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