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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/27/2023

South Charlotte Panthers Crowned BCS Champs

Riley Sheppard     
Photo: South Charlotte Panthers (Perfect Game)
FORT MYERS, Fla - Finishing off a six-day tournament in the Florida heat with a title is as sweet a feeling as any. 

But playing for a BCS National Championship in your final tournament of the summer just adds the cherry on top of that 100 degree sundae. 



“I’m just happy for this group of kids right here,” South Charlotte Panthers 2025 Marucci head coach Empsy Thompson said. “They showed up every weekend and they did exactly what they do. We always just talk about playing against the game, not worrying about who’s over at the other dugout. It’s going to be somebody who wants to beat you daily. And with that being said, they did every weekend. We didn’t always have the results we wanted, but we had an opportunity to finish off the summer the way we wanted to.”

The Panthers capped off their long summer and one-loss week with a 12-2 victory over Top Tier Roos American 2025 to claim the 16U BCS National Championship.

Following a three strikeout outing to help his team advance to the semifinals, left-hander Brett Barker tossed a gem over his five innings - striking out six and allowing just four hits - while being crowned MV-Pitcher of the tournament after the game.  

“We always talk about the beauty of playing for the South Charlotte Panthers as a pitcher,” Thompson said. “It’s typically you pitch to contact you’re typically going to have success because you’re going to have a group behind you that’s going to make plays.”

Kaden Hart started his three-hit outing with back-to-back RBI’s doubles over the first and second to drive in Tyler Howe on both occasions, propelling the Panthers offense to jump ahead 6-0 early on. 

Included in the three-run third inning for the Panthers was a two-run homerun from Nico Soul, one of two hits on the day for the Georgia Tech commit. 

“I was just sitting fastball and ready to attack,” Soul said. “I got the pitch I was looking for and it felt good, I got it on the barrel and it went a long way. 

“Just be on time to anything, fastball adjust and just always be ready for anything that comes.”

And just as he did all game long, Barker commanded the zone to retire the side in the bottom of the fifth - concluding the title run and summer on a high note. 

“These teammates are the best I could ask for,” Barker said. “I’ve had a lot of fun throughout the summer. We’ve had ups and downs, but for a good part we’ve had a lot of great innings, a lot of good baseball games this summer and definitely happy we could end it with a championship win.”
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