Gators dominate in East Labor Day Classic

FORT MYERS, Fla. – In a weekend dominated by heat and inclement weather, four teams emerged as champions at JetBlue Ballpark during the 2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic Freshman, Underclass, and Upperclass events.

The Carrollwood Gators organization as a whole put together a very strong weekend in all three events with four teams making the playoffs across the three tournaments. The Carrollwood Gators 2019 team captured the Freshman Championship with a 7-2 victory over Collier Select 2019 on Sunday.

The game started off quickly with Carrollwood plating the first run of the game in the top of the first thanks to an RBI groundout from Jesse Ororke. Collier rebounded quickly plating a run of their own on an error to tie the game at the end of the first frame.

Things opened up in a big way for the Gators’ offense in the top of the third inning when they managed to plate six runs. Jake Bluffstone led off the inning with a double down the left field line then came in to score on an infield single. Justin Turk brought home another run with an RBI single to make the score 3-1. Breaking the game open was Ororke, who went up to the plate and laced an RBI triple to right field then coming around to score the sixth run on a wild pitch, making the score 7-1.

Collier scrapped across their second run of the game after Emil Valenzuela led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. He advanced to second on a ground ball, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to five runs.

Michael Dominguez started the game for the Gators and threw a complete game. He allowed only one earned run, and struck out nine batters on his way to garnering Most Valuable Pitcher honors. It earned him his second win of the tournament and lowered his ERA to 1.00 in nine total innings of work. Dominguez showed impressive velocity for his age sitting 72-77 mph with his fastball.

The MVP for the Freshman age group was Collier shortstop/outfielder Drew Miller who went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles in the championship game. His final line included hitting .636 (7-for-11) with five doubles, two RBI, eight runs scored and four stolen bases.


2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) champions: Carrollwood Gators 2019



2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) runner-up: Collier Select 2019



2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) MVP: Drew Miller



2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Freshman) MV-Pitcher: Michael Dominguez





 Gators continue dominance in Underclass division

FORT MYERS, FLA. – In a game that dodged both lightning and weather delays all morning and afternoon on Monday, the Carrollwood Gators 2017 captured the WWBA East Labor Day Classic Underclass championship with a 6-5 walkoff win over the TBSA Patriots Elite.

The game started off slowly as both teams were unable to score off the opposing starters, but things picked up in the bottom of the third inning. Christian Docobo worked a leadoff walk then came around to score from second on a fielding error to plate the game’s first run. Matthew Lewis chipped in with an RBI single and that gave the Gators a 2-0 lead.

TBSA came back quickly. A pair of base hits from Ivan Rodriguez and Alexander Venetos set the stage for a two-run single from Josh Strickland that tied the game, 2-2.

The back-and-forth game continued in the bottom of the fourth when Jacob Baker came to the plate with the bases loaded and drew a walk to break the tie. Docobo came back up to the plate and delivered a two-run single that extended the Gators’ lead to 5-2.

In the top half of the sixth, Venetos came back to the plate and smacked an RBI base hit, his second hard hit of the game, to make the score 5-3. The Patriots rallied again with two outs in the top of the seventh and plated two runs to tie the game on a Jonathan Alonso single.

The Gators could easily have folded, but instead they prevailed. Anthony Cassos reached base on an infield single and advanced to second on bunt. He then stole third and scored the championship winning run on a wild pitch. The Gators took to the field to celebrate their second championship as an organization in as many days.

Ryan Glass took home MVP honors for the Gators going 5-for-13 (.385) at the plate with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a stolen base. He also impressed on the mound, earning his team a win in four shutout innings with two strikeouts.

Brendan Tracy of the TBSA Patriots was named the event's MV-Pitcher, who in two starts threw 10 innings allowing zero earned runs and struck out seven batters, while only surrendering three hits.

“We started out slow typically, but always bring the defense and pitching, it’s our backbone really,” Gators Head Coach Danny Rodriguez said. “We have been together awhile and are comfortable here and play here often.”

The Gators organization as a whole showed comfort in Fort Myers this weekend capturing two of the three tournament championships.


2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Underclass) runner-up: TBSA Patriots Elite



2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Underclass) MVP: Ryan Glass



2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Underclass) MV-Pitcher: Brendan Tracy





Surge, Storm split Upperclass championship

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Due to extensive rain on Monday morning and the threat of more storms later in the afternoon, the two teams set to face one another in the 2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic Upperclass championship game agreed to avoid further delay and decided to become co-champions.

The Storm entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed and arrived at the championship game with a perfect 5-0 record. In their semifinal game they topped the Broward Nationals 4-3 in walkoff fashion to advance.

They entered the bottom of the seventh down 3-2 and got a runner in scoring position quickly thanks to a pair of hit by pitches. Kyle Shay brought around the tying run with an RBI single and Sean Baran delivered a bases loaded sac fly to give the Storm a berth in the championship.

For the tournament, the Storm hit an impressive .360 with 14 of their 27 hits going for extra bases. Gary Mattis led the way going 5-for-11 (.455) with a pair of doubles and five runs scored.

MV-Pitcher honors were awarded to John Resnik who shined on the mound in the Storm’s quarterfinal game tossing five one-hit innings while striking out six batters. For the team, the Storm held opposing batters to just 17 hits in 29 innings with a 1.29 cumulative ERA.

“We’ve been going at this for a while with the older group and most of these guys have been together since they were 10,” South Florida Storm Assistant coach Tyron Harris said of the program's coaching philosophy. “What we’ve always tried to do is emphasize on the basic fundamentals of baseball, we’ve been able to it so far.

“What we’ve done with this tournament is brought up some of the younger guys that are going to be here next year so they do understand what it’s like to play at a higher level early so when we come next year with a younger crew they’ll be a step ahead with who’s coming up.”

The Florida Surge earned the No. 5 seed after pool play and used their strong offensive performances to earn their spot in the championship game. They defeated Lakeland Legends of the Batters Box 18u 10-7 in their semifinal game on Sunday afternoon.

Paul Macintosh got things started in a big way for the Surge offense blasting a quick two-run home run that registered 102.9 mph off the bat and went 400 feet per TrackMan to give them a first inning lead. Perales added a bases clearing double to add to their lead making it 6-0 heading to the second inning.

The Legends did not go quietly. They added a pair of runs in the top of the second and then again in the top of the third to make the score 6-4.

As the game moved to the top of the fourth inning, eventual event MVP Kevin Soto ripped an RBI double to extend the lead to 8-4. Soto put together a very impressive tournament stat line going 7-for-14 (.500) at the plate with three extra-base hits, five RBI, five runs scored and an impressive eight stolen bases. Soto also dominated on the hill tossing 11 innings, allowing only one earned run.

“If there is a ball right there that is a strike, just swing right at it and if it’s a ball don’t swing,” Soto said of his approach at the plate.

Jacob Page kept the Legends in the game knocking the fifth run of the game for their offense with a double of his own, but they were unable to capitalize further. The Surge added in a couple more insurance runs to cement their victory.

Behind the bats of Soto, Andrew Flaherty, and Macintosh the Surge hit .297 as a team and posted an impressive .837 OPS. On the mound, the team pitched to a 1.53 ERA and 1.16 WHIP en route to a share of the title.

“This will be our 10th year and we just received our highest ranking from Perfect Game, 39th, and we wanted to come out and prove it was real,” Florida Surge Head Coach George Sands said. “This is our first championship in our 10 year history with Perfect Game. We got the right pieces to have a good fall and make a big run this summer.”


2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Upperclass) co-champions: Florida Surge

 

2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Upperclass) co-champions: South Florida Storm Blue



2015 WWBA East Labor Day Classic (Upperclass) MVP: Kevin Soto