Arizona Firebird pitcher Nick Diamond dominated a young Ann Arbor, Michgan Traverlers team striking out nine hitters in a five inning 8-0 ballgame at Ricketts Park on Saturday night.
Diamonds only allowed three singles with no walks while throwing just 63 pitches.
Meanwhile, the Arizona bats were alive taking advantage of five errors by the Travelers. Lead off hitter Drew Stankiewicz led the Firebirds going three for three with a double. The Firebirds scored in every inning but the first.
The Travelers, an all 17 year old team, seemed to be perplexed as Diamond mixed 88 MPH pitches with 67 MPH off speed strikes. The only threat by the Ann Arbor team came in the bottom of the fifth as Zyke Bailey and Lee Dreksler hit back to back singles. However, Diamond ended the game by striking out Nathan Hunt and Jason Gamble.
Arizona advances to the winners bracket and will play Monday night against a tough Dallas, Texas DBAT Mustang team. Ann Arbor will play Sunday at 7:30 local time against Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
