07/07/2026
Our 14U Cyclones returned to San Diego for the 2026 NCS World Series and had a fabulous time, filled with beach time, a big fair, lots of hotel hangs, and some fabulous and dramatic baseball. On the field, the team took a little bit to hit its stride, as a 1-3 record in pool play (with relatively few runs allowed) sent us to the middle of the three 14U brackets for the knockout round starting on Friday night. Against a s team from Arizona that had already beaten us 9-1 in pool play, things were looking grim, as a nightmarish first inning saw us trailing 8-0. But that was just stage-setting for some more San Diego Cyclones magic.
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Inspired by heroic relief pitching from Nico Yansouni (5 IP, 0 R), the team came crawling back. Timely defense in the form of two flyout-throwout double plays helped keep Arizona off the scoreboard. The bats finally came to life in the 5th inning, as the team rallied for five runs on six hits to pull within two. Up against the time limit, Nico threw a quick bottom of the 5th giving the team another chance that they would not waste. With two outs and two strikes, Senju Tsutsumi lined a ball down the right-field line, driving in two runs to tie the game. Two batters later, Donovan Fernandez drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Cyclones the lead, which they held in the bottom of the 6th to win the game after nine unanswered runs.
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In the silver bracket semifinal on Sunday morning, the team erupted for 14 hits and did not commit a single error. Cole Deason (7 IP, 1 R) gave up only a solo home run in a complete-game 6-1 victory. The final, against the West Texas Outlaws, saw the Cyclones claim a 2-run lead in the first inning, which they nursed until the 6th behind fantastic pitching performances from Emerson Hoeft (4 IP, 1 R) and Nico again (3.2 IP. 2 R). A 2-run Outlaws home run in the bottom of the 6th had the team trailing 3-2 entering the 7th. Undeterred, the team immediately tied the game behind Cole Deason and Brian Wang base hits and held the Outlaws scoreless in the bottom of the 7th. With runners placed on each base with one out to enter extra innings, Nico (who else?) beat out a potential double-p