11U Flyers beat Ohio’s top-ranked team to win tourney

The Gem City Throwbacks, Travel Baseball Rankings’ No. 1 11U team in Ohio, had the bases loaded and one out with the 11U PF Flyers clinging to a 7-5 lead in the final inning of the K Sports Turfmania tournament’s championship game.

Gem City hit a line drive to first baseman Henry Herrmann, who made a great catch and tagged first to double off the runner and end the game.

The win earned the Flyers their first tournament win of 2026 and their first AAA level tournament championship.

The tourney started with dominant pitching for the Flyers. In pool play, the Flyers allowed only one hit in two games, outscoring their opponents 30-0.

On Friday night, Charlie Cochran, Herrmann, Will Giffen and Tate Brashear each threw a scoreless inning. The group combined to strike out nine in four innings.

Dylan Weiner paced the offense, going 2-for-3 with a double, two stolen bases, an RBI and a run scored. The Flyers won 11-0.

The Flyers continued to dominate on Saturday, winning 19-0.

Parker Rooney, Danny Perrmann, Gunner Cunningham and Carter Merrill combined for the four-inning no-hitter.

Herrmann went 2-for-2 with a home run, a double and five RBI. Jake Steinmetz went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI.

The nearly perfect pool play performance sent the Flyers into the championship as the No. 1 seed.

Gem City took an early 2-0 lead in the championship. But in the bottom of the third, Jax Taylor grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Greyson Williams. Later, Cunningham grounded out to first base scoring Herrmann to tie the score at 2.

Gem City surged back into the lead with two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. The Flyers trailed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

After Williams and Steinmetz reached base on a single and an outfield error, Herrmann singled to left to score a run. Taylor singled to left to tie the game at 5.

The Flyers took their first lead of the game when Herrmann scored on a passed ball, and minutes later the Flyers added an insurance run when Giffen hit an infield single giving the Flyers a 7-5 lead heading into the final inning.

The Flyers are now 6-1 on the season.