FORT MYERS, Fla. – North Florida neighbors Next Level Baseball 18u out of Tallahassee and the Jacksonville Warriors claimed the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, in the 18u PG BCS Finals playoffs by doing just about everything that can be done on a baseball field at the amateur level as well as it can be done.
The two teams – both of which advanced to Friday’s final four with quarterfinal victories Thursday – pitched, hit, played defense and ran the bases at such a high a level scouts must have thought they were watching college players. And, in fact, just about every player on each roster will be members of college teams either this fall or in the fall of 2016.
There is something else these players possess beyond their obvious skills, however. To a man, they are confident without a whiff of cockiness and any successes gained on the field come as no surprise.
“Any time we come to a tournament, our first goal is to win the pool, our second goal is to have a really good seed – preferably the number-one seed – and our third goal is to win it all,” Next Level 18u 2015 third baseman/outfielder and South Alabama signee Brendan Donovan said Thursday morning. “Every time we step into a place for a tournament we expect to win it, so I hope it happens this time.”
The attitude was the same in the Jacksonville Warriors dugout, where 2015 outfielder/right-handed pitcher Zachary Greene, a UNC-Asheville signee, was preparing to make Thursday morning’s start in the Warriors’ quarterfinal game against the No. 10 Gainesville Naturals 18u at the JetBlue Player Development Complex.
“We always expect to win ballgames and be in this position,” Greene said with an even, matter-of-fact tone. “We all know the kind of players that we are and we know what to expect out of ourselves.”
No. 1 Next Level 18u (6-0-0) and the No. 2 Jacksonville Warriors (6-0-0) will be joined in Friday’s 18u PG BCS Finals semifinal round by none other than the No. 3 Ontario Blue Jays (6-0-0) from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and No. 4 Nelson Baseball School 18u (5-0-1) out of Kennesaw, Ga.
Next Level 18u and Nelson Baseball School meet in one semifinal with the Warriors and Blue Jays squaring off in the other. The semifinals will be played at the Player Development 5-Plex at 8 a.m. with the championship game to follow at City of Palms Park at 11 a.m.
Next Level’s and the Warriors’ paths to the semifinals were remarkably similar and remarkably drama-free, at least until Next Level had to withstand a late rally from the No. 8 UB Big Dogs to win its quarterfinal game by a 5-4 count. Next Level 18u earned the No. 1 seed by outscoring its five pool-play opponents by a combined 46-1 while Jacksonville wasn’t far off that pace, outscoring its five foes by a combined 36-3.
“We’ve thrown a lot of strikes, we made quality pitches when it mattered and we played good defense; obviously, we’ve been swinging the bat well when it matters,” Next Level 18u head Zac Cole said. “When you get a lot of hits and you don’t score runs, that’s one thing, but we’ve been able to get timely hits, we’ve been able to score the runs when we get the chance to and we’ve just played good baseball.”
Cole used eight pitchers in his team’s six wins and they combined to allow five earned runs (four in the quarterfinal contest) in 32 innings for 1.09 team ERA; the eight gave up 29 hits while striking out 41 and walking eight.
This is a veteran team, but it was a trio of 2016s that turned in three quality, six-inning starts. Right-hander Daniel Floyd didn’t allow a run on two hits, striking out six and walking none; righty Mac McKinley threw six, six-hit, 10-strikeout innings without a walk; left-hander Grant Stewart allowed an earn run on seven hits in his six innings of work, with six strikeouts and a pair of walks.
“Our pitching has been outstanding,” Donovan said. “Our pitchers have really gotten ahead on batters and they haven’t been working deep into the counts. They’ve been throwing strikes and letting their defense work; we’ve handled the ball well and we’re taking care of the ball behind them.”
The hitters have been doing their part, as well, combining for a team batting average of .357, with eight doubles and four home runs to go with their 38 singles; the team on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) percentage is an impressive .977.
Donovan has certainly done his part, counting five doubles among his 12 hits, with five RBI, eight runs scored and 1.545 OPS. Alec Aleywine has nine hits, including a double, with six RBI and five runs and Oliver Tejeda has eight hits with a double, two home runs, eight RBI and seven runs.
After dominating their pool-play opponents, the Jacksonville Warriors were dominant once again in their 8-1 win over the No. 10 Gainesville Naturals 18u in Thursday’s quarterfinal. Greene, making his third appearance of the week but his first start, threw a complete-game four-hitter, giving up just one earned run while striking out five and walking two.
Greene’s performance is what Warriors’ head coach Scott Marabell has come to expect from his pitching staff this week. He used eight pitchers and they combined to allow just two earned runs in their 36 innings (0.39 ERA) on 27 hits with 27 strikeouts and 10 walks.
In fact, six of those eight pitchers did not allow a run, combining to throw 26 innings of shutout ball on 19 hits, with 19 strikeouts and six walks. 2015 right-hander Joe Hoelle threw a complete-game four-hitter with five strikeouts and no walks; 2015 right-hander Cole Perry threw five, two-hit innings with three K’s and a walk; 2015 righty Kyle Morton allowed five hits in his five shutout innings, striking out two and walking one.
Greene accounted for the other 10 innings, giving up the one earned run on seven hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. One Warriors’ pitcher surrendered the staff’s other earned run after giving up a hit and walking two without recording an out.
“Our pitchers have been really, really good so far,” Marabell said Thursday. “You’ve got to have pitchers that can throw strikes and our pitchers have thrown well and our defense has been good.”
The Warriors batted .318 as a team in their first six games with 18 doubles, a triple and a home run counted among their 48 hits. Bryson Tuttle and Perry each collected nine hits apiece. Tuttle had four doubles, a home run, two RBI, seven runs scored and a 1.560 OPS and Perry four doubles, 10 RBI, seven runs and a 1.126 OPS.
While the pitching has been phenomenal, Greene noted that the Warriors’ offense and defense has been pretty good through the first six games, as well.
“The good thing about our team is you can be hitting (out of) the one-hole, four-hole or nine-hole and we’re still all good hitters,” he said. “All of our pitchers have done great and we’ve played solid defense. It’s a good team – everybody is going to be playing college baseball – and everyone wants to be here.”
Next Level 18u is several players short of a full roster at this tournament because a handful of guys who had signed with NCAA Division schools enrolled in summer school and have already started their college academic careers. That makes Cole especially proud of the way this group has shown how much it wants to be here and how much it wants to win.
Next Level Upperclass was runner-up at last year’s 18u PG BCS Finals finishing with a 9-1 mark, and eight players from that roster on this year’s Next Level 18u roster. Next Level was also the No. 1 seed at last year’s tournament but got tripped up by Midwest Elite Baseball in the championship game.
“We’ve talked about that throughout the week,” Cole said. “When you score 46 runs and give up one (during pool-play) we don’t want them to become overconfident. … It doesn’t matter what you did (in pool-play) and how impressive it was, you have to go out and win the games; somebody’s going to be gunning for you.
“We’ve already had a lot of success all summer long so it’s not shocking to be in this situation, but you’re always humbled by it and you try to keep it in perspective.”
The Jacksonville Warriors were co-champions with the Elite Squad Prime 17u at the 18u PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic in late May – the championship game at JetBlue Park was cancelled due to lightning – and seven players that are here this week were named to that event’s all-tournament team, including Greene and Tuttle. 2015 right-hander John Cassala was named the 18u East Memorial Day’s Most Valuable Pitcher, and while he is on this roster he had not played here this week.
“We’ve just got a group of grinders. The guys work hard; they come to play every day,” Marabell said. “They’re not selfish players – everyone’s contributing – and it seems like every game another person is stepping up.
These guys are all going to play at the next level, and they’re here for one thing and that’s baseball. They do the right things: they get their rest, they stay out of trouble and they’re a good group of kids.”
Now it’s on to the semifinals for Next Level 18u and the Jacksonville Warriors. Are Nos. 1 and two destined to meet in the championship game or do Nos. 3 and 4 have other ideas? Stay tuned.
“All the teams that (did well) in their pools have made it to this point so the competition is going to get tougher and you’re going to see better arms,” Next Level’s Donovan said. “You’ve really got to throw strikes and take care of the ball, and you’ve got to hit, too. Anything can happen during (bracket) play.”