By Sean Reilly
The NY Longhorns McTighe 12U have had a very successful 2025 season, and Michael Tracey knows exactly why.
“Everyone on the team contributes,” the leadoff man and centerfielder for the Long Island-based team said. “We win a lot because of it. Everyone has a role and they do it well.”
That was certainly the case over the weekend at Diamond Nation, and it resulted in a dominant four-game sweep to the championship of the 12U Gold Beat The Heat tournament.
The capper was 10-0, four-inning win over Stars Baseball Academy of Clarkstown, N.Y., in the final on Sunday afternoon. The Longhorns ended their weekend with a 52-3 run differential and three shutouts.
The Longhorns, now 44-12 on the season, check plenty of boxes. They pitch and defend, and hustle and possess power.
A prime example of that is Tracey, who was selected tournament MVP. He went 5-for-9 in the tournament, with three walks, nine runs, five RBI and two home runs. He also pitched two innings to close out a key pool play win over the Diamond Jacks Super 12U.
The Longhorns also totaled nine home runs in the tournament, which were hit by seven different players.
In the championship contest, the Longhorns took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Tracey led off with a single to right field, and when Noah Goldstein followed with a fly out to center, Tracey alertly tagged up and advanced to second. He then took off for third base on a pitch that Jesse Baldassare hit to left field for an RBI single. After a ground out, Andrew Wehle unloaded a two-run home run that banged off the scoreboard in right-center field at Field 2.
The Longhorns scored five more runs in the second inning.
Nolan Cahill led off with a single to center. He advanced on a wild pitch, stole third and scored when James Rutuelo hit a sacrifice fly to center.
Mitch Silver was safe on a dropped fly ball, and after another fly out, Tracey beat out a grounder to third base for a single. Goldstein followed with a single to center that loaded the bases.
Michael Tracey of the NY Longhorns 12U was named the 12U Gold Beat The Heat Most Valuable Player.
Baldassare was the next batter, and he slugged a grand slam high into the trees beyond the fence in straightaway center.
The other two runs came in the third. Caleb Shogan hit a one-out single to left and stole second. After a fly out, Rutuelo hit a two-run homer to right-center.
Christian Faller pitched a four-inning one-hitter, with two strikeouts and one walk for the Longhorns. The lone hit was James Ostrander’s two-out single in the fourth for Stars Baseball Academy.
Baldassare ended 2-for-2 with five RBI, giving him a total of nine runs batted in for the tournament.
The defensive effort by the Longhorns included left fielder Cahill erasing a runner at home in the top of the first, after he tried to score following an errant throw to third on a steal. Goldstein also made three stellar plays at shortstop, including the start of a 6-4-3 double play to end the second inning.
Eight of the 10 batters in the Longhorns’ lineup scored at least once, and nine players had at least one hit.
“The details are very important for us,” Tracey said.