Walk-Off Double in Bottom of 7th Inning Seals HWSA Championship for Dallas HSAA Angels
 

Angels Bring Home Coveted Cochran Cup

Auburndale, Florida

May 1-7, 2011

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Auburndale Florida. On May 7, the Dallas HSAA Angels clinched a national championship at the Homeschool World Series (HWSA) in Auburndale, Florida (near Orlando), with an 8-7 win over the Fort Worth THESA Riders. In a 6-day tournament featuring 28 varsity teams from 12 states, the Angels went 6-0 in the tournament. A clutch 2-out double in the bottom of the 7th inning by Hayden McIntyre scored Caleb Pollard and Andrew Jones as the Angels came from behind to defeat the Riders. In the championship game, Michael Fusselman pitched his 2nd complete game win of the series.

The Angels’ pitching staff allowed only 5 runs before the championship game, including a combined 5-0 shutout of the Waukesha, WI Saints by Josh Bilello and Jamie Andriot and a complete game 4-0 shutout of the Woodstock, GA Crown Knights by Michael Fusselman on Monday. On Wednesday, Keaton Brewer and Dillon Smith combined to defeat the Augusta, GA Crusaders by a score of 7-3. In the quarterfinal game on Wednesday, Jamie Andriot pitched a complete game with a 7-1 win over the Woodstock, GA Crown Knights. The Knights broke up Jamie's no-hitter in the 5th inning, and the Angels broke up the Knights no-hitter in the 6th. Josh Bilello got his second win of the tournament in a 16-1 semifinal game against the St. Louis Patriots.

The Angels offense hit 0.416 for the tournament, led by Dillon Smith with a 0.571 batting average and 0.500 batting averages by Michael Fusselman and Andrew Jones. The Angels had 20 extra base hits, including 7 by Michael Fusselman, 3 by Jordan Goode, and 3 by Jamie Andriot.

The only other Angels baseball championship was in 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia, when HSAA defeated the Atlanta Barons, 2-0.

Third-year head coach Ken Goode has led the Angels to two (2) second-place finishes and now one (1) championship finish in Florida.

Four HSAA players were named to the All-Tournament team: Michael Fusselman, Jordan Goode, Hayden McIntyre, and Dillon Smith.