EMERSON,
Ga. – At the beginning of the 2015 16u WWBA National Championship
there were more than 200 teams all with the same goal in mind; to win
their pool and get to the championship. As the week dragged on, more
and more teams saw their chances dwindle, and by the time the clock
struck midnight on Thursday there were only four teams left standing.
These
four teams met Friday morning to decide who would play in the
championship, and this semifinal round was a tale of two completely
different games.
The
643 DP Cougars Sterling had themselves one of the quicker games in
the tournament in a win over FTB Pride, as the game was ended in just
an hour and twenty minutes. They got an excellent start out of
Matthew Lazzaro, who worked very quickly. He only had two strikeouts
in his complete game shutout performance, but that doesn’t mean
that he wasn’t dominant. He only let up one hit the entire game,
and he was able to keep his defense involved as much as possible.
The
game would end with a score of 2-0, and it was now time for 643 to
look on as the Georgia Jackets squared off against the Tri-State
Arsenal Showcase 1 to see who would earn that last spot in the
championship.
The
Jackets came out firing in this game, and they were able to put up
two runs in the second inning and two runs in the fourth to build an
early lead. They felt comfortable with this lead knowing that their
starter, Tanner Burns, had complete control of the game. Burns was
able to hold the Arsenal to no runs through five innings and it
looked as if he would be matching the performance of the 643 Cougars
starter by throwing a complete game shutout.
Unfortunately
for Burns and the Jackets the Arsenal would not go down without a
fight. They finally found their bats in the sixth inning and were
able to come up with an unlikely four runs to tie the game up. The
game would eventually go into extras with the score being 4-4, and
once the eighth inning hit, the energy of both teams were revived.
The
atmosphere of this extra-inning ballgame was certainly one to
remember. The Jackets were hollering as loud as they could, and their
crowd matched them with their handmade noise makers. Every single
seat in the stand was filled, and there were so many spectators
surrounding the seats that you could barely even walk around freely
at the LakePoint complex.
One run was all the Jackets would come away with in the top of
the eighth after loading the bases.
Tri-State
Arsenal was not discouraged. They came out in the bottom of the
eighth on a mission to come out on top. Their first batter got on by
way of walk, and then what would occur next had the entire stands
come out of their seats. A ball was belted high in the air towards
left-center field and for Arsenal fans, it looked like it would have
been a two-run walkoff home run to win the game, but instead the ball
bounced off the wall and would only score one to tie the game up.
The
bases would eventually get loaded up for the Arsenal, and they would
not squander this opportunity. A pair of errors by the Jackets set up
the walkoff win for the Arsenal, 6-5, and now the matchup was set for
the title game.
The
championship began with about as much energy as you could ask for,
especially from the 643 DP Cougars’ dugout. From coordinated
dancing to jumping around constantly, topped off with yelling and
chants, the team was going absolutely nuts. You could really tell
they were having fun with it, even though it was such a huge game.
The Cougars would start the scoring in the first inning by
capitalizing on a pair of walks. A sac fly would score one, and then
a gutsy steal of home plate would score another.
The
Arsenal would come out the next inning far from intimidated, as being
down early in a game is nothing new for them. They brought one run
across the board to retaliate and the score was now 2-1 in favor of
643 early in the game.
This
is a game that featured amazing defense from both teams. The Cougars’
middle infield turns double plays with ease and made a ridiculous
glove flip to turn two in the second inning when the Arsenal were
threatening to tie it up. The Arsenal starter eventually settled in,
along with the pitchers for the Cougars, and there would not be much
scoring for most of the game until late in the game.
In
the fifth the Cougars were able to bring one run across the board,
but the sixth inning is when they really did their damage. They
started this inning off with a base hit, but then Sean Mootrey
stepped up to the plate for what would prove to be a monumental
at-bat. He took a first pitch fastball over the left field fence and
the crowd went insane. The score was now 5-1 in favor of the Cougars,
and it was now on the shoulders of the Tri-State Arsenal to mount yet
another legendary late-inning comeback.
Legendary
it was. Time and time again this team has proven that they have the
kind of attitude that a coach can only dream of, and with their back
against the walls they really stepped up. With what seemed like a
commanding four-run lead, the Cougars got two outs very quickly in
the seventh and were just one out away from being your new 2015 16u
WWBA National Champions.
Tri-State
Arsenal had other plans for this game.
The
base hits started pouring in, and little by little the Arsenal was
wiggling their way back into the game. Run after run the deficit
would close until the score was finally tied up, 5-5, forcing another
extra-inning contest.
Extras
would not be as eventful as the sixth and seventh. The eighth, ninth
and 10th innings went by very quickly, as neither team was able to
muster up any runs. As we headed to the 11th both teams
were exhausted, but you could tell that one of them was close to
breaking through and winning this game.
643
had a chance to go up in the top of 11th with a man on
second base but they couldn’t get anything going to bring him in.
The Arsenal came up in the next inning with one final burst of energy
that proved to win them the game. They got a couple of more base hits
and finally a runner was on third base for them with no outs. Dominic
Caraballo stepped up to the plate in a big position and delivered a
screaming single over the second baseman’s head for the walkoff
hit. Complete elation sunk in for the Arsenal as they were now the
new 16u WWBA National Champions.
The
road that Arsenal took to this championship game was something out of
a fairy tale or movie. They played four extra-inning games in a row,
including this 11-inning championship, in order to finally come out
on top as the No. 1 team in the country. It was a magical ride that
included key contributions from everybody, including the co-Most
Valuable Players, Tim Miller and Davis Schneider.
“This
game was wild,” Miller said after the game. “Last game we were
down and put up runs late to come back and we played multiple extra
inning games this week. Our pitching was big for us this week. We had
kids on short rest that really stepped up, and our defense was just
as good. I was confident at the plate and seeing pitches really well.
There are not a lot of kids that can blow it by you in this
tournament, so it’s all about having a free swinging mentality.”
Miller
was fantastic at the plate this week, hitting .385 with seven RBI and
16 runs scored. Not to be outdone, Schneider was right up there with
Miller, who finished the week with a .438 batting average, 13 RBI and
17 runs scored.
“In
extras I knew we had a chance to win because one of our best pitchers
we’re up there, and we’re a good hitting team,” said an
exahused Schneider. “We just believed. When we were down, I didn’t
know if we would have a shot to win, but we just kept fighting. At
the plate, I just wanted to try to put it in play and not strike out.
I had a real two strike approach all week.”
On
top of the great appearances at the plate by those two, there were
also some great arms between both of these teams. There were two Most
Valuable Pitchers for this tournament; the 643 DP Cougars’ Ryan
Webb and the Arsenal’s Zachary Dreznin. Webb was a big component
in the Cougars’ playoff run, as he threw 13 innings, had 13
strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA. Dreznin finished the week with 20
strikeouts in 15 innings and a spotless 0.00 ERA of his own.
Tri-State
Arsenal is used to the bright lights and big stage, as they have
experienced much success in the past. Now their program sets their
mind on the 15u WWBA National Championship that just got underway on
Friday.
Head
Coach of this Arsenal Showcase team, Joe Barth, feels like this
playoff run was magical. In all of his years of coaching, he had
never seen anything like the extra inning championship that he saw
today, and he could not be more proud to say that he is the coach of
this resilient team.
“These
guys are too dumb to know when they are beat, I guess,” Barth said
of his championship squad. “Moxie doesn’t even describe what
these guys have when you come back from four runs down in the bottom
of the seventh inning with two outs. It’s just incredible, but
they’ve been that kind of team all year. We got the best pitcher in
the country on our team, but he wasn’t here this week and these
guys didn’t let that stop them. We had consistent pitching and
defense.
“The
infield is as good as it gets, and we got hits in clusters. We were a
gutsy team this week.”
2015
16u WWBA National Championship runnerup: 643 DP Cougars Sterling
2015
16u WWBA National Championship co-Most Valuable Players: Tim Miller
(left) and Davis Schneider
2015
16u WWBA National Championship co-Most Valuable Pitcher: Zachary
Dreznin
2015
16u WWBA National Championship co-Most Valuable Pitcher: Ryan Webb
