EMERSON, Ga. – The semifinals for the 2016 WWBA Labor Day Classis have been decided and there are some newcomers in the Upperclass division. The Alabama Spartans, Sox Baseball Dickinson, CBA Georgia and Triton Rays will be the final four and a new Labor Day Classic champion will be crowned Monday at Lakepoint.
The Triton Rays led the way in the quarterfinal round with a 12-0 victory over Nelson Baseball School Black that showcased their offensive and pitching capabilities. Evan Baber was absolutely dominant on the mound as he threw a four-inning no-hitter in only 37 pitches and struck out six batters. He kept hitters off balance all afternoon and was great at inducing weak contact. There were offensive contributions all throughout the lineup and every hitter except dsfor two added a hit. The Rays were consistently hitting hard line drives and look poised to be a threat to anyone in the semifinals.
Their opponent will be CBA Georgia after their 5-2 victory over the Baseball Elite Black Knights. CBA rode their starting pitcher Julian Jackson to victory as he threw 6 2/3 solid innings and only allowed two runs and struck out seven batters. A four-run bottom of the first inning set the tone for CBA and leadoff hitter Dwayne Franklin led the way with a perfect 3-for-3 and two runs scored. The early lead combined with Jackson’s shutdown efforts was enough to send CBA to the semifinals.
Sox Baseball Dickinson used a similar formula to help them to a 3-1 victory over the East Cobb Athletics. Sox Baseball put three runs up in the top of the first inning and their strong pitching and defense led them the rest of the way. Trevor Gaddy provided five solid innings of one-run baseball and struck out six batters along the way. Their leadoff hitter Emilio Morales led the way and started the three-run rally in the first. He finished 2-for-3 with one run scored and was a big reason why Sox Baseball is advancing to the semifinals.
The Alabama Spartans pulled off the day’s biggest upset with a comeback 11-5 victory over the top-seeded Charlotte Stealth. The Spartans were down 3-0 early on after their starting pitcher did not record an out, but Cade Morson came in and quickly silenced the Stealth bats. Morson finished the game with seven innings pitched, only two runs allowed, and five strikeouts. His submarine style of delivery allowed him to keep righthanded hitters guessing with his deception.
“I was trying to get a doubleplay ball or some strikeouts,” said Cade Morson. “I got a double play ball and was looking for a way to sacrifice a run for two outs and it worked.”
The offensive explosion came in the top of the fourth inning as the Spartans hit around to score seven runs in the frame. Parker Henson came through with a bases clearing double in the inning to strike the Stealth in a big way. Henson finished the night going 2-for-2 with two walks, one run scored, and three RBI and Tanner Potterfield hit a pair of doubles and drove in a pair with a 2-for-4 performance.
“We were seeing a lot of fastballs. Their pitchers were struggling with command so we saw the fastball and attacked it,” said Trevor Shelton.
Coach Tommy Morson was very proud of the way his team battled today. Before defeating the Stealth, the Spartans had to win in the first round and they did a very good job of carrying their momentum from game to game. Both games showed stark contrasts of the team: the first game showed off their defense and pitching in a 1-0 shutout against Nelson Baseball School and the second game showed off their offensive prowess. Morson was impressed with the variety in which his team won today.
“This team is never down too many runs,” said Morson. “They have each other’s backs and it always seems to be a different player to come through. They feed off of it and I think they’ll feed off of this and we’ll come in tomorrow. The bats really took off, we didn’t score more than eight runs in the first three games, but our pitching has been really good. I’m just hoping to keep moving forward tomorrow and stay hot and find some pitching.”
The Spartans are based out of Huntsville, Alabama and Morson started the program around four years ago. The program is built off kids who are seemingly overlooked in areas that don’t get enough baseball exposure. Morson brings the kids together and their common bond of the love of the game helps them gel as a cohesive unit.
“The Alabama Spartans started about four years ago,” said Morson. “I took a group of kids from Huntsville, Alabama and picked up a couple of kids from the county. They won a lot of the tournaments over the years and we won three tournaments this summer. Last year as a 16u group I knew we had something special because they won two 18u events. We have kids from a lot of different areas that a lot of people don’t go after. They just come together and play well together. They bonded and they play well, it’s really fun to watch.”
In terms of collegiate talent, the Spartans currently have four commits on their team; three for the University of South Alabama and one for the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Morson commented that there are a couple kids on this team making a decision soon. This just furthers the ability of Morson and his organization to find and develop players and send them to play Division I baseball.
“This game we played against a very talented team,” said Morson. “We have four or five commits on this team, I’ve got three to USA (University of South Alabama) and a couple to UAH (University of Alabama-Huntsville) in Huntsville. There’s four or five gems on this team that haven’t signed anywhere yet but have some people looking at them. Hopefully they come out and realize that these kids can play. In the tournament, we have the momentum and hopefully we keep going with it.”
The Spartans will take on Sox Baseball Monday morning in the semifinals and Morson knows that his team is ready. The team will regroup and rest tonight and come to the park tomorrow morning ready to play knowing that a championship is on the line.
“We’re going to go eat somewhere because we haven’t eaten all day,” said Morson. “Then we’ll go back to the hotel and wind down, we’ll let them sleep in a little bit in the morning and come out, stretch, and go after it again.”