CHS grad Joey Lippo and his select baseball team won five of six games at an 18-team Arizona tourney. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The weather was hot in Arizona, but Joey Lippo was hotter.
Paced by their speedy lead-off hitter, the Seattle Bombers 18U select baseball squad won five of six games, claiming second-place at the 5th annual World Series West.
There were 18 teams, repping multiple states, in the Upperclass Division of the tourney in Scottsdale, and it took five days before any of them could upend the Coupeville grad and his summer compatriots.
The Bombers won a game a day from July 20-23, finishing first in pool play and earning a bye into the semifinals of the tourney.
After opening with a 9-7 win Friday over Edge White, Lippo and Co. blanked the Los Al Cage Rats 5-0 Saturday, then pulled off the win of the tourney Sunday morning.
Facing off with Batters Box 18U Navy, the Bombers went into extra innings tied 3-3.
At which point it was Lippo time, as the former Wolf launched a game-busting RBI double in the top of the eighth.
The blow sparked a five-run rally, which turned out to be a good thing, as Bombers pitching gave back three runs in the bottom half of the inning before escaping with an 8-6 win.
With a bye at stake, the Bombers won a battle of unbeaten teams Monday, knocking off Colorado Baseball Academy 7-0.
Lippo pilfered two bases to spark the offense, while Bombers hurler Eric Anderson tossed a no-hitter to seal the deal on a perfect 4-0 run through pool play.
The tourney came to an end Tuesday, with the Bombers knocking off the Aggie Scout Team 4-2 in the semis, before they were toppled 7-3 in the championship game by the Central Valley Marlins.
The Marlins, who did not have a bye coming in to the playoffs, had to win three games Tuesday to take home the trophy to Fresno, CA, and they did just that.
The tourney’s #1 team in ERA, strikeouts, RBI and hits won a pair of elimination games in romps (15-0 and 12-2) before jumping on the Bombers for four runs in the first inning.
Lippo went down swinging, rapping out a pair of hits to pace the Bombers in the title game.
For the tourney, he recorded six hits, four runs and two RBI, while reaching base just about every way possible.
That including being plunked, taking advantage of both fielding errors and catcher’s interference and using his torrid toes to out-race a dropped third strike.
Lippo was spotless on defense while roaming center field for the Bombers, including sprinting into left at one point to snag a ball his teammate lost in the sun.
He also is returning home without suffering heat stroke (we think), despite the weather being a balmy 100 degrees on the “coolest” day, before soaring Tuesday to a brain-frying 116 (in the shade).
Coupeville Sports 