Team Citius represents Texas well

EMERSON, Ga. – An unlikely thing happened this weekend in the 2015 12u PG Spring Southeastern Championship; there were no teams from Georgia competing for the trophy in the final. Tournaments at LakePoint generally attract a lot of teams from the Peach State, but Team Citius decided to make the trip all the way from San Antonio, Texas, in an attempt to show everybody what Texas baseball is all about.

Their attempt went swimmingly, as they posted an undefeated record and a victory in the championship. It was indeed rare to see a Texas team competing, considering they were the only one in the entire tournament, but they held their own by way of power offense and hard throwing arms.

The road to the championship was not an easy one, as they had to go through the likes of tough East Cobb teams and even a team from the infamous 643 DP program that has been making a splash this summer in all age groups. Their semifinal game against 643 was an intriguing one, but Daylan Pena, the starter for Team Citius, went six strong innings and made sure that there were no doubts heading into the championship.

Despite the four-spot that 643 put up in this game to make it somewhat interesting, Pena was dominant with his heavy fastball and ability to get ahead in the count. Once business was taken care of in the semis, it was time to focus on the championship.

The championship against the Alabama Elite got off to an exciting start, as the first inning contained two solo shots from Christopher Bernal and Pena. The trend of power hitting continued throughout the game as multiple balls were pelted deep into the outfield over and over again. A ground-rule double in the third inning got them a little bit of insurance, but those two bombs in the first inning were all that Team Citius needed in their 4 -1 victory over the Alabama Elite.

The starting pitcher for Citius, Travis White, held the Elite bats to just one run in his fantastic championship performance.

Coach Bobby Stracener was thoroughly impressed with his team’s pitching and lack of free bases given up, and felt that was key in the string of wins that they put together this weekend.

“We had strong pitching this weekend and strung our hits together when necessary. I would say the most important factor in winning this weekend was our pitching, though,” said Stracener. “We weren’t walking a lot of folks, and when you’re able to let your defense work and consistently throw strikes, you’re going to have a good chance to win.”

This tournament win was especially meaningful due to the fact that Team Citius had to travel so far. The drive from San Antonio to Emerson is long and these Texas players rarely get an opportunity to show their stuff on such a large stage with such nice facilities. Luckily, they took advantage of that opportunity this weekend and impressed many fans and parents in the stands this weekend.

“PG events are always a big deal to the kids, but us being the only team from Texas here added a little bit of intensity to the games that we played”, added Stracener. “We wanted to represent Texas well, and I think that we did that. We’re really excited, and grateful. It was a great tournament, and were looking forward to the rest of the summer.”





643 DP Cougars cruise to a championship win

The 643 DP Cougars have been popping up frequently on the list of teams that compete in Perfect Game events, and they are definitely creating a winning reputation for themselves. Just last week, their 16u squad won the WWBA Memorial Day championship, and after a 7-0 win over the Arkansas Storm at the 16u PG Spring Southeastern Championship, now their talented 11u team has a championship as well. 643’s offense was just too much for teams to handle this weekend, just ask the Ninth Inning Royals, whom they dropped a whopping 24 runs on.

Although they had no problem putting runs on the board this weekend, their semifinal against the East Cobb Colt 45s needed all the offense that the Cougars could give. They narrowly escaped with a 9-8 victory. That game was indeed a close one for the Cougars, as they made four errors and even had less hits than the Colt 45s. The semifinal game was uncharacteristically sloppy, but the Cougars were still able to come out with a win, and that’s all that matters. They made the necessary corrections, and came out in the championship with utter confidence and energy.

In the championship, teamwork and a sensational pitching performance is what factored in to their robust win over the Arkansas Storm. They were able to get off to an early lead, which they clutched onto behind the arms of young Caleb Nix and Reece Robertson. Nix and Robertson kept the Storm offense silent, limiting them to only one hit, and the Cougars did what they do best; pour on the runs. Coach George Jones was ecstatic to see his boys play such high level baseball in the championship game.

“We played great defense, had timely hits, and had phenomenal pitching,” said Jones. “Everybody contributed when they had to.”

This 11u group had a lot of success a couple of years back in the 8u and 9u brackets, but as of recent, they have struggled to make it deep into tournaments. This tournament win marks the beginning of the return to elite baseball status for this particular 11u 643 DP Cougars group. The Cougars went out and competed with a chip on their shoulders this weekend, and that chip proved to serve them well. They were aware of their ability; all they had to do was tap into it and play to their potential.

“We wanted to prove to ourselves as a group that we could play well and play with anybody, and that we did”, added Jones. “For that purpose, this tournament was a great success.”

The Cougars have a few more tournaments left on the schedule for this summer, and they hope to ride the momentum gained from this tournament in hopes that they can hoist a couple of more trophies over their heads. Regardless of its late finish at almost midnight due to multiple rain delays throughout the day, after the championship, all of the kids were filled with energy and were chomping at the bit to play more baseball. Winning is exciting, but these kids are ready to get back on the field this week and prepare for the next opponent they face.