In Thursday’s action at The P5 Patriot Games, the first day of pool play in the 18U age division saw 29 strong club teams from across the country compete in the Fort Collins, Col. area.

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Check out our Patriot Games Day 1 recap by clicking HERE

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Of the 29 teams, only six went 2-0 among the five pools; note that there we several ties that led to 10 teams having 1-1 records).

One of the undefeated teams heading into Day 2 play was Arizona Rising GNR 18U led by coaches Eli Ginnis and Brent Rincon.

In its opening pair of game, Arizona Rising topped Athletics – Mercado/Smith 5-3 and Colorado Batbusters 18U National – Smith 9-7.

We had a chance to watch the Rising team in action and was impressed by Coach Ginnis and how he motivates and manages the team, especially after missing a lot of players because of high school play in Arizona.

Coach Eli also talks about his feelings about the Patriot Games including playing into the “Bracket of Death!” and how it’s “all gas from here!”