EMERSON, Ga. – Game On Spartans squared off against the Acworth Blue Warriors in their first game of the 2016 PG Super25 16u Georgia Regional. The Spartans came into this tournament as a team who has not had a lot of time to play together, due to Georgia state high school playoffs, but a young team who has a lot of talent on their roster.
“This is our second PG event,” said manager Cliff Broxton. “We played in the (PG/East Cobb) Invitational, competed and played well. That was the first tournament our kids have been together, some of their high school teams advanced into the playoffs pretty deep. I’m pleased with this team, we have a good core of prospects who should play at the next level.”
The Spartans and the Game On program are based out of Georgia. They are keenly familiar with most of their competition from the Georgia area and they’re experience with their opponents should help them throughout the tournament.
“Our training facility is in Byron, George,” said Broxton. “We also have one in the LaGrange area, most of our kids work out of Byron.”
The Super25 is attractive for a small rostered team like the Spartans. It allows the team to not only get contributions from everyone on the team, but it also allows for more focus on their individual players for prospective college coaches and scouts.
“What I like about the Super25 is that there are a few restrictions,” said Broxton. “We are a community based team, we don’t reach too far out to get players, and I try to get players who play at high schools where I can go watch them play. The Super25 brings a platform that’s a little smaller, not as many days, and not a huge travel expense. It’s a metal bat tournament too, and they’re going to swing metal bats in college so I think it brings a platform where the college coaches can see them play.”
Broxton mentioned how the Spartans are focused locally as he wants to attract players from the same area. That helps the coaches in terms of area to cover for scouting but it also helps the team chemistry. Most of the team has been playing with or against each other for years and that only helps the team come closer.
“I tell the kids that there’s no guarantees to play at the next level and beyond,” said Broxton. “So they have to enjoy the journey. If they’re around a bunch of kids that they enjoy spending time with, I think it makes for a more fun experience.”
The goal of winning the Super25 Georgia Regional is to clinch a berth in the Super25 National Championship later on in the summer. Broxton is aware of this and thus the game plan will be focused on the best way to advance and win the tournament. Reliance on pitching is the cornerstone of his strategic philosophy and he will be throwing a good one today.
“We want to win ball games in this tournament,” said Broxton. “All Perfect Game events are showcases, so there’s some players I want to showcase and show college coaches that they can play at the next level. But in this game, we’re going to be doing more team type decisions like bunting guys over, hit-and-runs, and doing some things that we might not do at another event because we’d like the opportunity to advance to the Super25 (National Championship). I got a strong pitcher throwing, so I hope our offense comes around.
“One of the things that I love that Perfect Game is doing is having the (MLB) PitchSmart guidelines. I think that’s the best decision ever. We’ve always followed that anyhow, but it’d be nice if our offense can come around and I can get (Stanford) Townsend out of there to have another start.”
Stanford Townsend, the No. 11 righthanded pitcher in the state of Georgia for the class of 2018, got the start on the mound for the Spartans on Friday. Townsend stands tall at 6-foot-3 and has a power fastball he relies upon. He sat 85-87 mph on this day and was working the fastball on both sides of the plate. Townsend is a hard worker as he is always ready to take the ball and help his team onto victory.
“I just stay humble,” said Townsend. “Keep working hard, and let the good lord work. Focus on throwing strikes, getting up there, and let the defense work and just play the game.”
The game started off with two hitless innings on both sides. The Warriors broke through in the top of the second inning to score two runs off Townsend. Peyton Baker knocked in the first run with an RBI double to right-center field and Bryan Deegan followed with an RBI single of his own.
Townsend was finished after three innings. He struck out three batters and allowed only the two earned runs over the course of his outing. Broxton had mentioned that he wanted to try to preserve Townsend for later in the tournament so one has to assume he was pulled for that reason as his pitch count was only at 42.
The Warriors offense was not done scoring after Townsend left. They added a run in the fourth inning after a passed ball and a run came across to score in the fifth inning after Russell Moss doubled a runner home.
Peyton Baker started on the mound for the Warriors and he held the Spartans offense scoreless through four innings. He had danced in and out of trouble all day as he finished with five innings pitched, six walks, four hits and 90 pitches.
Down 4-0 in the fifth inning, the Spartans offense began their comeback thanks to some timely hitting and defensive miscues from the Warriors. The inning started with a single and a walk to get two runners on with no outs. The first run of the inning was plated after an error by the third baseman. Dawson Dyal then drove in two more runs with a double. Dyal then came around to score after another error, this time from the second baseman. After five full innings, the Warriors and Spartans were knotted up at four apiece.
The defense let the Warriors down again in the bottom of the sixth inning. After a single and two outs to move the runner to third, the game-winning run come across to score on a passed ball to give the Spartans the lead. The Spartans would not relinquish the lead and after a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, secured the 5-4 victory.