Strike Zone’s memorable postseason run came to an end in the wee hours of Thursday morning at the 52nd Connie Mack World Series at Ricketts Park in Farmington.
After going 5-1 in the Connie Mack City Tournament to earn the title of host team, the 18-and-under squad that included Kelton McCoy of Bayfield, Kyle Duran and Lawrence Mayberry from Durango and Andrew Laymon of Cortez, went 2-2 in the CMWS.
Advancing to the fourth round as one of the final six teams remaining, Laymon said it was one of the club’s best performances of the decade. Strike Zone also finished the CMWS with a 2-2 record in 2010 and 2013.
Strike Zone began the tournament with a 2-1 opening-night win over the Southern California Renegades, and followed that with a 5-3 victory over Enfuego Elite out of Seattle, Washington.
But then the host team was no-hit by three different pitchers in a 9-0 loss to the Dallas Tigers on Tuesday and eliminated by D-Bat Elite – a 17-and-under Dallas-area team – in an 18-7 contest that began on Wednesday evening but stretched into Thursday due to rain delay.
Laymon said his highlight of the tournament was opening night, beating the team from Orange County, California – where he is originally from – and soaking in the atmosphere.
“Oh, man, it was something else,” he explained. “As soon as we took the field everyone was just going crazy and every time we did something good the stands were just going nuts. You get that tingling feeling and it’s just something that you can’t really describe.”
The 2016 Montezuma-Cortez graduate now plans to continue his career at California State University-Fullerton.
He said that he intends to major in kinesiology and play on the club baseball team, but that he may try out for the school program.
