EMERSON,
Ga. – The North East Baseball Mudhens have made the long trek from
Ayer, Mass., to the beautiful LakePoint complex in sunny Emerson,
Ga., with their minds set on winning a National Championship. Adding
a little bit of northern flavor to this tournament, this team carries
a roster of 23 college commitments from the ACC, Big Ten, and even
Ivy League schools. The scorching weather down south does not seem to
be affecting them, as they are off to a spectacular start in the 2015
18u WWBA National Championship.
Their
first three games have all resulted in convincing wins and they now
sit atop their respective pool with 22 runs scored and six runs
allowed going into Sunday's game against the A’s Showcase.
The
Mudhens are no stranger to success, having been ranked four times in
the 18u Travel Team rankings by Perfect Game; including an impressive
No. 29 ranking in 2013. They hope to return to national prominence
with a nice showing at this week’s WWBA National Championship.
The
A’s showcase would need to muster up everything that they could
against the Mudhens if they wanted to have a chance to win,
especially since the Mudhens were throwing young flame-throwing
righty, Weston Bizzle. The Mudhens have yet to be truly challenged
this tournament, and considering the heavy amount of talent on this
team, they might not be until playoffs. Today’s game against the
A’s would bring them one step closer to winning Pool D.
The
game started with some wild pitching from the A’s starter, which
the Mudhens capitalized on by way of sac-fly to put one run on the
board in the first inning, and they would continue scoring with
timely base hits throughout the rest of the game. Bizzle began his
game with some very economical pitching, getting a ground ball and a
double play in his first inning of work. That would be the theme this
game for Bizzle; he was either getting ground balls or striking
batters out, and was rarely hit hard. He only allowed two hits in his
four innings of work.
Bizzle
had great defense behind him, and that was shown in the second and
third innings. A diving catch from the Mudhens’ right fielder and
an acrobatic leaping grab from their third baseman prevented the A’s
from scoring when they were threatening with the few men that they
had on base.
A
member of the class of 2017, Bizzle pitches beyond his years, sitting
in the uppers-80s in this game, and topping out in the low-90s. He
has a fantastic leg drive and a deceptive motion that hides the ball
until the last second. His fastball not only has impressive velocity,
but it also has dirty arm-side run and downward plane. The game of
baseball can move fast sometimes, but Bizzle showed he was a smart
baseball player in critical situations in this start. In the fourth
inning, he fielded a groundball and helped turn an unlikely 1-3-5
double play that required quick thinking out of the young righthander.
After
the fourth inning, Bizzle’s day would be finished. He would get the
winning decision, as his offense backed him up and started putting up
steady runs inning by inning. The game would finish by a score of
8-0.
“Coming
into this start I wanted to keep it simple, and just go out there and
win the baseball game,” said Bizzle. “Everybody is older than me
so I had to step up a little bit and pitch well. They’re going to
play hard behind me so I have to do the same for them. I’m ready
for next week’s start in the 17u WWBA National Championship.”
Bizzle
is playing two years up in this year’s 18u National Championship,
but it is no question that he can compete at this older level.
Already verbally committed to national powerhouse, Vanderbilt
University, he routinely displays pitchability beyond his years.
Going into his junior year of high school, Bizzle is excited to help
Vandy win a National Championship.
“It
makes me want to work a lot more,” Bizzle exclaimed. “It makes me
proud to know that the college I’m committed to is doing so well,
and it makes me want to thank the Lord. I’m blessed to be able to
go there. The next two years, I just want to stay healthy and
improve. It’s all about the grind.”
Not
only is Bizzle a hard worker, but he also looks to have a lot of fun
while playing. During Sunday's start, there were multiple instances
where he would flash a smile or carry a light conversation with the
umpire. He has good reason to smile, considering how well he has
performed at past PG events. Bizzle holds the 21st ranking
in 2017 class, and has been named to 12 All-Tournament teams,
including the honor of being the Most Valuable Pitcher at last year’s
15u BCS Finals.
He
is an upbeat kid who is just happy to be playing the game that he
loves. Bizzle just competed at the Junior National Showcase prior to
this tournament, and was honored to have been selected to perform
amongst some of the best underclassmen in the country.
“The
Junior National Showcase was great,” said Bizzle. “It was a fun
experience, and everyone was great to be around. I had a lot of fun
with everybody. I thought I did pretty good, but I could have done
better though. Every great ballplayer feels they can do better. I’d
love to compete in the National Showcase next year if they ask me to
go.”
Coach
Matt Kruger is very impressed with this young man, and had some kind
words to say about his work ethic and attitude as a person and a
ballplayer.
“This
is the second time that he’s come to pitch with us, and I can
already tell he is a great kid,” Coach Kruger said. “He competes
and mix and matches very well. One thing that’s always impressed me
is his off-speed. He can throw anything in any count and he can spot
it. Not many young kids can do that kind of stuff.”
Bizzle’s
tournament may be over for the week, but the Mudhens have a lot of
work left to do if they want to claim this year’s 18u WWBA National
Championship. Coach Matt Kruger is ecstatic about his team’s 4-0
start to the tournament, but feels they have to keep the good defense
up if they want to make a legit run at the title.
“Pitching
was real big in today’s win,” Kruger added. “Being able to
pound the zone and let your defense work is always important when it
comes to winning a ball game. We’ve talked about team defense, and
offensively we have done alright, but we just need to keep on playing
great defense.”