GOODYEAR, Ariz. – It's likely it did serve as a wake-up call for the battle-tested Phenom Signature, and it came bright and early Saturday morning over at the Camelback Ranch Cactus League MLB spring training complex in Glendale.
Phenom, based in Moreno Valley, Calif., came to the Valley this weekend with a roster chock-full of elite prospects and NCAA Division-I commits that have done a whole lot of winning over the last three years, and faced-off in that 8 a.m. game against the unheralded Pine Creek Eagles out of Colorado Springs, Colo.
It would be the first of three pool-play games that day for the highly regarded Signature at the Perfect Game/EvoShield Underclass National Championship and it ended in a 4-4 tie. Right out of the gate, the Phenom kids were going to need to regroup if they hoped to salvage anything positive out of the long weekend. And regroup they did.
The Phenom Signature rattled off five straight wins after that tie in their opener, the final one a 2-0 victory over the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Regional Baseball 2018s in the championship game played Monday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark, the MLB spring training Cactus League home of the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians.
“This group only lost one game all year long so I wasn’t really concerned with the one tie,” Phenom manager Joe Keller said right before his players were fitted for their Perfect Game National Championship rings. “I just knew we had to get in (to the playoffs), and that was the most important thing.”
Making the playoffs wasn’t a guarantee at all after the tie to open things up and, in fact, Phenom (5-0-1) barely slipped in as the No. 14 seed in the 18-team bracket. The PNW Regional Baseball 2018s (5-1-0) were only a notch better, coming into the title game as the No. 13 seed. And while no one knew it at the time, it was a game was decided in the first inning.
The Phenom’s Ryan Sehdev and Wesley Scott hit back-to-back singles to lead-off the top of the frame, and one out later both came around to score on a single from Spencer Jones. Keller sent 2018 right-hander Noah Hennings out to the mound, and he responded with six, three-hit, shutout innings, and that 2-0 first-inning lead held for a 2-0 victory.
“Noah is a good pitcher, we know that, and we were just trying to get a lead early so Noah could have one to work with the entire game,” Jones said.
The Signature totaled eight hits in the game – all singles – with 2019 San Diego State recruit Jordan Keller the only guy in the lineup to collect two. The PNW 2018s finished with five singles, two of them in the seventh inning after Hennings had left the game. Right-hander Willie Weiss scattered Phenom’s eight hits over six innings, and allowed only the two runs, striking out four and walking two.
“I would have liked to have scored five or six more (runs); that would have definitely been a better plan,” Joe Keller said with a smile. “But (PNWRB 2018s) played well. They played great defense – they’re a great team – and they didn’t make mistakes; we couldn’t capitalize because they didn’t make them.
“It was one of those things where we both played a sound game, and luckily we got those runs early and they didn’t, because at the end of the day if they would have (scored early) they may have won that game,” he continued. “It was a great game; I’d love to play those games every day of the week.”
After the tie to start things off, Phenom won its final two pool-play games – all three were played Saturday – and even though it tied with the Pine Creek Eagles with a 2-0-1 mark on top of the standings, it won the pool championship on tie-breaker criteria, earning the No. 14 seed.
Once in the playoffs, the Signature eliminated the No. 4 San Diego Show Black, the No. 11 SoCal Birds and the No. 2 CAB Soldiers to advance to the championship game.
“We had those three games Saturday, which is rough,” Jones said. “That first game kind of got the fire started for us, but it was good because it got us focused and made us work hard to make sure we didn’t tie another team or let one drop the rest of the tournament.”
Jones, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound 2019 outfielder/first baseman/left-handed pitcher from Encinitas, Calif., is a Vanderbilt commit ranked No. 6 in his national class. In six games, he slashed .368/.429/.421 with a double, a team-high eight RBI and three runs scored; he was named the Most Valuable Player. “This was a great experience, and now we have to go back to school (on Tuesday),” he said with a shrug.
Scott, another 2019 Vanderbilt recruit from Riverside, Calif., was also very good, slashing .412/.500/.529 with two doubles, four RBI and seven runs scored.
Hennings is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound 2018 uncommitted right-hander/third baseman from Sandy, Utah, who had made one short appearance before getting called on to start the championship game. He finished the tournament without giving up a run on three hits, striking out six and walking two in 6 2/3 innings, and was named the Most Valuable Pitcher.
“These guys are fighters; that’s just the way it is,” Joe Keller said. “It was tough for us because we came here with half our team – most of them had to stay in school – but these guys surprise me every time they come out and play. Sticking together for as long as they’ve been together, and doing this game-in and game-out, it’s just a fun group to watch, and I’m glad they’re growing into great young men.”
PNW Regional Baseball 2018s’ Andrew Walling – an uncommitted 2018 first baseman/left-hander from Castle Rock, Wash., ranked No. 160 nationally – enjoyed a phenomenal tournament, slashing .625/.647/1.000 with a double, a triple and a home run counted among his 10 hits; he drove in eight runs and scored eight. Walling didn’t play in the championship game after leaving PNW’s semifinal game in the second inning.
Both semifinal games were played Monday morning on the Cleveland Indians’ side of the Goodyear Ballpark Complex, with the PNW Regional Baseball 2018s slipping past No. 9 GBG Marucci Navy (5-1-0) from Los Angeles, 2-1, and Phenom Signature romping past the No. 2 CAB Soldiers (5-1-0) out of Rancho Cordova, Calif., 10-2 in five innings.
2018 right-hander and Washington State commit Tyler Russell threw 5 2/3 innings of two-hit, shutout relief while striking out four to lead the PNWRB 2018s to the win over the GBG Navy in a game in which none of the three runs were earned – GBG committed four errors and PNW two.
2018s Alex Garcia and Jake Gehri both singled twice to account for PNW’s four hits. GBG 2018 right-hander Cedrick Perez threw a seven-inning four-hitter without allowing an earned run; Jacob Shaver and Rhylan Thomas both singled twice for GBG’s four hits.
The Signature scored their 10 runs on nine hits, but only two of the 10 were earned thanks to five CAB errors. Scott doubled twice, singled, drove in two runs and scored two; Hennings singled twice, drove in a pair of runs and scored one and Damone Hale also singled twice with an RBI and a run scored.
2018 right-hander Mateo Gil doubled and drove in a run, and gave up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and four walks in four innings of work; 2018 righty Sam Clow struck out two and walked two in one inning of relief. The Soldiers’ Ricky Martinez singled twice in CAB’s six-hit effort.
“It’s just the experience,” Joe Keller said when asked about the most gratifying aspect of playing in an event like the PG/EvoShield Underclass. “A lot of guys are counting ‘W’s’ and wins, and for us it’s just more about experiencing a great time and playing a game these guys love. It’s just a great experience.”
2016 PG/EvoShield Underclass National Championship runner-up: Pacific Northwest Regional Baseball 2018's
2016 PG/EvoShield Underclass National Championship MVP: Spencer Jones
2016 PG/EvoShield Underclass National Championship MV-Pitcher: Noah Hennings
