The 10 and under Silicon Valley Yankees competed in the Super Series Winter National Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz., and came away with a national title.

The Yankees faced the Arizona Heat Baseball Club on New Years Day for the tourney championship. The Yankees crushed the Heat 16-6.

Joe Gillette, from the Scotts Valley Little League, was the team's offensive Most Valuable Player award winner.

The team came together in July and competed in many local tournaments, as well as tournaments in Southern California, before traveling to Arizona. The Yankees boast a 38-5-1 record in 10 tournaments over a five-month period.

The Yanks finished in first place six times. They were second once and finished third three times.

The majority of the players had not known each other before beginning the tournament season, but they became quick friends and were able to do their jobs.

The players included Gillette, Blake Billinger, Justin Calomeni, Tyler Deason, Lucas Erceg, John Gavin, Joe Gillette, Peter Goodlin, Colton Marshall, Cory Olivet, Corby Punian and Keegan Vega.

The players come from all over Silicon Valley. The different Little Leagues represented include: Cambrian, Evergreen, Los Gatos, Spartan and Scotts Valley, along with San Jose Pony Baseball.

In another age group, the 12 and under Los Gatos Pumas also went to the Super Series in Arizona.

The Pumas are made up of players from Los Gatos, Cupertino and Lincoln Glen Little Leagues. The team started with 30 players on two different teams, but after going 1-28 in July, August and September, one team of 12 players was formed that went 14-26 from October to December.

After qualifying for the National Championships in November, the Pumas were seeded sixth and finished 2-3 despite scoring 35 runs, which was more than any other 12-year-old team.

The team was made up of Vincent Augustine, Matt Church, Ryan Cooley, Greg Mayo, A.J. Myers, Jake Raynaud and Bryan Rose from Los Gatos; Johnny Riley, Mikey Riley and Jimmy Riley from Lincoln Glen; and Jimmy Roslund and Paul Martinez from Cupertino.

Church was the standout player for the Pumas, going 14 for 16 in the national tourney, scoring 10 runs and driving in another nine.

J. Riley led the team in slugging percentage with two home runs, two triples and two doubles, scoring five times and driving in nine as well.

Cooley, J. Riley, Roslund, M. Riley each had an on-base average of at least .600.

Throughout the 74 games, Raynaud had the highest batting average, hitting .616 with a .768 slugging percentage, and he had the highest on-base percentage at .607 and added 103 stolen bases.

Augustine, Myers and Mayo had more than 30 hits each and lead-off hitter Martinez scored 36 runs in 74 games.

Cooley's 18 RBIs included eight game-winning runs.

Martinez reached base every time he went up to the plate against the Arizona Dirt Dogs. He also had four stolen bases and scored all four times.

Riley had two home runs, a triple, and three RBIs against the Verde Vista Bandits.

Church came in to pitch against the Bandits with the bases loaded and no outs, but was able to get out of the inning to clinch the 11-3 win.

Raynaud threw a complete six-inning game against the Dirt Dogs, including four shutout innings.

For more information about traveling teams in the area, contact Larry Walkley at 408.398.8141.