Hall’s baserunning over the first five innings helped the Arsenal build a 3-1 lead. Luke Guffey picked two Calvary runners off third.
In the semifinals, the Arsenal defeated Falls Church, 8-1. Kataria started and pitched 42/3 innings, allowing one run. Vaughan finished in relief for the save.
Maddox Cory went 3 for 3, Anders Gick added two RBI, Gleb Kasyan and Logan Duce had RBI singles, and Guffey hit his third homer of the tournament.
The action began with two pool-play contests for the Arsenal. They routed the Falls Church Copperheads, 9-1, in their first game, as Kataria and McBride combined for a three-hitter. McBride and Guffey homered and Vaughan had two hits.
In their second game, the Arsenal outscored the Blue Ridge Titans, 7-2, behind Guffey’s efforts on the mound and a balanced offensive attack. Hall and Malakai McBee had multiple RBI. Charlie Keffer and Cory pitched shutout innings in relief.
Thanks to their 2-0 record in pool play, the Arsenal earned a first-round bye in playoff round.
