EMERSON, Ga. – PBA Demarini Wisconsin kicked off the PG Elite Underclass Championship with a 4-3 victory over Team Rocky Top on Friday. PBA used strong performances from Eli Campbell on the mound, three innings of one run baseball while striking out four batters, and offensively from Jordan Kehl, who had an RBI double and a run scored.
Looking across the list of teams in this tournament PBA sticks out because they are the only team attending who is not from the Southeast. From the town of Kenosha, Wisconsin, PBA arrived in Georgia around 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night after a 12-hour van ride. Manager Josh Colon knew that the ride would be tough, but that once his team hit the field all the fatigue would wash away and be replaced with adrenaline.
PBA is a relatively new program, only four years old, but they have been steadily building a collection of talent. With an influx of old and new talent Colon hopes that the learning curve will be a short one and the team can find a groove quickly. Colon, a former shortstop for Illinois State, has a good rapport with the team and he looks to have this team on the right path to success.
“Our program is Puma Baseball Academy and we’re on our fourth year so we’re still going through the growing process of getting established,” said Colon. “With this team our strengths are our athleticism and speed. We have a lot of new guys in this program and on this team but we have a good mix of guys who have been with us so we can, hopefully, bring the new guys along. We’re out of Kenosha, Wisconsin and we’re starting to slowly gain traction and hopefully get these guys onto the colleges that are good for them and a good fit for where they want to be.”
PBA relies on the strength of their pitching and defense to win ballgames. Their strategy proved fortuitous in their first game as Campbell had a strong outing on the mound, but the defense has still yet to find their groove. All three of Rocky Top’s runs were unearned and PBA will have to shore up the defense if they hope to advance deep into the playoffs.
“Pitching and defense are definitely our strengths,” said Colon. “We cater the program around that philosophy and that fits for us. We do a good job of teaching them offensively and catering to the athleticism that we have. We have speed in the outfield, we basically have three center fielders playing in the outfield. And in the infield we basically have three shortstops in the infield. We have some quality arms starting and out of the bullpen and we want to throw strikes and cater to our defense. We’ll be able to scrap out runs and play the way we want to.”
One particular advantage that the Wisconsinites have over the competition is that none of the teams have seen them before. This adds an element of surprise not often seen on the baseball field, one element that Colon hopes his team, using their athleticism, is able to exploit.
“I like to say that it’s (being an unfamiliar opponent) a big advantage because we basically go into every game with nothing to lose,” said Colon. “The mindset and what I’m really going to try to get these kids to do, especially having these teams be unfamiliar with us, is to put the pressure on. Run hard every play, attack the zone on the mound, attack offensively, and really get the other team on their heels. I’d rather that than be the team from Kenosha coming out to Georgia and being on our heels. Every game we want to push the envelope and be aggressive with every team. With our athleticism and speed we want to take advantage of these opportunities to apply pressure.”
Being the wild card not only plays into PBA’s favor strategically but it is a fresh new face for scouts and college coaches to evaluate. Colon now has his players positioned to perform in front of scouts and coaches from the Southeast, which will help his players gain exposure, and hopefully, opportunities to play beyond the high school level.
“The goal for this tournament is twofold: we want to get the kids in front of the right people and get them exposed to this competition and atmosphere,” said Colon. “We also want to put our program on the map. We want to leave a solid impression. When teams see ‘PBA Wisconsin’ we don’t want them to think that we’re just some little team from Wisconsin. We want them to be ready for a dogfight. We want the kids to get this experience but we want to put PBA on the map and that’s our goal for every tournament that we go to.”
Talking with some of the players it is easy to tell that they are a confident bunch. They had to fortune of winning game one although they did not play their best game. It is now up to the players and Colon to put the first game in the rear view mirror and proceed onto the next game. If the players’ attitudes are any indication, this should not be too tall of a task. PBA is ready to shake up the southeast and ready to throw a wrench into any team’s plans of walking through to the championship game.
“We’re going to light ‘em up and show them what Wisconsin baseball is all about,” said Nathan Lefko.