Riptide reach semis in Tempe

The Santa Barbara Riptide 12U baseball Club reached the semifinals in the Triple Crown Spring Championships in Tempe, Arizona.

The Riptide won their first five games of last week’s tournament by a combined score of 52-2, benefiting from dominating pitching, solid defense, timely hitting and aggressive base running. In the semifinal game things were close through the third inning with the Riptide only down 2-1. In the fourth inning the Arizona Blaze put up 5 runs and the Riptide was unable to mount a comeback.

Overall, the Riptide finished in fourth place out of 25 teams and qualified for the World Series in Steamboat Springs, Co. and the Fall Nationals in Las Vegas.

The team Riptide consists of Peter Appel, Shea Blackman, Shannon Carroll, Luke Coffey, Dustin Demeter, Kevin Gowdy, John Jensen Jr., Nick Kitzman, Bryce Morison, Quinn Peacock and Kyle Vontillow.

The Riptide is managed by John Jensen. The coaches are Willie Blackman, Pat Carroll and Paul Morison.

Santa Barbara Riptide