The Stuttgart Reds juniors finally returned to “official” action over a year after their last official game. A summer of training and six friendly games led up to the first of three tournament days on the official schedule.

Mannheim

The first game was against the weekend’s hosts, the Mannheim Tornadoes. The Tornadoes started with an first-inning run and a strong pitcher to take an early lead but the Reds came back strong in the second and third innings, scoring 10 runs while starting pitcher Benedikt Schäffer got into a groove. Schäffer finished his first 3 innings with 7 strikeouts against just one hit. At the plate, the Reds rallies were led by Philip Jäger’s two singles and patience throughout the lineup.

In the later innings, Oscar Hundt’s ringing double to the fence in left center was a highlight, with brother Linus following with a hard-hit single of his own later in the inning. Felipe Homberg contributed a double as well. In total, the Reds had contributions all over the lineup, with Schäffer scoring 3 runs and Lukas Grimminger scoring 2 runs as well.

Benedikt pitched into the 5th inning before tiring and losing a bit of rhythm, but finishing with a very solid outing. Philip Jäger finished out the 5th inning pitching with 2 strong strikeouts. In the bottom half, a Vincent Weber run on a long Nick Yates sacrifice fly meant the Reds won the first game due to the 10-run rule.

Tübingen

The second game saw a very slow start from the Reds bats. While Tübingen’s left handed pitcher struck out Red after Red, there were a few bright spots. Moritz van Bergen drilled two loud doubles, one to score Felipe Homberg after a single and one to score Oscar Hundt. The Reds held a slim lead thanks to a very effective and efficient 3 innings from starting pitcher Nick Yates. After a wobbly start, reliever Linus Hundt settled in and then was helped by his defense as a smart play from Yannick Witt led to a crucial double play and a tie game at 3 after 5 innings.

The 6th inning was a disastrous one for the Reds. After being retired easily at the plate, they then gave up 7 runs in the field through an array of walks, defensive mistakes and hits allowed. Trailing 10-3, things did not look good heading into the final inning. But the Reds did not give up and fought hard as Marcus Laine tripled and Lukas Grimminger reached base after a strong at-bat. Yannick Witt and Oscar Hundt followed with singles to finally knock out Tübingen’s strong starting pitcher. The runs continued to come with the big blow coming on a Philip Jäger double and the inning ended with the Reds back on top 12-10 as the first ten batters of the inning reached base. Relief pitcher Oscar Hundt had struggled in the 6th inning but showed good mental strength coming back out and retiring the top of the Hawks order on 8 pitches to finish off the win and the day.

It was the first of three tournament days for the Reds this fall, with one additional double-header against a Dutch/American/Belgian team of U18 prospects to come.