Rebels 10U Gray take MSBL National League Championship title

The Bartlett Rebels 10U Gray travel baseball team gave their coach a Gatorade bath after they won the MSBL National League Championship on Sunday, July 10, cementing their flag on the top of the 17-team mountain.

The Rebels 10U started the season with a 1-3 record, then went on a tear to finish 16-4 after a 10-game winning streak to close the regular season, clinching the #2 seed heading into the playoffs and earning them a bye for one of two pool play games.

They won their pool play game vs Niles West, 15-1, and earned the #1 seed for the playoff round after reseeding. They kept the momentum going in the playoff round with a 12-5 win over the Park Ridge Red Jr. Hawks on Friday, a 7-6 come-from-behind walk-off win vs the NVA Cyclones on Saturday, and a 9-1 win over the NSBA Hawks on Sunday morning.

The team won the championship in true Rebel fashion on Sunday afternoon, trailing 5-1 in the 4th inning before their bats came alive and they plated 3 runs in the 4th and 5 runs in the 5th inning to cement a 9-6 victory over the Highland Park Giants to earn the league title.

The Rebels ended the season 32-12 overall and 22-4 in the MSBL, winning 15 in a row in the league and 15 of their last 17 games overall, including a second-place finish in the Experience the Turf tournament in Wheeling in May; quite an accomplishment for a team that was 6-15-3 last season and returned 9 of its 13 players from last season.

The hard work and dedication of the Rebels players, parents and coaches, beginning in December, was rewarded with a well-deserved league title to finish the season.

The Rebels were managed by Tim Stankus, along with his coaching staff of Jason Sharko, Tony Keen, Dave Palmeri, Joel Tringali and Jim Frieden.

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