At mid-afternoon on Sunday, on a couple of college fields located about 30 miles from one another in the Los Angeles area, magic struck twice for the two California Baseball Academy (CBA) Marucci teams competing in the Perfect Game California World Series Upperclass and Underclass tournaments.
The triple-play happened first, with the CBA Marucci Underclass team turning one of those rare gems while playing in the championship game at Dedeaux Field on the University of Southern California campus. The walk-off grand slam – who’s to say which is rarer – happened about a half-hour later with the CBA Marucci Upperclass team playing at Cal State-Northridge.
“Ah, nice!” CBA Marucci director and Upperclass head coach Jon Paino said when he learned of the two unlikely events benefitting his teams happening almost simultaneously. “That is very cool.”
Whatever magic was in the air it was profound enough to lead to a pair of championships for CBA Marucci at the inaugural Perfect Game California World Series (Upperclass) and PG California World Series (Underclass) tournaments played on eight fields across Southern California over the past three days.
Walk-off slam lifts CBA Marucci Upper
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – When 2015 CBA Marucci outfielder Luke Williams stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded, one out and he and his teammates trailing BPA DeMarini Elite 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, he was concentrating on just one thing.
“The big thing I was focusing on was my breathing,” Williams said. “I was making sure that I was staying relaxed and just waiting for my pitch.”
Williams hit a long fly ball to left field on the first pitch he saw, long enough for a walk-off grand slam and a 6-3 victory for CBA Marucci over BPA DeMarini Elite in Sunday’s championship game at the inaugural PG California World Series, played at Cal State-Northridge.
“I’ve never hit a walk-off grand slam before,” Williams said. “It’s something I’ll probably never forget; it was unreal.”
The blast and the PG championship may be enough to take a little bit of the sting away from the runner-up finish CBA Marucci grudgingly accepted at last month’s PG/EvoShield National Championship (Upperclass) at the hands of GBG Marucci. Paino and the rest of the guys had found their hero – for now anyway.
“Luke has really developed into a clutch player and I don’t think this whole thing could have ended in any better way,” Paino said. “We built this program around this 2015 class and for this to be their last event in California and really with the original nine or 10 players that we started this thing with; I don’t think we could have written a better finale.”
The championship game went back-and-forth leading to Williams’ walk-off. CBA scored a single run in the bottom of the seventh on the strength of a David Maldonado sacrifice fly but BPA and band of talented class of 2017 players took a 2-0 lead when Samuel Cachola reached on a ground-ball fielder’s choice and two runs scored.
CBA tied it in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Tyler Nevin, but BPA went up 3-2 in the top of the seventh when Tyler Lasch delivered an RBI double off of Perfect Game All-American Kyle Molnar, who had been brought-in in relief. Enter Williams, stage left, and don’t let the dropping curtain hit you on the head on your way out.
2015 left-hander and Oregon recruit Kyle Robeniol threw six one-hit innings for CBA, allowed one earned run and struck out six. His BPA DeMarini Elite counterpart, 2015 righty Zach Wolf, was pretty good himself, allowing one earned run while scattering five hits over six innings, striking out four and walking none.
“It was an all-out battle the whole game; BPA gave us a heck of a game,” Williams said. “… It kept going back and forth until the seventh inning and then, yeah, the walk-off happened.”
Williams finished the tournament batting 5-for-16 (.312) with a pair of doubles to go with his grand slam, and wound-up with five RBI and five runs scored; he was named the Most Valuable Player.
Both CBA (5-0-0) and BPA (4-1-0) made it through their three pool-play games unbeaten and then survived tough semifinal tests. BPA DeMarini Elite, with its youthful lineup that promises to be heard from again and again over the next two years, just met a more experienced lineup on this particular day.
“We’ve always called this group kind of a slow-grinding machine,” Paino said. “This is a team that is going to get one or two runs here and there and the pitching is going to anchor us. The games are always going to be close and they’re just a great group of baseball guys and a group of grinders that love to play together and love to win, and it’s just been a pleasure to be part of their baseball journey.”
Tyrus Greene stroked an RBI double and Lucas Herbert slugged a two-run home in the bottom of the first inning for an early 3-0 lead, and CBA Marucci cruised to a 5-0 win over So Cal NTT (2-2-0) in the Upper’s first semifinal Sunday morning. Tyler Nevin added a solo home run in the fourth and finished with a pair of runs batted in.
Right-hander Tim Holdgrafer, a St. Mary’s (Calif.) recruit, threw a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out four and walking none. It was Holdgrafer’s first appearance of the weekend but it was a strong enough performance to earn him Most Valuable Pitcher honors; he was also the MV Pitcher at the Perfect Game/EvoShield National Championship held in the Phoenix area last month.
“I thought this was a great event,” Williams said. “Everything went really well, we played some really good teams out here and I was happy to be a part of it; we loved being out on the field.”
Nicholas Pratto smacked a grand slam to highlight a five-run third inning and that was pretty much all that was needed in BPA DeMarini Elite’s 6-3 win over NorCal Baseball (3-1-0) in Sunday’s other semifinal.
Pratto, a Southern Cal commit ranked No. 10 nationally in the class of 2017, also picked up the win on the mound, allowing one earned run and scattering six hits while striking out five and walking one. Michael Birch had a two-run double to provide a highlight for NorCal.
2014 California World Series (Upperclass) MVP and MV-Pitcher: Luke Williams (left) and Tim Holdgrafer, CBA Marucci Upperclass
All-around effort paces CBA Marruci Under
LOS ANGELES – An unusual event was unfolding at Dedeaux Field on the University of Southern California campus Sunday afternoon, the site of the championship game at the first Perfect Game California World Series (Underclass) tournament.
Through four innings of play, Southern California representative California Baseball Academy (CBA) Marucci held a 1-0 lead over Northern California rep California Club Baseball (CCB) Elite despite being no-hit by CCB starter and 2016 right-hander Justin Sanders. CBA’s only run at that point was unearned.
CBA Marucci finally collected its first hit when Jordan Chang poked a single in the fifth. When Dominic Fletcher delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth – his team’s fourth hit – it proved to be to be just enough, just in time in CBA Marucci’s 3-1 win over CCB Elite in the PG Cali World Series Under championship game.
The victory came just more than an hour after an older CBA Marucci team won the championship at the PG California World Series (Upperclass) event.
“It was a great experience to come out here today,” CBA Marucci head coach Daylon Monette said. “We have a lot of USC commits that couldn’t wait to play on this field in front of their coaches and everyone else.
“For them to come out here and compete – we didn’t even really have all our guys available but the guys that we did have here really came and competed and did well – and I’m proud of each and every one of them.”
Monette was speaking of Southern Cal commits Nick Allen, Cameron Jabara and Josh Stephen, all of whom contributed greatly to CBA Marucci’s Cali World Series Under championship.
Jabara, a 2016 right-hander/infielder, was 6-for-14 (.429) with a double, an RBI and three runs scored and pitched a complete game in the championship, allowing one earned run while giving up nine hits and three walks, striking out four. Allen hit just .250 (2-for-8) with a triple, two RBI and four runs – he scored twice in the championship game – but contributed in other ways.
A 5-foot-9, 150-pound shortstop ranked No. 13 nationally in the class of 2017, Allen is a rock in the middle of the infield, and on Sunday he teamed with second baseman Griffen Herrera and first baseman Aaron Greenfield to turn not only two double plays but the nifty triple-play. That defense was the reason Jabara was able to permit 12 base runners but allow only one run.
“Usually a lot of players that we have kind of pride themselves on their defense,” Allen said. “They can also hit but I guess if you can play defense and at least score one run you can ultimately win the game. That was actually my first triple-play; today was an exciting day.”
For their efforts, Allen and Jabara were named co-Most Valuable Players. Stephen finished 7-for-17 (.412) with a double, an RBI and three runs.
“We’ve had that group together since they were in seventh grade, most of those kids, and it’s the same thing (as the older group) – they just love playing together and getting out there and competing,” CBA director Jon Paino said of his underclass team. “I think that group has a few more weapons in their arsenal but, again, it’s just a great group of kids.”
CBA Marucci (4-0-1) got the scoring started in the title game when Allen reached on an error and scored on a Dominic Fletcher ground-ball fielder’s choice in the bottom of the first. It stayed 1-0 until CCB’s Blake Diggle raced home on a wild-pitch in the top of the seventh. Fletcher – an Arkansas recruit ranked No. 44 in the class of 2016 – answered with what proved to be his game-winning double.
“We pulled together as a group this tournament and took it all the way,” Allen said. “We took it one game at a time and it was a great experience overall. Perfect Game holds great tournaments all the time.”
CCB’s Sanders earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher Award after finishing 1-0 in two appearances, pitching six innings without allowing an earned run on one hit and striking out four. That includes his no-decision in the championship game when he went five innings, allowed one hit and struck out three.
Diggle, a 2017 third baseman for CCB, enjoyed a terrific tournament at the plate, going 7-for-10 (.700) with a triple, home run, four RBI and seven runs.
2016 first baseman/left-hander Trevor Rogers went 4-for-9 (.44) with four doubles and six RBI while throwing 4 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run; 2016 infielder/right-hander Andrew Vaughn hit .385 (5-for-13) with a double, a home run, three RBI and six runs while pitching 3 2/3 innings over two appearances, allowing one hit and no earned runs.
About an hour after its older brother secured a spot in the PG Cali World Series Upper championship game, CBA Marucci did the same thing in the Underclass bracket with a 5-3 win over the ABD Bulldogs (1-1-2) in the first semifinal at the PG Cali World Series Under.
Sean Korkmaz had an RBI double as part of a two-run second inning and Fletcher delivered an RBI double as part of a two-run third to key CBA’s win. 2017 right-handers Charles Nies and Johnny Kuhn joined Fletcher, a 2016 lefty, to combine on a four-hitter, allowing one earned run with five strikeouts and five walks.
Jake Lewis had two of ABD’s four hits – both singles – and also pitched four innings, giving up four runs on six hits.
The other semifinal was a whacky back-and-forth affair that saw CCB Elite finally emerged with a precarious 6-5 win over the Southern California Bombers to move onto the championship game. CCB led 4-1 after 2½; the game was tied at 4 after three and the Bombers were up 5-4 after four.
That changed in the top of the fifth when CCB’s Diggle came through with an RBI single to tie the game and Haydn King followed suit with a run-scoring single of his own that proved to be the game-winner. The Bombers had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the sixth but couldn’t capitalize.
King finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and Vaughn launched a missile for a solo home run in the third, and scored three runs to pace CCB. Humberto Castaneda doubled twice and drove in two runs for the Bulldogs, who took advantage of three CCB errors to score four unearned runs.
“This was a long-time coming,” Paino said. “We’ve really wanted Perfect Game to come into California and run top-notch events because it always brings out the best teams and the best talent. The organization is always the best and anytime we can play in an event like this in our backyard and we don’t have to travel … that’s always a plus.”
2014 California World Series (Underclass) champions: CBA Marucci Underclass
2014 California World Series (Underclass) runner-up: CCB Elite Underclass
2014 California World Series (Underclass) co-MVP: Nick Allen, CBA Marucci Underclass
2014 California World Series (Underclass) co-MVP: Cameron Jabara, CBA Marucci Underclass
2014 California World Series (Underclass) MV-Pitcher: Justin Sanders, CCB Elite Underclass
