SCYCA's Junior Cricket Talent on Display at 2025 Labor Day Tournament
SCYCA hosted another successful junior cricket tournament in sunny Southern California over the 2025 Labor Day weekend. The annual event welcomed nearly 250 U11, U13, and U15 cricketers from 20 different west coast youth cricket teams and featured 34 matches. SCYCA's teams played fantastic cricket over the long weekend. The SCYCA-Blue U13 and U15 teams both went undefeated in their age categories, and won their respective championships. The SCYCA U11 squad won three out of four matches in a strong field of 8 teams and finished third overall.
SCYCA Tournament Highlights 2025
U15 35-Over Series
Champions: SCYCA Blue
Runner-up: AZYCA
SCYCA Blue clinched the championship and AZYCA took the runner-up spot. Vinuk Ubayasiri and Neel Mehta, both SCYCA athletes, ranked #1 and #2 on the U15 overall leaderboard. Junior cricketers from every team put up great performances throughout the tournament, with U15 trophy recipients including:
- MVP: Vinuk Ubayasiri (SCYCA)
- Best Batsman : Akshath Gangadharmath (WYCA)
- Best Bowler: Ahnay Gupta (WYCA)
- Best Fielder: Shubham Gupta (WYCA)
- Best Wicketkeeper: Sridheera Banda (SCYCA)
SCYCA Blue U15 Matches
Versus Arizona Youth Cricket Academy
In their first match, SCYCA Blue won by 7 wickets against AZYCA thanks to MVP Vinuk Ubayasiri's standout batting of 58 off 75 (not out), including 10 fours in the mix. He also had fantastic bowling figures of 3-0-3-1 (2.33 econ.) and received the well-deserved Player of the Match award. Seven different SCYCA players took a wicket, showing off SCYCA's bowling depth, with both Adit Jain and Neel Mehta nabbing 2 wickets each.
Versus San Diego Cricket Club Youth Academy
The U15 Blue junior team continued their win-streak, beating SDCCYA by 4 wickets. Once again, SCYCA Blue bowlers excelled: Neel Mehta, who was named Player of the Match, bowled 7 overs and took 5 wickets, with 2 maiden overs and 1 hattrick along the way. Aarav Shah also claimed a maiden over and maintained a 1.8 econ (5-1-9-1). During the batting chase, multiple SCYCA players stepped up, such as Joshua Malar, who scored 53 off 74; captain Anerva Ashok Kumar Sathya, who scored 34 off 47; and Kian Sahasrabudhe, who scored a quick 19 off 10.
Versus Woodley Youth Cricket Academy
SCYCA Blue - U15 faced WYCA in their final match, and Kian Sahasrabudhe carried the team through on the batting side, scoring 61 off 52. They defended with excellent bowling again: Vinuk Ubayasiri took 5 wickets in 6.4 overs and earned his second Player of the Match trophy, and Ansh Pardeshi also took 2 wickets and maintained a clean 1.50 economy across 4 overs.
SCYCA Green U15 Junior Cricket Team Matches
The SCYCA Green U15 team had some outstanding performances. Wicketkeeper Sridheera Banda made an impact all over the field and had the best fielding stats of the series: he took 1 catch, 1 WK catch, 1 stumping, and 4 indirect runouts. Pavan Maharaj scored 41 in 44 and captain Anuj Dhingra scored 34 in 45 against WYCA. Against AZYCA, Pavan Maharaj showed off his bowling with a 1.4 economy across 5 overs, allowing just 7 runs. Aarav Chouhan took 3 wickets in the same match. The Green U15 team won their final match, getting SDCCYA all out for 89. Bhuvan Maharaj earned Player of the Match thanks to his 4-wicket haul and 3.87 economy. And Anuj Dhingra bowled extremely efficiently, allowing just 2 runs in 3 overs - that's a 0.67 economy.
U13 30-Over Junior Cricket Series
Champions: SCYCA Blue
Runner-up: SDCCYA
The entire SCYCA Blue U13 team put on a batting master class in their series: they won by 170 runs against the Super Kings - AZ, by 142 runs against CCA, and by 176 runs against SCVCA-WYCA.
- MVP: Rishaan Agwekar (SCYCA)
- Best Batsman : Aarav Arora (SCYCA)
- Best Bowler: Varish Deshpande (SCYCA)
- Best Fielder: Yuvraj Surana (SDCCYA)
- Best Wicketkeeper: Ahan Sharma (SCYCA)
SCYCA Blue U13 Matches
Versus Super Kings - AZ
MVP Rishaan Agwekar barreled through a half-century to 72 off 67 and earned Player of the Match in SCYCA's opener against Super Kings - AZ. Vishruth Yadhava Krishnan hit 24 off 25 and Akash Vivek scored 15 off 12 (not out). Meghav Tikekar took 3 wickets with a 2.75 economy, while Rishaan Agwekar took 1 wicket and had a 1.67 bowling economy.
Versus California Cricket Academy
In the match against CCA, Aarav Arora led the SCYCA U13 Blue crew of junior cricketers with a cool 134.48 SR - 39 runs off 29 balls, and Rishaan Agwekar batted well again with his 43 off 42. The SCYCA bowling was tight across the board. Both Aryan Arora (4-0-9-3), and Meghav Tikekar (4-2-4-3) snagged a 3-wicket haul. Akshay Nidichenametla was right in the mix with 2 wickets and bowling figures of 4-2-5-2, and was recognized as Player of the Match.
Versus SCVCA-WYCA
SCYCA Blue U13's last match versus SCVCA-WYCA featured one of the best performances of the entire tournament. Rishaan Agwekar batted 104 off 88 balls (not out), and hit 10 fours and 2 sixes along the way. Aarav Arora also scored 66 off 55 and Ahan Sharma scored 28 of 26 (not out). The SCYCA Blue U13 junior cricket team defended easily, with 6 different bowlers taking wickets. Meghav Tikekar bowled 6 overs and allowed just 4 runs!
SCYCA Green U13 Matches
The U13 SCYCA Green squad also played great cricket during the Labor Day junior cricket tournament. Against SCVCA-WYCA, Adyant Diwakar had a 5-wicket haul on top of a 4.4 bowling economy. The Best Bowler trophy recipient, Varish Deshpande, took 3 wickets with a 2.79 economy. In the same match, team captain Veeraj Johal batted 34 off 50 balls. He also scored 69 off 93 versus the Super Kings - AZ in the next match. In their final head-to-head, the SCYCA Green team had to defend a tough score, but Varish Deshpande still took 3 wickets and maintained a 2.17 bowling economy through 6 overs.
U11 25-Over Series
Champions: WYCA
Runner-up: VKCA
The U11 field featured 8 teams and all the athletes showed that their cricket careers are off to a great start. Woodley Youth Cricket Academy took the crown in the age category and the trophy recipients were:
- MVP: Kunal Yadav (WYCA)
- Best Batsman : Kunal Yadav (WYCA)
- Best Bowler: Manrab Singh (SDCCYA)
- Best Fielder: Kunal Yadav (WYCA)
- Best Wicketkeeper: Rohan Devulapalli (VKCA)
SCYCA U11 Junior Cricket Team Matches
Versus California Cricket Academy
SCYCA's U11 team came close to beating CCA in their first match, but CCA ultimately won by 5 runs. SCYCA captain Radha Mahishi batted excellently, scoring 26 off 25. Thanks also to her bowling spell of 4-1-11-2, she was named the Player of the Match. Aditya Nidichenametla and Arjoon Balaji also bowled well, taking 3 wickets each.
Versus VK Cricket Academy
Facing VKCA next in their 25-over duel, Aditya Nidichenametla led off the SCYCA batting with a 26 off 41 performance. In the second inning, SCYCA junior cricketer Viraaj Totla nabbed a 4-wicket haul with a 1.0 economy and earned the Player of the Match award. The team effort carried SCYCA to a 25-run victory over VKCA.
Versus Super Kings - AZ
In their third match, SCYCA won by 5 wickets against the Super Kings - AZ. Radha Mahishi had an unbelievable bowling spell of 3 wickets in 2 overs and 0 runs allowed, with 2 maiden overs in the mix. This vaulted her to her second Player of the Match trophy of the tournament.
Versus AZYCA
In their final match, the SCYCA U11 youth cricket squad went head-to-head with AZYCA and won by 6 wickets. Once again, SCYCA bowlers starred, with 6 players taking wickets. The top wicket takers were Jeddiah Malar and Eshan Khatri (2 wickets each), and Viraaj Totla had the best economy of 1.75 with 1 wicket taken as well. The SCYCA U11 junior cricketers finished out their Labor Day Tournament with Aditya Nidichenametla scoring 26 runs off 37 balls (five 4's scored) and Viraaj Totla tallying a fast 16 runs off 17 (not out), which earned him Player of the Match.
Thank You for Your Support!
The Southern California Youth Cricket Academy's Annual Labor Day Tournament brings together the west coast junior cricket community for a long weekend of great cricket. The event enables young players to put their training to the test and to gain match practice on the pathway to the big time. Every year, it concludes with an awards ceremony where the top-performing teams and cricketers are recognized.
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to the coordinators, coaches, volunteers, umpires, and community members for your support of the 2025 tournament. Your dedication makes youth cricket possible! We'll see everyone out on the pitch again next year!
About Us
Founded in 2014, the Southern California Youth Cricket Academy (SCYCA) has been dedicated to the promotion of youth cricket in Orange County and its neighboring counties. Through coaching, competitions, and community engagement, we aim to build a vibrant cricketing culture that empowers our youth and contributes positively to the broader community.
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