The Austin Eagles returned from their trip to Omaha, Nebraska this past week. The Slumpbuster Tournament had 64 teams in their 14-year-old division.

Two exhibition games were played the first day. Austin lost to the Gladiators from Texas 9-8 and tied Cunningham, Wisconsin 10-10.

In the first round of pool play, the Eagles won 11-5 against Almost Explosion out of Illinois after trailing 5-0 after two innings.

On day three, one of the two games was lost due to rain. Austin lost 8-2 to the Bagel Bombers out of Delaware.

Bracket play began Saturday with 16 teams. Austin lost 6-3 to Zagoric, Illinois in a heartbreaking loss. Austin trailed 1-0 after four innings, then rallied to score three in the fifth to lead 3-1. Zagoric scored one in the fifth and four runs in the sixth inning to overcome their two-run deficit.

A highlight of the trip was on Wednesday of last week when the All Stars and coaches went to the College World Series, watching Vanderbilt defeat Mississippi State 6-3.

Next up is a doubleheader with Byron on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Riverland Community College Diamond No. 3.

The Austin Eagles have qualified for two state tournaments. One is July 19-21 in the Gopher State Tournament and the other is July 26-28 in the MSF State Tournament.