Southwest RBI Regional Tournament

This past weekend RBI Austin traveled up to Arlington, TX to compete for the second straight year in the Southwest RBI Regional Tournament hosted by the Texas Rangers. The games were played at both Arlington and Lamar High Schools. The Senior division Regional Championship game was even played at Rangers Ballpark.

The Regional began with an opening ceremony Thursday night at the Texas Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The teams enjoyed some good ole ballpark food, while hearing from former Rangers players Jim Sundberg and Kevin Mench. MLB’s national RBI Director David James was also on hand to provide some words of inspiration to the RBI participants.

The 4-team tournament in both of the age divisions was round robin, with the best records advancing to the Championship game on Sunday. The Junior team (15U) dropped its three games to Arlington, Houston and New Orleans RBI, but competed well against stellar competition in RBI Austin’s first Junior Regional appearance.

Meanwhile, the Senior team (18U) came just one win short of advancing to the Regional Championship at Rangers Ballpark. The Senior team won the most exciting game of the weekend, beating Arlington RBI Friday night in walk-off fashion! Jay Jonse (Manor HS 2015) pitched a complete game, surrendering only two runs, while JJ Sanchez (Travis HS 2013), provided the clutch walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 7th to win it 3-2 for Austin. Check out the at bat that made it happen…

You can find pictures from the weekend on our Facebook page!

Senior team assistant coach and RBI Austin 2010 alum George Warren said, “Being a coach in the RBI Regional this year meant a lot to me because of the fact I didn’t get to play in it as a player. I was impressed by the level of talent each city brought to the Regional. In one word, the Regional tournament was amazing.”

The boys played hard and had a blast with their coaches all weekend. Big thanks to all the parents who allowed their sons to travel and play with us! We also want to thank all the businesses who sponsored our teams!

Happy Summer!