Putting on a Show

WOODSTOCK, Ga. – As play began on Wednesday the clock was ticking for teams trying to make a late push into the playoffs of the 2015 15u WWBA National Championship. What would the last day of pool play be without a little drama?

That’s what we had with the San Diego Show attempting to hold onto their reign over Pool L. Heading into their matchup with the Ruffnecks, the Show were 5-1, with their only loss being against Team Elite South. Both Elite South and the Ruffnecks had a chance of stealing the Show’s top spot in the pool – and both had two losses – which brought some serious implications to Wednesday afternoon’s game.

Winning this game was almost imperative for the Show because if they were to lose, then things would get quite complicated in Pool L. The San Diego Show have been a staple at Perfect Game events for years, and are known for having some great playoff runs in past tournaments at nearly all age levels.

The Ruffnecks were looking to play the role of spoiler, but with a win over the show that would really increase their chance of actually advancing to the playoffs as well. There was a lot on the line this game, and knowing that it would be close from the start, both teams came in with a sense of urgency.

The scoring got underway in the first inning, and the Show were the first to reach the plate off of a couple of base hits and a key error by the Ruffnecks. They took the lead early with three runs through the first two innings, and their starter, Zack Prajzner, held that lead for most of the game.

Prajzner was very effective on the mound today, as he only struck out three but held the Ruffnecks to three hits until the very last inning. Prajzner was keen on getting consistent groundballs, which allowed his middle infield to really show off their skills, as they made fantastic play after fantastic play.

After the second inning, the offensive action was limited for both teams.

This game was hard fought to the end, and it came down to a late rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to decide the victor. Prajzner started to get a little bit wild, which eventually caused the bases to load up for the Ruffnecks. This would end Prajzner’s day and the Ruffnecks took full control of the momentum. They jumped on the reliever for the Show with a couple of base hits until it was finally tied up with the winning run in scoring position. Spenser Smith stepped up to the plate for the Ruffnecks and hit a frozen rope to center field for the walkoff 4-3 win.

The Show were obviously taken back by the loss, but they can breathe easy knowing that they still claimed their pool. Coming into the game, the Show knew that they had to keep the Ruffnecks to fewer than seven runs if they wanted to keep the lead in their pool and that’s just what they did. Due to run differential and head-to-head matchups, the San Diego Show are the winners of Pool L and advanced to the first round of playoffs that began Wednesday evening.

The Show would have liked to pull out a win today, but Coach Anthony Stabile gives a tip of the cap to the Ruffnecks and the way they fought back to win the game.

“Never want to lose a pool play game, but you got to respect those guys for battling back after being down late in a game,” Coach Stabile said after the game. “A lot of respect for that Ruffnecks teams and the way they played today, but now our job is to move onto the elimination round.”

Even though they are the pool winner, which is an accomplishment in itself, Coach Stabile feels that his team needs to step it up in every facet of the game if they want to have a shot at a successful playoff run. They have played up to par in his eyes, but losing that early lead today shows that they have some things they need to tweak before the first round of playoffs.

“We have got to play better baseball,” Stabile added. “We’ve been a little loose on the basepaths, and we aren’t hitting the way that we are capable of hitting, so hopefully we can fix those things in the playoffs. We have good pitching and arms lined up and our pitching is going to take us where need to go.”

Aside from the offensive aspect of the game, Coach Stabile states that his pitching staff has done a great job this week; citing them as a big part of the reason why they are in a position to advance in the first place.

“We’ve pitched it, and we’ve pitched it very well. We have our horses coming back around, and as a coach, being able to advance without hitting is alright but hopefully we can get it going in the playoffs.” said Coach Stabile.

Ideally, the Show would like to step up at the plate as a whole, but two big names in their lineup that have been missing in terms of offensive production are Joseph Magrisi and Jacob Allred. Magrisi, rated as the 42nd best prospect in the 2018 class, is already committed to San Diego State and is a big bat that can do some serious damage once he gets going. Allred is the 54th ranked prospect in the 2018 class and has declared his college commitment to the University of Arizona.

Allred is more of the speedy type, bringing great defense and base-running skills to the table. Although he's hitting .235 in the tournament, he was able to go 2-for-3 today with a pair of singles; a positive sign that he is finding his swing at the right time in the tournament. He feels a more aggressive approach at the plate will work to his advantage, and believes that it was a big reason for his success in today’s game against the Ruffnecks.

“I haven’t been swinging very good, so I just wanted to come out and put it all out on the line today,” said Allred of his approach. “I was aggressive at the plate, and I wasn’t being very aggressive before.”

Magrisi went hitless today, but he too is looking forward to his start in the first game of the playoffs. Not only can Magrisi flash the leather at third base, but he is an even better pitcher.

Magrisi threw the first game of pool play and had a fantastic performance on the mound, as he went the distance, allowed only one run, and had eight strikeouts. Coach Stabile will look to Magrisi to continue his success on the bump next game. Magrisi is going to keep the same mentality that he had in his first start and apply it to his playoff start.

“I’m just going to go out there and do what I do,” Magrisi said. “Pitch to my defense; we have one of the best defenses in the nation. It makes everything a lot easier on the mound with those guys behind me. When someone hits a ball hard, and it’s going that direction, there’s a good chance they’re going to be out.”