Congratulations to the 9U Super Series Early Bird Champions - The Quad City Redbirds. In their first tournament debut the 9U Quad City Redbirds showed some strength and heart to win the Championship.

Saturday April 22nd not only brought great weather for playing baseball but it also brought with it two shut out games for the Redbirds.

In the first game of the day against the Rockford Orange Crush the 9U redbirds won 15-0 in a 3 inning shut out. Matthew Grosskopf & Brady Cartee combined pitching skills and struck out 8 of 9 hitters. Tyler Broders & Nick Hirst added to the game by having 3 hits and 5 RBI’s between them.

In the second game of the day the Redbirds came out Strong again. Shutting out the Moline Blackhawk’s (Black) in an 8-0 victory. Drake Vanderpool and Terrill Clayburne combined pitching efforts for a 2-hit shutout. The boys together struck out 8 and didn’t walk anyone. The team defense proved strong in the game and gave a glimpse into the redbirds strength in the field.

On Sunday the Redbirds were up bright and early for their third game of the tournament against the Davenport Emies Lil’ Hawks. This game was a battle from the start; each team played hard and was fighting for the victory. The Redbirds came out on top with a 13-11 win. The win was brought on by great batting from Aaron Halligan and Matt Grosskopf, who each had 3 RBI’s. The Redbirds bats awoke in the third inning when they scored 10 runs with 2 outs on the board. It was a hard win but the boys earned it.

In the Semi-final game on Sunday the Redbirds faced the Bettendorf Barnstormer Bombers. In the 22-0 win over the Bombers Matt Grosskopf, Brady Cartee & Terrill Clayburne combined on pitching to ensure the shutout in a no walk game. In the offense Drake Vanderpool had 5 RBI’s, Aaron Halligan and Joe Wescom had 3 RBI’s each. The defense on the field proved strong as no errors were made.

The Championship game would prove to be the hardest game of the tournament. The game was against the Moline Blackhawk’s (Black) who had just come off an upset win over the Moline Blackhawk’s (Maroon). With the Blackhawk’s leading early in the game and then the Redbirds took the lead for the rest of the Game until the last at bats for the Blackhawk’s in the 5th inning. With the Redbirds having home team advantage the Redbirds started the rally with Anfernee Crompton and Terrill Clayburne getting walks and using good base running skills to put them into scoring position, when David Hill had a great hit and drove both in. Tyler Broders drove in two more runners and then scored the winning run on a wild pitch. It was an exciting game for both teams. But the Redbirds won 11-10 and were able to grasp the Championship Trophy!!! GOOD JOB!!!