EMERSON, Ga. – Georgia Jackets National won their first game of the 15u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational on Monday against Game On Nationals 6-0. The Jackets were riding high after the win and wanted to keep the momentum rolling into their next game against Top Tier Baseball. Manager Josh Meade preached aggressiveness and that his team could not become complacent with just one victory.
“We have to create momentum by ourselves,” said Meade “We have to be aggressive. That’s the biggest thing we’ve been emphasizing is being aggressive at the plate, but especially on the mound with our pitchers. We have a really good defense behind us so we want to attack hitters. In the batter’s box not looking to just put the ball in play but looking to drive the pitch somewhere. We want to create momentum early in the season to keep it going the rest of the summer.
The Jackets are a program based on development of their young players and to get acclimated with the setting and atmosphere of elite, talent-filled events. They focus on positivity and ensuring that their players are in the best position possible to have success.
“I’ve been here for three years and I couldn’t be happier with the program,” said Meade. “It’s an uplifting program, we’re here to build the boys up and create an atmosphere where they’re not afraid to fail but they expect to succeed.”
The 15u division is one of the first age groups when the players begin to be heavily scouted from college coaches and scouts. For players who are not used to this kind of atmosphere it can be nervous. Meade has made efforts in the offseason to expose his players to primetime atmospheres in an effort to ease them into the showcasing process.
“This is the first big year for college coaches for them,” said Meade. “For us as coaches, we try to do as much as we can for our boys by talking to coaches before the season started to create a buzz for them. I think they’re at the stage where they’re not getting phased by that anymore, which is good, you can tell at the beginning they were a little nervous. They kind of expect it, they get excited about it now.”
In preparation for their game today, the Jackets preached aggressiveness. They wanted to take advantage of their opportunities at the plate and on the mound. Taking advantage of hittable pitches and getting ahead of batters are cornerstones of their philosophy.
“It’s a balancing act (the game plan), especially with the pitching rules,” said Meade. “You have to be smart, you have to find matchups. With our program we try to get every single player into every single game, regardless even if it’s just an at-bat, an inning on the mound, or pinch running. Balancing that with the pitching matchups, you have to do more homework this year. We bolstered our pitching so we don’t have to worry about running out of arms, we have enough arms to go at people regardless of who we’re playing. We’re going to take it game by game and do what we have to do to make sure we make it into bracket play first.”
“My approach is to always get my pitch,” said Marc Esquivel, the No. 1 first baseman in the state of Texas for the class of 2019. “Look for what I can hit and take bad pitches.”
Thanks to their aggressive mentality, the Jackets were able to capitalize offensively against Top Tier. C.J. Abrams, the No. 3 shortstop in the state of Georgia for the class of 2019, started the scoring with an inside-the-park home run in the top of the third inning. Abrams has a crisp swing from the left side and launched the pitch deep to center field and hustled around the bases to complete the rare feat. Defensively, Abrams was smooth in the field, ranging to his left and right and showing off his arm on some defensive highlights today.
The Jackets struck next in the fifth inning as they loaded the bases with no outs. Bradley Prince Jr., a class of 2018 commit who will be attending the Perfect Game Jr. National Showcase in Fort Myers later this week, hit a line drive triple down the right field line to clear the bases. The liner went right over the first baseman’s head and Prince Jr. coasted into third base.
Cain Tatum started for the Jackets today and he teetered in and out of danger in his three innings. He allowed three hits and walked three, but he escaped his outing without allowing any runs. At 6-foot 6-inches Tatum takes advantage of his size to get good extension and sits in the upper-70s to low-80s with his fastball.
“I’m trying to get outs and throw strikes,” said Tatum. “I throw a fastball, curveball, and changeup.”
Hunter Martin and Hayden Milling followed Tatum to throw two innings each. Martin pitched two hitless innings while only walking two and Milling closed the game out by throwing two scoreless innings and only allowing one hit.
As the champions of this tournament, the 15u WWBA National Championship and the 15u BCS Finals in 2014 the Jackets have an impressive legacy to live up to. Meade isn’t concerned about added weight to defend their title, he realizes that this is a completely different team from last year and they have to play their best without any past pressure.
“These boys don’t care,” said Meade. “They’re looking to come out and beat who they’re playing that game. They don’t care about last year, we don’t care about last year; they just need to come out and take care of business every single game and hopefully we can put ourselves in the position again to take the tournament. We still have to do a lot of things right to even get that far in the tournament but we’re excited.”
The Jackets look to keep the momentum going as they take on Top Notch on Wednesday to wrap up pool play. Their players have been taught and developed well by their coaches and program and they have a team-centric, aggressive approach that should aid them tomorrow and through the rest of the tournament.