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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/31/2022

Scorpions/Giants Scout Takes 17u BCS Title

Riley Sheppard     
Photo: Scorpions/Giants Scout Team 2023 (Perfect Game)
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In a six-day long tournament, mapping out who’s pitching each game is a chess match from coaches.

But for the two teams fortunate enough to reach the championship game, with all their cards out on the table, it will always be their ace on the mound.



“It was a Florida commit versus a Virginia commit on the other end,” Scorpions/Giants Scout Team 2023 Head Coach Jerry Kennedy said Saturday. “I knew there probably wasn’t going to be a whole lot of hitting going on in the game with those two arms.”

In the 17U BCS National Championship game between the Scorpions and Resmondo FTB Baseball, Grayson Smith and Freddy Noel Beruvides Jr. got the call from their respective teams.

Smith, a 2023 University of Florida commit and MV-Pitcher of the tournament, was in command over his six innings, working a low-90s fastball complemented by a high-70s slider that struck out eight of his nine in his shutout victory.

Despite the 3-0 loss, Beruvides was also nearly untouchable, giving up just one run and three hits over his five innings. The future Cavalier delivered four punchouts over his 83 pitches, mixing in a low-90s fastball with mid-70s curveball and slider.

“Throwing strikes and getting outs, that’s what it’s all about,” Smith said postgame. “Keep the pitch count down because there’s only so many pitchers on a team so you got to go as far as you can and we did a great job of that this tournament, all the pitchers did.”

The first run from the Scorpions came in the bottom of the fifth. Following a leadoff single from Jacob McKenzie. A wild pitch and tag-up brought him to third with just one out, and a deep sac-fly from Garrett Smith brought him home.

Two more insurance runs came in the bottom of the sixth after NC State commit Robert Nedry singled in his at-bat, making his way home, and an RBI single from Alex Sosa to bring in Logan Hughes extended the lead to 3-0.

This BCS National Championship for the Scorpions is their fourth in program history, with the 2022 trophy now joining 2007, 2012, and 2016 on the shelf.

“I thought going in we had obviously the talent and pitching to make a run, but with that being said, all these Perfect Games and big tournaments are hard to win, you gotta have some luck along the way,” Kennedy said postgame.
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