FARMINGTON – The Connie Mack World Series championship trophy is headed back to Texas.
Dallas-based D-BAT, ending a 12-year drought since its last series title, capped off an 8-0 run over the past week to claim the title with an 8-2 victory Friday night at Ricketts Park over last year’s champion, the Dulins Dodgers National.
Between pool play games last week and the five-game bracket schedule, D-BAT outscored its opponents 57-25. The D-BAT squad earned its way into the championship game after slipping past the Midland Redbirds earlier Friday for its second one-run victory of the tournament.
D-BAT won the CMWS championship in 2014 and has finished in the final four twice in the past five years. Friday’s title victory marks the 13th time a team representing Texas has claimed the championship.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow to get second, but more than anything, we wanted it for these guys so bad,” D-BAT head coach Ryan Bonesio said. “They do everything we ask, they work their tails off. They’re great ballplayers, but they’re great young men as well.”
D-BAT led nearly from start to finish, overcoming a shaky first inning. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the first before leaving those baserunners stranded when Christian May bounced out to third base.
D-BAT struck first thanks to an error in right field. Xander Thacker’s fly ball with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the second inning fell out of the glove of Tommy Baker, clearing the bases and giving D-BAT a 3-0 advantage.
D-BAT scored four times in the top of the fourth inning and chased Dodgers starter Corbin Walter off the mound. Walks to Jake Felsman, Brady Morgeson and Joshua Viars were all cashed in, notably by Garner Rodriguez, who drove in a pair of runs.
Trailing 7-0 in the bottom of the fourth, the Dodgers closed the gap, scoring twice when Jacob Pruett lined a double to center to score Ashten Ballew and Austin Allen.
D-BAT starting pitcher Trevor Moore put together a strong outing, striking out five hitters over 4 1/3 innings. Giving up two runs on three hits and five walks, Moore left the game with a comfortable lead for reliever Blake Thompson.
“He’s a bulldog out there,” Bonesio said of Moore. “He was going to be our stopper for the tournament, but we got a chance to start him to close it out, we were going to go with him, and he did his job.”
D-BAT put another run on the board in the top of the fifth inning when Morgeson scored on a base hit by Viars, who continued to excel during the tournament. Viars batted .286 during the series with nine runs scored, five extra-base and three RBIs.
Thacker was named the Most Valuable Player of the CMWS and was one of four D-BAT players to make the all-tournament roster. Talon Pate, Rodriguez and Moore were also honored among the top players in the series.
“I’m so grateful to be surrounded by such a great group,” Thacker said. “I love every single one of these players. It took everybody on this team to win this tournament, and we’re going to be brothers for life.”
Thacker finished the tournament with a .421 batting average, with eight hits in 19 at-bats, two home runs, 10 RBIs and four runs scored.
The Nationals, who overcame a first-round loss Monday to reach the championship game for the second consecutive year, came up short. They earned their way into the finals by beating the Dulins Americans 15-3 earlier in the day.
“These guys are pretty resilient, they’re grinders,” Dodgers head coach Chris Godwin said. “I’ve coached a lot of these guys since they were 11, 12 years old, and it’s tough to let them go. We had a good group. It was a fun run. I’m proud of these guys.”
D-BAT becomes the second team this decade to go undefeated through the tournament. The Enid, Oklahoma, Majors accomplished the feat in 2021.
“This is the best amateur baseball tournament in the country,” Bonesio said. “The community outpouring every year is unbelievable. The state of New Mexico shuts down for this. It’s really difficult to win. It takes a lot of support and a lot of people with all their hands in it.”