EMERSON, Ga. – The 2014 WWBA Freshman World Championship marks the second year of the tournament and the first time the event was held at LakePoint in Emerson, Ga. With a field of 32 teams participating, the winners of all eight pools advanced to the playoffs Sunday morning, beginning with the quarterfinal. As the day wore on, only two teams were left standing; the Tri-State Arsenal Showcase 1 and Jacksonville Warriors Easton.

Ultimately Tri-State would prevail as they continued to swing hot bats and received solid pitching, securing a 9-0 victory over Jacksonville.

The routes taken by the Tri-State Arsenal and the Jacksonville Warriors Easton were similar through pool play with both teams going 3-0. After allowing four runs in their first game of the tournament, the Warriors wouldn’t allow another run until their semifinal game. The Arsenal’s pitching was equally as impressive with their three starters throwing complete game shutouts through pool play and another in their quarterfinal win.

Jacksonville’s bats came out swinging on Championship Sunday, winning both of their games by the run rule, outscoring their opponents 17-1. The Arsenal however had their two closest games of the tournament, winning 3-0 in their quarterfinal game and coming back in the bottom of the seventh in their semifinal contest to win 5-4.

With all that said, the championship game was sure to provide hits and did just that as the team combined for 14 hits, five belonging to the Warriors and nine to the Arsenal. Jacksonville came out the gates swinging with two of their first three batters reaching base with singles. The opening threat would be thwarted though as the Arsenal’s starting pitcher, Charles Mack, was able to induce an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

The Arsenal, who received timely hitting in their thrilling semifinal game, continued to pick up base hits and were able to plate the first run of the game two batters in as Justin Meyer hit a loud triple to center field to bring home the leadoff hitter. Mack followed Meyer with a walk before event Most Valuable Player Brandon Neeck brought home both baserunners with a line drive single back up the middle.

Henry Davis and Raul Ortega hit back-to-back singles, and Davis would come in to score on a sacrifice fly by Jack Ryan, plating the fourth Tri-State run of the inning.

In the second inning Rickey Hartless did what he has done all tournament for the Warriors and collected a base hit, which was followed by a Jared Cox single to give the Warriors two men on with only one out. Just like he was able to do in the first inning though, Charles Mack was able to get two outs with one pitch and stopped yet another threat.

After holding the Arsenal to a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second, the Warriors mounted what would be their final offensive threat in the top of the third. With the leadoff hitter getting hit, Kenny Gore followed with a line drive single and Jacksonville was able to load up the bases with a bunt single by Max Ferguson. Austin Knight stepped up with no outs and got the barrel to the ball, creating hard line drive contact right to the shortstop who flipped the ball to the second baseman to double up the runner.

Again, Mack was able to escape a big threat unscathed, inducing a ground ball to the third baseman for the third out.

Tri-State’s offense once again came alive, posting five more runs in the bottom of the inning. As Mack and Neeck had done throughout the tournament, each picked up a single to begin the inning with Ortega providing the big hit, doubling down the left field line.

Mack continued to deal on the mound for the Arsenal over the next two innings, shutting down the Warriors offense to ensure a Tri-State victory. He didn’t walk any batters, struck out two and didn't allow any runs, a feat the Tri-State pitching staff was used to this weekend. Of their six victories, five of them were complete game shutouts, a fitting way for their final game to end.

During the post game ceremonies, both the MVP and MV-Pitcher were named.

Neeck, the MVP, hit a robust .643 throughout the tournament and went 3-for-3 in the championship game, driving in two of his seven RBI. He also threw a complete game victory on the mound in the quarterfinals, striking out six with only one walk.

Anthony DiMartino, a lefthanded pitcher who threw a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts while allowing only three hits in his start during pool play, took home the Most Valuable Pitcher award. With his team trailing after six innings in the semifinal game, DiMartino threw a scoreless 1-2-3 seventh inning and picked up his second victory of the tournament as the offense went on to score the tying and winning runs in the bottom half of the inning.


2014 WWBA Freshman World Championship runner-up: Jacksonville Warriors Easton



2014 WWBA Freshman World Championship MVP: Brandon Neeck, Tri-State Arsenal 2018 Showcase 1



2014 WWBA Freshman World Championship MV-Pitcher: Anthony DiMartino, Tri-State Arsenal 2018 Showcase 1