EMERSON, Ga. – The Voorhees, N.J.-based Tri-State Arsenal team that is competing at this week’s 15u Perfect Game World Series is trying to not only keep this “summer of love” going within the Tri-State organization but also trying to spread a little bit of that love around. The task is tall but not insurmountable, and in the end the 15u’s can only hope love conquers all.
This has been a special summer for the organization, with the 16u Tri-State Arsenal winning the PG WWBA National Championship earlier this month here at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint. That same team entered Monday’s playoff round at the 16u PG World Series as the No. 3-seed.
The 15u team is just trying to keep pace with its older brother, which is a lot to ask. But after two impressive wins to begin the 15u PG World Series on Sunday and despite a loss to Team Elite in the first of two of pool-play games Monday, the Arsenal 15u are moving forward.
“Our 16-year-olds are doing real well down here and I think it’s really motivated our guys to kind of match what they’re doing,” 15u head coach Tyler Hinchliffe said Monday morning. “(16u head coach) Joe Barth is a great coach and all we can do is try to match what they did (earlier this month).”
“The 16u team, they’re a big inspiration for us especially when we practice with them every day,” standout 2018 outfielder/right-hander Tyler Ras added. “When they practice with us, we try to compete with them at their same level, and it’s all good.”
There are 20 teams competing for the PG national championship at the 15u PG World Series this week, and they represent the best of the best nationally in their age-group. But even with that caveat, Tri-State’s pool looked to be especially stacked, at least in terms of name recognition.
In this corner, you have the EvoShield Canes (Fredricksburg, Va.); in that corner stands the Elite Squad Prime (Pembroke Pines, Fla.); walking onto the stage, please welcome Team Elite (Loganville, Ga.); and last, but certainly not least, step-on up Baseball Northwest (Salem, Ore.).
Not the least bit deterred, the Arsenal erased a 1-0 deficit after three innings and rallied to beat the Canes, 2-1, in their Sunday open. In their second game against the Elite Squad Prime, they broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a 5-4 win.
Ras threw a complete game in the win over the Canes and didn’t allow an earned run while scattering seven hits and striking out four; Charles Mack drove in both Arsenal runs with a double and a sacrifice fly. Jack Zyska came through with a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth to push Tri-State over the top against the Prime; Zyska also delivered an RBI single earlier in the game.
“Defense was a big key to our success, especially for me on the mound,” Ras said of his outing. “When we have that kind of defense, it seems like the bats are going to come through no matter what. With the defense and the pitching, it all worked out for us.”
When Hinchliffe first looked at the pool-play pairings he knew the Arsenal would have their work cut out for them, and the fact they sort of had to eke-out a couple of one-run wins to start the tournament off wasn’t lost on him. In a round-about way, he found his team’s performances satisfying.
“We won late – we had to win in the fifth or sixth inning of both games – and it’s good to see from our standpoint that we’re winning close games; it’s a big confidence-booster going forward,” he said.
There were four Tri-State Arsenal teams entered in last week’s 15u PG WWBA National Championship – they were identified as Tri-State Arsenal Showcase 1, 2, 3 and 4 – and this team consists almost exclusively of the Showcase 1 team members except for the addition of a couple of pitchers from Showcase 2. Showcase 1 started the 15u PG WWBA 2-2 but won its last three games to finish 5-2-0 overall and just short of the playoffs.
“It’s tough to say that 5-and-2 isn’t good, especially in the World Wood Bat – that’s a good week,” Hinchliffe said. “But with the Arsenal name, we try to live up to that expectation, maybe too much some times. If we didn’t come out flat in game-one we would have advanced – that kind of bit us late – but the last six games we went 5-1 and that’s the positive that we’re taking out of it.”
The Arsenal beat the always-tough East Cobb Braves in the their final pool-play game at the 15u PG WWBA, and despite having three days off, that finish provided a little bit of a boost coming into the 15u PG World Series. It showed the kids from the Northeast they could compete on equal footing with any of the other 19 teams in this elite field.
“I told my teammates after (the second loss in game-four) that even though we’re out (of the playoffs), these games will carry over into next week,” Ras said. “Those last three wins showed that we have the potential to shock some teams and possibly bring home the title this week.”
There are six players on this Tri-State Arsenal roster that were also on the Arsenal roster that won last year’s PG WWBA Freshman World Championship including Mack, who was named to the event’s all-tournament team. Anthony DiMartino, Justin Meyer and Brandon Neeck were also all-tournament.
Hinchliffe himself is a Tri-State Arsenal alumnus, having played in seven Perfect Game tournaments with the group between 2007 and 2010 before moving on to a four-year career at Boston College, which he just completed. His brother, Michael Hinchliffe, played in two PG tournaments with the Arsenal in 2006. Ryan Hinchliffe knows what it means to put on uniform with “Arsenal” scripted across the front and the success this program has enjoyed.
“What’s great is that we still haven’t played our best baseball, and I think the kids know that and I think that’s what’s making them stay in every close game,” he said. “Even when we’re not playing our best baseball we can hang around with anybody because we play competitive baseball and put pressure on teams.”
That’s what we’re riding. We’re trying to put pressure on teams all the way through and we’ve been handling it tremendously.”
Any hope for an undefeated sweep into the playoffs became an impossibility when the Arsenal (2-1-0) dropped a 6-2 decision to Team Elite (1-1-1) Monday morning. A victory over Baseball Northwest later on Monday would clinch the pool championship for Tri-State and punch its ticket directly into the eight-team playoffs, which begin Tuesday morning. The Arsenal are just looking to spread the love.
“What I’ve seen over the last week is a lot of trust,” Hinchliffe said. “We had only lost three games all summer (coming into the 15u WWBA) and they were all one-run games in the semifinals and finals of tournaments back home. It was frustrating – they couldn’t quite get that ‘click’ – and now we’ve found how we can win. They’re trusting one another and we’re really just getting it rolling.”