EMERSON, Ga. – The 2015 14u WWBA National Championship is now in full swing, as the second day of pool play has gotten under way. Some teams have may have already sealed their fate and ended their chances of advancing out of their respective pool, but some teams like the South Charlotte Panthers and Tri-State Arsenal Showcase 2 have their playoff hopes very much alive. Each game could be the difference between advancing, so the pressure is on in the second day of competition from the LakePoint complex in Emerson.

One could only assume that the contest between the Arsenal and the Panthers would be a high-scoring affair, considering the Panthers displayed a prolific offense in their first game of this tournament. Coming into the second round of pool games, the South Charlotte Panthers led all teams in runs scored and had allowed only one run. They amassed a total of 16 runs in their big over Georgia Octane on Friday, and set their sights on a very talented Tri-State Arsenal Showcase team.

Tri-State Arsenal also won their first game, but they didn’t put up near as much offense as the Panthers. Would Tri-State Arsenal be able to quell the fiery hot offense of the Panthers? Their starting pitcher, William Silverman, would try his hand against them on a blistering hot Saturday afternoon.

The first inning of play included some early run scoring, as the Panthers put up one run, followed by a three-run response by Tri-State. In the third inning, the Panthers would take advantage of a bunt coverage mishap that allowed them to load the bases for their outfielder Dawson Connell. Connell came up clutch, delivering a bases-clearing triple that gave them the lead, 4-3.

The very next inning, the Panthers had a lapse of defense and made two clumsy errors that allowed men on base for the Tri-State Arsenal. And they capitalized with their own towering base hit off the bat of their big first baseman, Ryan McGettigan, and regained the lead. Arsenal quickly knocked the Panthers starting pitcher with a huge five-run third inning, and from that point, it was up to the Panthers to battle back.

The Panthers had their way at the plate, with seven total hits, but they could simply not bring runners home. Silverman would eventually settle in and get on a roll for the rest of the game, stranding multiple Panther baserunners by keeping the ball low and letting his defense work. When the Panthers were threatening and he needed a double play, he got it, and Silverman never doubted his ability to get out of jams.

Silverman would hold the tournament’s hottest offense to only four runs, and his complete game performance helped the Arsenal defeat the Panthers 8-4.

“I was going to the fastball when I needed an out,” said Silverman. “Like Coach Davis said, it’s a wood bat tournament, so just see how far they can hit it and let your defense work.”

Silverman certainly let his defense work, as he only had four strikeouts. His stuff was not extremely over-powering today, but his location of his fastball caused hitters to either roll over or get under the ball on multiple occasions.

“When I was in jams, I just wanted to keep calm and focus on each individual batter,” continued Silverman, who showed composure beyond his years. “You can’t worry about who’s on base, you just have to focus on the guy at the plate. Coming into this game I wanted to throw strikes and keep a good attitude; just wanted to let them hit the ball because I trust my defense. As a team, our goal was to just come out and do our best. I know we have a good team, and if we have good pitching, we can go up against anyone.”

Head Coach Kyle Davis came into this year’s 14u WWBA National Championship not knowing his guys very well, so he didn’t really know what to expect in these first games. Coach Davis is guest coaching, and just wanted his guys to go out and do their best; fortunately, his team has pleasantly surprised him with two big wins to start the tournament. Coach Davis is ecstatic to see what his guys are capable of as they move on through pool play.

“I’m kind of guest coaching, so I’m still getting to know the guys, but what we wanted to focus on coming into this tournament is just executing the little things right,” Coach Davis said. "In today’s win we had a lot of good two-strike approaches, and made plays when we needed to. We got a little help from them with the errors, but we were able to capitalize, which is always good.

“If we harp on approach at the plate and fix some minor baserunning problems, I think we will be good moving forward. I didn’t really know what I had with these guys, so I just wanted to play good defense and have good pitching.”