EMERSON, Ga. - The competition is intense and the games are getting tight in the
playoff rounds of the 2014 WWBA 14u National Championship at Perfect
Game Park at LakePoint. The 6-4-3 DP Tigers proved no challenge is too
difficult in their 4-2 victory over the San Diego Show in the quarter
finals Thursday afternoon.
It was a game full of great plays and
beautifully executed baseball for the Tigers. In the bottom of the
fourth, the Tigers were down 2-1. A double from Guillermo Granier put
him in scoring position for Michael Guldberg who hit a bomb over the
left field fence and took the lead.
“He’s definitely somebody
who has put a lot of hard work in,” said head coach Matt Hightower about
Guldberg. “He’s missed some time from injury and to see him take a
quality swing like that and connect in such a big moment, I think that
epitomizes the hard work and preparation going into that at bat. Not
that results are the thing that we’re looking at, but it’s the
accumulation of all his hard work that found its way right there.”
The
next inning, the Show tried to retaliate with two singles in a row.
With the tie run on third, the Tigers knew it was important to throw him
out before he scored. A single to right field was the chance for the
Show to tie it up, however, a perfectly executed play by Caleb Bartolero
to the cutoff man, allowed Drew Hamrock to throw him out at the plate,
ending the Show’s rally.
“It’s actually something we practice
quite a bit of; it’s a pet peeve of mine,” said Hightower about the
play. “I make all the outfielders either hit their cutoff man in the air
in the head or you one hop every base. It’s something we’ve been a
stickler for all year and seeing that throw right there it’s not just
some magical thing, we’ve actually thrown quite a bit over but it’s from
those mistakes that we learn what the little things do. What we did was
give our cutoff man a chance to turn and make the play. Not to mention
our cutoff man had his footwork right, and that’s where the little
things came into making one big play. It was huge, especially with our
catcher making sure he just caught, tagged and just slowed the game
down.”
It’s not common to steal home, especially in a close game,
but in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Tigers took a risk. They
successfully stole home and secured themselves a more comfortable lead.
This play changed the whole momentum of the game.
“It’s
something that we’ve worked on before and the opportunity kind of
presented itself late in the ball game when runs were precious,” said
Hightower. “With a team like that, no lead is safe. [We were] fighting
for every 90 feet you can get and with Drew’s speed over there and the
lead that he was getting really helped tremendously. What it boiled down
to was kind of an improv situation that we just took a gamble on and it
paid off; it worked. The opportunity was there, it was a gamble and it
paid off.”
On top of making outstanding plays, it was the defense
that really won the game. Robert Bennett spent all seven innings on the
mound. After giving up two unearned runs in the first inning, Bennett
shut down the Show and didn’t allow any hits with men in scoring
position. He only walked one batter and struck out four.
“Robert
Bennett has been great for us all year. He’s just such a quality
pitcher and I think one of his biggest strengths is his intense focus.
His stuff is good and he executes good pitches all the time. He’s not
going to come in and try to do anything overly spectacular. I think
it’s that consistency that makes him great. That performance right there
against an unbelievable San Diego Show team was amazing and he gave us
all he had. So that was huge for us,” explained Hightower.
After
this big win, the Tigers advanced to the semi-finals to face the Dulin
Dodgers. Hightower is focused on the mechanics and fundamentals in order
to succeed.
“Once you make it to bracket play in the WWBA,
every team is going to be quality, so you just take it on, move forward,
and expect to play a tight ballgame,” explained Hightower. “You go in
there with a mind set that you’re going to be in a little bit of a dog
fight, and it’s going to be intense, and you have to play quality
baseball. This is where it ceases to become physical and you just have
to execute and do little things right.”
After going undefeated in
pool play, enduring a tough win against the Show, and winning the East
Cobb Inviational in June, Hightower is confident in his team taking home
the title. He believes the chemistry this team has will take them all
the way.
“I’ve been fortunate I’ve had these kids for a couple
years now, and that helps tremendously when you know and learn what
helps each player grow and how you approach each individual kid. The
biggest thing I think in time is not the necessarily the ability or the
skills, but this team’s strongest trait, is the chemistry they have
because they have been together for so long,” explained Hightower. “It’s
coming through these gut situations that that chemistry is what
prevails. That’s what makes this team tick and go forward.”