Effingham Pirates Claim Tournament Championship

Team members are, first row, left to right, Evan Bohnhoff, Jack Matteson, Dalton Will, Luke Spencer and Aidan Beck. Back row, left to right, Coach Brad Waldhoff, Parker Siner, Cole Niebrugge, Davis Tingley, Dawson Whitten, Cameron Kalber, Austin Waldhoff and Coach Chris Tingley.

The Effingham Pirates a 12U travel baseball team completed a five game sweep of a tournament held in Bridgeton Mo. during the weekend, scoring 78 runs and coming away with a first place finish. The tourney consisted of 10 travel teams, the majority from the St. Louis area.
 
Pool play started Saturday with a 12-9 win over the Team Recruits and finished with an 18-2 win over Team Extreme. That set the Pirates up for a second place seed for the Sunday bracket play.

The Pirates jumped out early and didn’t look back. Winning 14-4 against the Recruits and then 14-4 against the No. 1 seeded Astros. The championship game was played against the Twin City Titans who also were 4-0 in the tournament at this point. The game was back and forth until the top of the sixth inning when the Pirates scored 10 runs to finish the game with a 20-11 victory.
 
The Effingham Pirates are coached by Brad Waldhoff and Chris Tingley. Players include Austin Waldhoff, Davis Tingley, Cole Niebrugge, Jack Matteson, Evan Bohnhoff, Cameron Kalber, Aiden Beck, Dalton Will, Parker Siner, Luke Spencer and Dawson Whitten.
 
The Effingham Pirates are a 12U baseball team organized to develop young men who want a positive but competitive baseball program," said Coach Waldhoff. "This tournament was the completion of a 30 plus game season that saw the team play in tournaments and doubleheaders all without the expense or time consumption of long distance traveling."