Team
Citius represents Texas well
EMERSON,
Ga. – An unlikely thing happened this weekend in the 2015 12u PG
Spring Southeastern Championship; there were no teams from Georgia
competing for the trophy in the final. Tournaments at LakePoint
generally attract a lot of teams from the Peach State, but Team
Citius decided to make the trip all the way from San Antonio, Texas,
in an attempt to show everybody what Texas baseball is all about.
Their
attempt went swimmingly, as they posted an undefeated record and a
victory in the championship. It was indeed rare to see a Texas team
competing, considering they were the only one in the entire
tournament, but they held their own by way of power offense and hard
throwing arms.
The
road to the championship was not an easy one, as they had to go
through the likes of tough East Cobb teams and even a team from the
infamous 643 DP program that has been making a splash this summer in
all age groups. Their semifinal game against 643 was an intriguing
one, but Daylan Pena, the starter for Team Citius, went six strong
innings and made sure that there were no doubts heading into the
championship.
Despite
the four-spot that 643 put up in this game to make it somewhat
interesting, Pena was dominant with his heavy fastball and ability to
get ahead in the count. Once business was taken care of in the semis,
it was time to focus on the championship.
The
championship against the Alabama Elite got off to an exciting start,
as the first inning contained two solo shots from Christopher Bernal
and Pena. The trend of power hitting continued throughout the game as
multiple balls were pelted deep into the outfield over and over
again. A ground-rule double in the third inning got them a little bit
of insurance, but those two bombs in the first inning were all that
Team Citius needed in their 4 -1 victory over the Alabama Elite.
The
starting pitcher for Citius, Travis White, held the Elite bats to
just one run in his fantastic championship performance.
Coach
Bobby Stracener was thoroughly impressed with his team’s pitching
and lack of free bases given up, and felt that was key in the string
of wins that they put together this weekend.
“We
had strong pitching this weekend and strung our hits together when
necessary. I would say the most important factor in winning this
weekend was our pitching, though,” said Stracener. “We weren’t
walking a lot of folks, and when you’re able to let your defense
work and consistently throw strikes, you’re going to have a good
chance to win.”
This
tournament win was especially meaningful due to the fact that Team
Citius had to travel so far. The drive from San Antonio to Emerson is
long and these Texas players rarely get an opportunity to show their
stuff on such a large stage with such nice facilities. Luckily, they
took advantage of that opportunity this weekend and impressed many
fans and parents in the stands this weekend.
“PG
events are always a big deal to the kids, but us being the only team
from Texas here added a little bit of intensity to the games that we
played”, added Stracener. “We wanted to represent Texas well, and
I think that we did that. We’re really excited, and grateful. It
was a great tournament, and were looking forward to the rest of the
summer.”
643
DP Cougars cruise to a championship win
The
643 DP Cougars have been popping up frequently on the list of teams
that compete in Perfect Game events, and they are definitely creating
a winning reputation for themselves. Just last week, their 16u squad
won the WWBA Memorial Day championship, and after a 7-0 win over the
Arkansas Storm at the 16u PG Spring Southeastern Championship, now
their talented 11u team has a championship as well. 643’s offense
was just too much for teams to handle this weekend, just ask the
Ninth Inning Royals, whom they dropped a whopping 24 runs on.
Although
they had no problem putting runs on the board this weekend, their
semifinal against the East Cobb Colt 45s needed all the offense that
the Cougars could give. They narrowly escaped with a 9-8 victory.
That game was indeed a close one for the Cougars, as they made four
errors and even had less hits than the Colt 45s. The semifinal game
was uncharacteristically sloppy, but the Cougars were still able to
come out with a win, and that’s all that matters. They made the
necessary corrections, and came out in the championship with utter
confidence and energy.
In
the championship, teamwork and a sensational pitching performance is
what factored in to their robust win over the Arkansas Storm. They
were able to get off to an early lead, which they clutched onto
behind the arms of young Caleb Nix and Reece Robertson. Nix and
Robertson kept the Storm offense silent, limiting them to only one
hit, and the Cougars did what they do best; pour on the runs. Coach
George Jones was ecstatic to see his boys play such high level
baseball in the championship game.
“We
played great defense, had timely hits, and had phenomenal pitching,”
said Jones. “Everybody contributed when they had to.”
This
11u group had a lot of success a couple of years back in the 8u and
9u brackets, but as of recent, they have struggled to make it deep
into tournaments. This tournament win marks the beginning of the
return to elite baseball status for this particular 11u 643 DP
Cougars group. The Cougars went out and competed with a chip on their
shoulders this weekend, and that chip proved to serve them well. They
were aware of their ability; all they had to do was tap into it and
play to their potential.
“We
wanted to prove to ourselves as a group that we could play well and
play with anybody, and that we did”, added Jones. “For that
purpose, this tournament was a great success.”
The
Cougars have a few more tournaments left on the schedule for this
summer, and they hope to ride the momentum gained from this
tournament in hopes that they can hoist a couple of more trophies
over their heads. Regardless of its late finish at almost midnight
due to multiple rain delays throughout the day, after the
championship, all of the kids were filled with energy and were
chomping at the bit to play more baseball. Winning is exciting, but
these kids are ready to get back on the field this week and prepare
for the next opponent they face.