Gators
dominate in East Labor Day Classic
FORT
MYERS, Fla. – In a weekend dominated by heat and inclement weather,
four teams emerged as champions at JetBlue Ballpark during the 2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic Freshman, Underclass, and Upperclass
events.
The
Carrollwood Gators organization as a whole put together a very strong
weekend in all three events with four teams making the playoffs
across the three tournaments. The Carrollwood Gators 2019 team
captured the Freshman Championship with a 7-2 victory over Collier
Select 2019 on Sunday.
The
game started off quickly with Carrollwood plating the first run of
the game in the top of the first thanks to an RBI groundout from
Jesse Ororke. Collier rebounded quickly plating a run of their own on
an error to tie the game at the end of the first frame.
Things
opened up in a big way for the Gators’ offense in the top of the
third inning when they managed to plate six runs. Jake Bluffstone led
off the inning with a double down the left field line then came in to
score on an infield single. Justin Turk brought home another run with
an RBI single to make the score 3-1. Breaking the game open was
Ororke, who went up to the plate and laced an RBI triple to right
field then coming around to score the sixth run on a wild pitch,
making the score 7-1.
Collier
scrapped across their second run of the game after Emil Valenzuela
led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. He advanced to second
on a ground ball, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch to cut the
deficit to five runs.
Michael
Dominguez started the game for the Gators and threw a complete game.
He allowed only one earned run, and struck out nine batters on his
way to garnering Most Valuable Pitcher honors. It earned him his
second win of the tournament and lowered his ERA to 1.00 in nine
total innings of work. Dominguez showed impressive velocity for his
age sitting 72-77 mph with his fastball.
The
MVP for the Freshman age group was Collier shortstop/outfielder Drew
Miller who went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles in the championship
game. His final line included hitting .636 (7-for-11) with five
doubles, two RBI, eight runs scored and four stolen bases.
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) champions: Carrollwood
Gators 2019
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) runner-up: Collier Select
2019
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) MVP: Drew Miller
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) MV-Pitcher: Michael
Dominguez
Gators
continue dominance in Underclass division
FORT
MYERS, FLA. – In a game that dodged both lightning and weather
delays all morning and afternoon on Monday, the Carrollwood Gators
2017 captured the WWBA East Labor Day Classic Underclass championship
with a 6-5 walkoff win over the TBSA Patriots Elite.
The
game started off slowly as both teams were unable to score off the
opposing starters, but things picked up in the bottom of the third
inning. Christian Docobo worked a leadoff walk then came around to
score from second on a fielding error to plate the game’s first
run. Matthew Lewis chipped in with an RBI single and that gave the
Gators a 2-0 lead.
TBSA
came back quickly. A pair of base hits from Ivan Rodriguez and
Alexander Venetos set the stage for a two-run single from Josh
Strickland that tied the game, 2-2.
The
back-and-forth game continued in the bottom of the fourth when Jacob
Baker came to the plate with the bases loaded and drew a walk to
break the tie. Docobo came back up to the plate and delivered a
two-run single that extended the Gators’ lead to 5-2.
In
the top half of the sixth, Venetos came back to the plate and smacked
an RBI base hit, his second hard hit of the game, to make the score
5-3. The Patriots rallied again with two outs in the top of the
seventh and plated two runs to tie the game on a Jonathan Alonso
single.
The
Gators could easily have folded, but instead they prevailed. Anthony
Cassos reached base on an infield single and advanced to second on
bunt. He then stole third and scored the championship winning run on
a wild pitch. The Gators took to the field to celebrate their second
championship as an organization in as many days.
Ryan
Glass took home MVP honors for the Gators going 5-for-13 (.385) at
the plate with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a stolen base. He also
impressed on the mound, earning his team a win in four shutout
innings with two strikeouts.
Brendan
Tracy of the TBSA Patriots was named the event's MV-Pitcher, who in
two starts threw 10 innings allowing zero earned runs and struck out
seven batters, while only surrendering three hits.
“We
started out slow typically, but always bring the defense and
pitching, it’s our backbone really,” Gators Head Coach Danny
Rodriguez said. “We have been together awhile and are comfortable
here and play here often.”
The
Gators organization as a whole showed comfort in Fort Myers this
weekend capturing two of the three tournament championships.
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Underclass) runner-up: TBSA Patriots
Elite
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Underclass) MVP: Ryan Glass
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Underclass) MV-Pitcher: Brendan Tracy
Surge,
Storm split Upperclass championship
FORT
MYERS, Fla. – Due to extensive rain on Monday morning and the
threat of more storms later in the afternoon, the two teams set to
face one another in the 2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic Upperclass
championship game agreed to avoid further delay and decided to become
co-champions.
The
Storm entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed and arrived at the
championship game with a perfect 5-0 record. In their semifinal game
they topped the Broward Nationals 4-3 in walkoff fashion to advance.
They
entered the bottom of the seventh down 3-2 and got a runner in
scoring position quickly thanks to a pair of hit by pitches. Kyle
Shay brought around the tying run with an RBI single and Sean Baran
delivered a bases loaded sac fly to give the Storm a berth in the
championship.
For
the tournament, the Storm hit an impressive .360 with 14 of their 27
hits going for extra bases. Gary Mattis led the way going 5-for-11
(.455) with a pair of doubles and five runs scored.
MV-Pitcher
honors were awarded to John Resnik who shined on the mound in the
Storm’s quarterfinal game tossing five one-hit innings while
striking out six batters. For the team, the Storm held opposing
batters to just 17 hits in 29 innings with a 1.29 cumulative ERA.
“We’ve
been going at this for a while with the older group and most of these
guys have been together since they were 10,” South Florida Storm
Assistant coach Tyron Harris said of the program's coaching
philosophy. “What we’ve always tried to do is emphasize on the
basic fundamentals of baseball, we’ve been able to it so far.
“What
we’ve done with this tournament is brought up some of the younger
guys that are going to be here next year so they do understand what
it’s like to play at a higher level early so when we come next year
with a younger crew they’ll be a step ahead with who’s coming
up.”
The
Florida Surge earned the No. 5 seed after pool play and used their
strong offensive performances to earn their spot in the championship
game. They defeated Lakeland Legends of the Batters Box 18u 10-7 in
their semifinal game on Sunday afternoon.
Paul
Macintosh got things started in a big way for the Surge offense
blasting a quick two-run home run that registered 102.9 mph off the
bat and went 400 feet per TrackMan to give them a first inning lead.
Perales added a bases clearing double to add to their lead making it
6-0 heading to the second inning.
The
Legends did not go quietly. They added a pair of runs in the top of
the second and then again in the top of the third to make the score
6-4.
As
the game moved to the top of the fourth inning, eventual event MVP
Kevin Soto ripped an RBI double to extend the lead to 8-4. Soto put
together a very impressive tournament stat line going 7-for-14 (.500)
at the plate with three extra-base hits, five RBI, five runs scored
and an impressive eight stolen bases. Soto also dominated on the hill
tossing 11 innings, allowing only one earned run.
“If
there is a ball right there that is a strike, just swing right at it
and if it’s a ball don’t swing,” Soto said of his approach at
the plate.
Jacob
Page kept the Legends in the game knocking the fifth run of the game
for their offense with a double of his own, but they were unable to
capitalize further. The Surge added in a couple more insurance runs
to cement their victory.
Behind
the bats of Soto, Andrew Flaherty, and Macintosh the Surge hit .297
as a team and posted an impressive .837 OPS. On the mound, the team
pitched to a 1.53 ERA and 1.16 WHIP en route to a share of the title.
“This
will be our 10th year and we just received our highest ranking from
Perfect Game, 39th, and we wanted to come out and prove it was real,”
Florida Surge Head Coach George Sands said. “This is our first
championship in our 10 year history with Perfect Game. We got the
right pieces to have a good fall and make a big run this summer.”
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Upperclass) co-champions: Florida Surge
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Upperclass) co-champions: South Florida
Storm Blue
2015
WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Upperclass) MVP: Kevin Soto
