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Tournaments  | Championship  | 5/30/2016

LP crowns 3 Memorial Day champs

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Perfect Game


FTB Select battles to 14u title

EMERSON, Ga. – FTB Select 2020 and the Bandits were both undefeated heading into the final game and both teams delivered their best. The championship game for the 14u division at this year’s WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint event was just as closely contested as the rest of the playoffs had been, but in the end it was FTB that came out on top with the 4-3 win.

FTB started off the scoring with a run on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly in the top of the second inning. The Bandits would strike back in the bottom of the third with a run of their own, but when FTB added two runs in the top of the sixth with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Jason Brackman, the game looked to be out of reach.

The Bandits did not go quietly. They added a run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI triple from Sawyer Pate and another on an RBI fielder’s choice from William Crowder in the bottom of the seventh to pull within a run. A groundout to third ended the comeback bid for the Bandits and sealed the one-run victory for FTB.

The Bandits righthander Bailey Parsons, a 2020 commit out of Alabama, was named MV-Pitcher of the tournament. In the semifinals, Parsons threw a complete game shutout to send the Bandits to the final. Pasrons line for the tournament was 1-0 with 10 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and no walks with 13 strikeouts. Anthony Shaver of FTB, a 2020 commit out of Florida, was named the MVP of the tournament. He went 6-for-14 (.429) with two triples and two RBI.

The manager of FTB, David Holbrook, spoke highly of his team’s competitiveness following their championship victory.

“They showed me a willingness to compete,” said Holbrook of his team’s close wins. “And we’ve kind of gone back and forth sometimes instead of competing, settling in on cruise control. All tournament we had to compete. We never really pulled away from anyone. For us it was a good growth experience of competing.”

Holbrook was very proud of his team as they showed a competitive fire and an ability to win close games. FTB won four of their six games by a margin of one run each and that spoke volumes of the team’s ability to battle through adversity.

“The biggest thing it shows is that they’re willing to battle,” added Holbrook. “And they’re willing to contribute anyway they can. A lot of those games were decided on taking an extra base or making a great defensive play besides, of course, getting the big hit. In these wood bat tournaments it comes down to the little things and their willingness to do the little things.”

FTB was a very young team coming into this tournament and they drove up from Central Florida in order to play in the Memorial Day tournament at Lakepoint. Holbrook talked about how this weekend was key for the development of the players and that all of his players played an extremely important role in the tournament victory.

“It feels great because everybody got to contribute,” said Holbrook. “We didn’t have one guy just dominate the tournament. Every single guy who pitched, threw well. Last night we had our catcher close the game out in a tight spot in a very good team. We brought 12 players and 10 of them pitched and pitched effectively. My biggest pleasure of watching this team was that all 12 kids had huge moments over the course of the tournament."

FTB Select 2020 reached the championship game by beating the East Cobb Astros 4-3 in the semifinals as the two teams traded shots back and forth all day long. Connor Morgan started for FTB and pitched seven strong innings, allowing the three runs but only one was earned. The Astros got to Morgan in the bottom of the seventh as Alex Espinel scored on an error by the FTB shortstop. The game went nine innings until FTB’s Javier Davila knocked in a run with a single in the top of the ninth.

Ryan McCauley shut down the Astros in extra innings. He threw two scoreless, hitless innings and allowed his offense to come back and defeat the Astros to send FTB to the championship game.

As already noted, the Bandits made their way to the championship game on the coattails of starting pitcher Bailey Parsons who was downright filthy in the semifinal game against the Homeplate Chilidogs. Parsons threw a complete game shutout while striking out 10 batters in the 1-0 victory. He was extremely efficient as he only threw 74 pitches while allowing no walks and only surrendering three hits.

Not to be outdone, Homeplate Chilidogs starting pitcher Jacob Reiter was also very good in his own right. Reiter threw five innings of one-run baseball and had his team in a good position to win. Unfortunately for the Chilidogs, Parsons was just too much to handle. Carson Hobbs came through for the Bandits as his RBI single in the fifth inning gave his team the lead that they would not give back.


2016 14u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint champions: FTB Select 2020



2016 14u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint runner-up: Bandits



2016 14u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint MVP: Anthony Shaver



2016 14u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint MV-Pitcher: Bailey Parsons

 



East Cobb Colt .45s outlast lightning, Georgia Bombers

Not even a lightning delay could keep the 16u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint championship game from being exciting on Monday. The Georgia Bombers 16u came into the game having rallied for a one-run victory over the Astros TECB in the semifinals, while the East Cobb Colt .45s had won handily over the Carolina Rebels. In the end, it was the East Cobb Colt .45s that came out on top with a 5-1 victory.

The scoring started early for the Colt .45s as Jack Alexander knocked in a run with a single in the first and then Caleb Bartolero had a two-run double in the second off the Bombers starting pitcher Kennedy Norton. Nolan Tressler, the tournament MVP, crushed a two-run double to the warning track in right-center to bring the run total to five for the Colt .45s.

Austin Moody came in relief of Norton in the fifth inning and began to shut down the Colt .45s offense. Moody registered six strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings and was using his excellent changeup exclusively. Luke Bartnicki came in for the Colt .45s in the sixth inning and shut the door on the Bombers offense. Bartnicki pitched two hitless innings and was able to seal the victory for East Cobb.

Tressler finished the tournament going 9-for-16 with one home run, three doubles, one triple and eight RBI. He came up big in the championship with the aforementioned two-run double that put the game out of reach. The MV-Pitcher of the tournament was Matthew Bollenbacher of the Georgia Bombers. Bollenbacher went 2-0 with only three hits allowed to go along with only two walks and 10 strikeouts.

Manager Matthew Hightower was very pleased with his team’s performance in the tournament and expressed pleasure that his team was able to come in clutch to take down very talented opponents.

“It feels amazing (to win the tournament),” said Hightower. “Especially after the road we’ve been on. We beat a very talented Dirtbags team this morning where we were able to go to extra innings and come up clutch. We had a nail-biter with the Carolina Rebels and they gave us a fit, and then we played a very talented Georgia Bombers team in the championship. Nolan (Tressler) came up with a big hit at the end to break it open a little bit and Luke (Bartnicki) was able to hold on especially after a strong performance from Robert Bennett.”

A lightning delay occurred in the fourth inning and long delays can be tricky to navigate strategically. Whether or not you run out the same pitcher who was pitching before the delay, who the next pitcher up is going to be, and what it takes to retain the focus of the team, are all issues that managers need to address.

“For a second there I thought (the Bombers) were going to catch onto a little momentum,” said Hightower regarding the in-game situation at the time of the delay. “So the rain delay helped a little bit (to stop that). We looked at Robert’s pitch count and (because) where he was at we turned to Nolan Wilson, who does a very good job at getting ground balls, keeping the ball in the infield. And it’s very hard to get extra-base hits off him so I thought it was the right situation to bring him in.”

More often than not the winners of these weekend tournaments are teams that have the most available pitching. When you play six or seven games over the course of one tournament it is up to the head coach to determine which pitchers he can use early on and which one he needs to save for a later situation.

“This one (tournament) is very unique given that we ran into a doubleheader on Sunday and potentially a tripleheader,” said Hightower. “So you have to plan in the long-haul. So at the end of the day we were able to bridge it pretty early, going 1-1-1 (innings per pitcher) and keeping guys pretty fresh to potentially come back the next day. We had two big outings earlier by Zach Ottinger and Matt Smith, those guys were able to go out there and go five innings and ride the course and let these other guys be available, especially with the pitch counts and what’s safe early in the summer. It also gives the scouts and everyone here a chance to see everyone.”

Winning a Perfect Game tournament crown is certainly nothing new for a team from East Cobb. However, the Colt .45s may be inserting themselves as a contender for best team in Cobb County following their performance over the weekend. Hightower realizes that this is only the beginning for his team.

“It sets a name for ourselves, especially with as storied as the East Cobb program is, I’m proud to say we’ve gotten going pretty well. We’re pretty strong with the younger age groups coming up to us. It’s a name I hope continues to build when you have a great group of kids willing to play hard and grind it out.”

Starting pitcher Stephen Szucs and Tressler helped propel the Colt .45s to the championship game on Monday with a 4-1 win over the Carolina Rebels in the semifinals. Szucs started the game for the Colt .45s and pitched five innings of one-run baseball and racked up four strikeouts in the process. Szucs was pounding the strike zone all day, throwing 78 percent of his pitches for strikes on the day. Tressler was 2-for-2 from the plate adding an RBI and a run scored.

The Georgia Bombers did not score early in their own semifinal game, but they scored late and when it counted to defeat the Astros TECB 4-3 for a spot in the championship final. With four runs scored in the top of the sixth, the Bombers were able to score just enough to hold off the Astros. Ryan Bliss went 2-for-2 on the day with an RBI and a run scored, the winning run, with Dylan Mainghini adding an RBI hit in the inning as well. Jared Staples got the win for the Bombers as he threw a complete game with three runs allowed and three strikeouts on the day. 

2016 16u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint champions: East Cobb Colt .45s



2016 16u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint runner-up: Georgia Bombers



2016 16u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint MVP: Nolan Tressler



2016 16u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint MV-Pitcher: Matthew Bollenbacher

 



Dirtbags All Blacks claim 18u championship

The finalists for the 18u WWBA Memorial Day tournament at LakePoint provided the spectators with yet another tightly contested postseason game. Both the champion Dirtbags All Blacks and the runner-up Georgia Jackets 17u had impressed in the semifinals and were looking to walk away with the championship trophy. In the end it was the Dirtbags that won the championship with a 5-3 victory.

The Dirtbags started out the game in the bottom of the first inning by scoring two runs on bases loaded walks from Jackets starter Chaney Rogers. The lefty starter for the Jackets was struggling with the command of his fastball all inning and allowed three walks in just two-thirds of an inning pitched.

Three pitchers were tasked with the responsibility of limiting the Jackets offense on Monday. Nick Jodway, Ryder Giles, and Garrett Blaylock each pitched at least two innings and only Giles allowed runs to score. Manager Andy Parton talked about how he wanted to confuse the Jackets lineup by using multiple pitchers with different repertoires and speeds.

“We knew what we were going to get out of our first guy,” said Parton in regards to Jodway, the starter. “He gave us two innings and then we wanted to go hard (Jodway), soft (Giles), and then hard(Blaylock). At this point in the tournament, we’re like everyone else, we were a little thin on arms. Our kids pitched well, they did a great job for us.”

The Jackets sparked a rally in the top of the fifth inning in an attempt to make a comeback. They scored three runs in the frame thanks to a two-run double from Cole Shelton and an RBI single from Kooper Briley.

Once Garrett Blaylock entered the game for the Dirtbags, all hopes for a Jackets comeback were dashed. Blaylock threw two hitless frames to close out the game. Jeremy Whitehead added a sacrifice fly to score Kier Meredith, after his leadoff triple, to put the game out of reach and clinch the victory for the Dirtbags.

The Jackets lefty Tucker Bradley, a 2016 Auburn commit, was named the tournament MV-Pitcher. He tossed nine innings allowing one earned run on eight hits anda  walk while striking out 11, and helped the Jackets reach the championship with an impressive seven inning effort in the semifinals against HP Maldonado.

Philip Clarke, a 2017 Vanderbilt commit, was named the tournament MVP. Clarke dominated the tournament going 7-for-16 with one home run and 11 RBI including a key two-run double in the championship game.

Parton was proud of his team’s ability to come out this weekend and battle despite so many games in one weekend, a lack of arms he had to work with, and the Georgia heat.

“We were really battling the elements,” said Parton. “Our guys are just coming out of high school baseball and they were adjusting to the heat. I thought early on we were exposed for what we were right now, we didn’t play real well at some points and played well in others. Our guys showed a lot of guts, I’m proud of them. We used all our guys, we didn’t just come in with one horse it was a team effort.”

The Dirtbags are looking to build on this weekend’s success, and hopefully the success of future tournaments, and use it as a starting point for summer baseball.

“Hopefully this (tournament victory) is the first of several,” continued Parton. “That would be fun. I think we have a really good group. We’re not really at full strength yet, we still have some guys in school. I thought this was a great tournament, Perfect Game did a great job, and the competition was great in the playoffs.”

The Dirtbags faced a stiff test in the semifinals as Tanner Moylan, the starter for eXposure 17u, had stifled the Dirtbags offense all day as he shut them out through six innings. The seventh inning, however, belonged to the Dirtbags, as they scored three times in the frame, highlighted by RBI singles from both Philip Clarke and Austin Bates. The game went to extra innings where it did not last long. The Dirtbags had runners reach second and third where Garrett Blaylock scored the winning run on a fielder’s choice to second base with a nifty slide at home to avoid the tag as the Dirtbags won 4-3.

Of course the Georgia Jackets were led to the championship game thanks to Tucker Bradley’s gem, allowing just one run and striking out six while going the distance. The Jackets offense was plenty hot as well, as they scored one run in both the first and third innings, and put the game out of reach in the sixth by putting up three more runs. Gavin Roberson went 3-for-3 in the game and his on-base presence helped contribute to the victory. 

2016 18u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint champions: Dirtbags All Blacks



2016 18u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint runner-up: Georgia Jackets



2016 18u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint MVP: Philip Clarke



2016 18u WWBA Memorial Day at LakePoint MV-Pitcher: Tucker Bradley
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