FORT MYERS, Fla. – In a rain-soaked weekend, two powerhouse organizations met at the 5-Plex Player Development Center to determine who would win the 2015 WWBA Florida Qualifier.

After extensive delays in Monday’s playoff action, the Florida Burn 2016 Pennant squared off against the Scorpions 2016 Prime. In a well-pitched game, the Scorpions and Burn tied 0-0 in five innings of play before the lack of daylight forced an early end to the game.

The Burn entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, while the Scorpions were the No. 4 seed.

In the championship game Each side threw one of their best with the Burn sending out Trevor Holloway, a High Point commit, who tossed four shutout innings and struck out three. Holloway featured an 87-90 mph fastball that topped out at 91 and mixed in an impressive breaking ball.

The Scorpions sent out Gamecock commit, Carlos A. Cortes. The PG All-American had a fantastic tournament at the plate and on the mound and that continued in the championship game. Cortes fired five shutout innings for his Scorpions allowing just four hits, striking out four batters.

The game itself moved very quickly thanks to the top-notch pitching as noted above. The Burn threatened to score in the bottom of the first after getting Nikolas Dague aboard on an error and Scott Dubrule getting him over to third with a single through the left side. Cortes was able to escape the jam by punching out the next two batters he faced.

In the bottom of the third, the Burn had something brewing again after a leadoff single from Jake Grubbs. Their hopes to scratch across the game’s first run was stymied by the Scorpions’ defense who turned a 5-4-3 double play to keep the game scoreless.

The Scorpions offense started to get going in the fourth. After a quick first out, Nicholas Baldor ripped a single to center and Nick Derr followed with a line drive double to left. Baldor attempted to round third and thanks to a fantastic throw from the left fielder, he was thrown out at the plate. The game remained tied at 0-0.

In the top of the fifth, Riley Hogan led off with a single and Pablo Cedeno worked a two-out walk to get a runner in scoring position and potentially end the tie. In relief for the Burn, Tyler Dyson struck out his third batter of the inning to push it to the bottom of the fifth.

A possible rally in the bottom of the fifth was halted for the Burn, this time by an attempted steal. The quick throw down to second erased the only baserunner of that half inning and any chance at the game’s only run.

With the impending evening showers and visibility deteriorating, both coaches met with the umpires and decided it would be called a tie. Both teams gathered around the plate for a quick rock-paper-scissors match to determine the ceremonial champion.

Dague earned Most Valuable Player honors for the Florida Burn going 7-for-19 (.368) in the tournament with a pair of home runs, a double, four RBI, six runs scored and two stolen bases. Cortes earned the Most Valuable Pitcher award after tossing six shutout innings in the tournament with four strikeouts. He also impressed at the plate going 8-for-17 (.471) with two RBI, seven runs scored and three stolen bases.

Both the Burn and the Scorpions will be present at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla. following their impressive finishes.

The Burn’s semifinal game was a close affair against the Ostingers Baseball Academy, until the sixth inning when they blew the game open to win 6-1 and advance. They saw huge performances from Corey Ireson and Nate Gillen on the mound who combined to throw all seven innings allowing just one unearned run.

The other semifinal game was an all-Scorpions affair, with the 2016 Prime team facing off against their South 2016 Prime squad. The game went a brisk three hours over the course of 13 grueling innings with the Scorpions 2016 Prime club advancing with a final score of 7-6.


2015 WWBA Florida Qualifier co-champions: Scorpions 2016 Prime



2015 WWBA Florida Qualifier MVP: Nikolas Dague



2015 WWBA Florida MV-Pitcher: Carlos A. Cortes