EMERSON, Ga. – As we’ve gone down the ladder from 18u to 16u we have been able to see a multitude of different age groups and the best players from those age groups; from the newest wave of collegiate baseball talent playing their final summer games before shipping off to school to the flourishing underclassman that are starting to mature into elite ballplayers.

The 2015 15u WWBA National Championship has gotten off to a fantastic start, and just like all tournaments before this one, there are some seriously good teams participating.

At this age, it’s really about developing as a player and becoming more polished, but there are some kids that are playing at a level beyond their years. Those players are more than likely scattered across the hundreds of teams that are competing in this year’s 15u WWBA National Championship, but the Phenom Signature team out of Riverside, Calif., have multiple players of high caliber and they are really causing a commotion in Pool D.

Heading into Sunday there were 3-0 with an astounding zero runs allowed. They sat atop their pool, with Nelson Baseball School and Golden Spikes Baseball right behind them, as they are in the driver’s seat and control their own destiny when it comes to their spot in the playoffs. After Sunday's game against the Gotham Giants, a 13-1 win, it looks as if they are having no thoughts of slowing down.

This game started off with the Phenom getting ahead early with a two-run first inning. The Giants are a team that plays clean baseball, but despite their defensive prowess, Phenom was simply finding every hole. They hit to all parts of the field, especially the deep parts. Phenom was hitting doubles with ease, and throughout each inning they were putting up a healthy amount of runs. By the fifth inning the score was 10-0 and the players for Phenom Signature had combined for a total of eight hits. It’s one thing to hit consistently, but it is another to hit with runners in scoring position, and that is what made Phenom Signature so deadly on this day.

It also doesn’t hurt when you have an ace on the mound that can touch 90 mph at the age of 15.

On a team that consists of pretty much only California kids, Nick O’Day from Coatesville, Pa., has stood out like no other. O’Day is about as complete of a ballplayer that you can ask for at this age, and is one of the top prospects in the 2018 class; ranked 21st nationally and third amongst all outfielders. He is able to use his entire 5-foot-11 frame to generate amazing power, thanks to great hip drive and follow through.

O’Day also has great poise on the mound, and shows the competitive attitude that you look for in a big-game pitcher. Not to mention, he is very athletic and is able to bounce off the mound with ease when a ball is hit his way.

With a fastball that sits in the upper-80s and touches low-90s, he could probably do pretty well with just that one pitch, but he also has a dirty breaking ball to match. His curveball is just as deadly as his fastball, and it kept hitters guessing all afternoon. Through four innings, O’Day allowed only three hits, struck out six and gave up no runs.

“I’m not really a pitcher, I just go out there, have fun and throw,” O'Day said of his pitching performance on Sunday. “I like hitting more, but from this point of view, with me throwing it harder than kids in our age group, I’m able to blow it by them and have some fun with it. I’m not really much of a pitcher, but when I go to college, I’ll do both if they ask me to. When I’m on the mound, I mainly just try to throw strikes and not try to overpower them too much. When I try to overpower them, I throw too many balls.”

O’Day also had himself a great day at the plate, hitting a three-run home run in the second inning to create some serious momentum for the Phenom Signature team. So far this tournament, O’Day has only had two hits, but their game against the Giants may have finally awoken his bat just in time for the end of pool play. They’re going to need his bat against the threatening Golden Spikes and Nelson Baseball school squads who are right on their heels.

“My approach at the plate is ether swing big or miss big,” added O'Day of his offensive approach. “I try to hit the ball in the gap and everything. I’d like to work on hitting the ball the other way, because I’m pulling a lot. Our expectations for this tournament are to go undefeated in pool play and get to the championship final. We have the pitching, and the sticks, we should make it pretty far.”

The head Coach of this Phenom Signature team, Ken Krahenbuhl, feels that O’Day is right up there with the best players in the nation, and that his attitude and sense of humor make him a great teammate as well.

“O’Day is one of the best players in the country,” Krahenbuhl said of his star player. “He’s an average guy and a power guy, and he’s a little bit different. He is a comedian on the team, and we are looking forward to the rest of the summer with him. He plays every week, every game, and has been on the road for two months. He is really improving with all this experience.”

The Phenom Signature team has done everything right up to this point in the tournament providing timely hitting and outstanding pitching. Their success continued on Sunday, as they ran over the Gotham Giants by a score of 13-1 after just five innings to improve to 4-0 in the tournament with a best test coming in the form of Neleson Baseball School Red on Monday morning.

Coach Krahenbuhl is happy with the way his guys have played up this point, but feels that they can always improve their offensive production. As this tournament heads into playoffs, he wants to see his guys really turn it on at the plate.

“Our program has been together for a while, and this team has kids from all over the nation,” Krahenbuhl said. “They seem to bond together pretty quickly. I think we need to swing the bats better. We have a tendency to be too aggressive against slower pitching and swing at the pitcher’s pitch rather than at the fastball right down the middle. We definitely need to improve on offense moving forward.”