A Chicago Jacks under-16 team made up of mostly Evanston Township High School players spilled top-seeded Illinois Braves by a 6-3 margin Sunday in the championship game of the Diamond Wars tournament held at ETHS.

Eli Otting's three hits and the clutch relief pitching of Alex Heuer, who retired all five batters he faced, delivered the title for the Jacks.

The Chicago Jacks scored three times in the first inning and two more in the second, backing winning pitcher Jarrett Henson with a seven-hit attack. Otting went 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs batted in and two runs scored for the winners. Nick Griffin also drove in two runs with a pair of hits.

RBI singles by Otting and Griffin followed walks to Peter Downie and Spencer Wawak in the Chicago team's three-run first. In the Jacks second, Wawak drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, and Otting came through with a run-scoring single.

Otting's leadoff triple also produced an insurance run for the Jacks in their half of the fifth.

The Illinois Braves, representing southwestern Illinois from the St. Louis area, cut into the deficit in the fourth on a single by Reed Hoffman and in infield out. The Braves added another run in the fifth on singles by Magoo Vernier and Kyle Gudemann, and chased starter Henson in the sixth after a one-out walk and a single.

Reliever Heuer worked out of that jam by inducing a groundup and a fly out, then struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the seventh.

The Jacks scored a 9-4 triumph over Team Pro Player in the semifinals. The Braves advanced behind a one-hit pitching performance from Tim Nicholson (five strikeouts) in a 7-0 romp over the Morton Grove Mustangs.