EMERSON, Ga. – After the quarterfinals and semifinals the championship game for the 18u WWBA National Championship will feature the East Cobb Yankees versus the East Cobb Astros. After nearly a week of pool play and bracket games, the championship will go to a team from East Cobb.
The Yankees reached the championship game after defeating the Chi Town Cream 5-1. The Yankees were led by strong pitching on the mound from Nicholas Dye, the No. 14 lefthanded pitcher in the state of Georgia for the class of 2016, and from some timely hitting which included a two-run home run.
Dye tossed six innings of one-run baseball and only allowed one run to score while striking out two. Crediting his success to the effectiveness of his curveball, Dye relied on that pitch to help him get some ground balls and weak-contact outs.
“For people coming back to the team from last year you come to this tournament and we’re expected to make a deep run and defend our title,” said Dye, “Everybody’s mentality was to get back to that point. We fought our way through it.”
The offense was sparked from RBI singles off the bats of Billy Zinnershine, Tucker Maxwell, the No. 7 outfielder in the state of Georgia for the class of 2016 and a Georgia commit, and Kyle McCann, the No. 6 catcher in the state of Georgia for the class of 2016 and a Georgia Tech commit.
The big hit came in the top of the fourth inning when Griffin Jolliff launched a homerun over the left field fence. Jolliff was able to make adjustments after a strikeout in his first at-bat and took advantage of a mistake pitch and rocketed a home run an estimated 330 feet away.
“I feel like in every tournament that we are in we’re expected to make a deep run,” said Jolliff. “Because that’s the caliber of baseball that this team is known for. This is my first year on the team and it’s been a blast so far.”
The Cream advanced to the semifinals earlier in the day after defeating Next Level Baseball 5-0 in the quarterfinals. The Cream benefitted from an outstanding pitching performance and took advantage of sloppy defense.
2015 PG All-American Drake Fellows, the No. 1 right-handed pitcher in the state of Illinois for the class of 2016 and a Vanderbilt commit, was outstanding on the mound. He utilized a combination of a power fastball that touched the low-90s and his changeup that he wasn’t afraid to throw on any count. Fellows finished with 10 strikeouts in six innings of work for the victory.
The Cream finished with only two hits in the game but were able to score five runs on four errors from the defense. They scored three runs on throwing errors, one run on an RBI groundout, and another on a run-scoring balk.
The Yankees advanced to the semifinals after defeating Team Elite 17s/18s Prime 4-3. The game was close throughout but the Yankees scored the game winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to clinch the game. Cole McNamee, the No. 4 first baseman in the state of Georgia for the class of 2017 and a Wake Forest commit, had a clutch two-out single to give the Yankees the lead they would not relinquish.
The Astros reached the championship game after downing the Game On West Yankees 3-0. The story of the day for the Astros was a complete game shutout from Lance Johnson, the No. 8 righthanded pitcher in the state of Alabama for the class of 2016 and a Troy commit. Johnson struck out four and only allowed two hits while cruising to the shutout.
“My sidearm curveball was working best,” said Johnson. “Going from a sidearm fastball at around 82-83 and then going to a sidearm curveball at 73 kept them off their feet the whole time.”
Rankin Woley, the No. 3 catcher in the state of Georgia for the class of 2016 and an LSU commit, led the way offensively as he went 1-for-2 with two RBI. The Astros only had four hits in the contest but only needed the two runs thanks to Johnson’s dominant performance.
The Game On West Yankees advanced to the semifinals after defeating Team Elite 18s 9-3. The Yankees jumped on pitching early as they scored five runs in the first two innings.
There were many contributors on offense but Brady Barnes and LJ Talley led the way near the top of the order. Both players reached base three times each and both scored runs and had RBIs.
Deacon Medders, the No. 5 righthanded pitcher in the state of Alabama for the class of 2016 and an Alabama commit, had a quality outing on the mound. He struck out seven over five innings and only allowed three runs to score.
The Astros defeated Team Louisiana 2-0 to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. The star of the game was starting pitcher Cody Greenhill, the No. 6 right-handed pitcher in the state of Alabama for the class of 2017 and an Auburn commit. Greenhill was absolutely dominant on the mound as he struck out 11 batters in only 80 pitches for a complete game, two-hit shutout. He was pounding the strike zone all day as his fastball was explosive and sitting at 89-91 mph.
Rankin Woley again led the way offensively for the Astros. Woley finished the game going 3-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI to help the Astros defeat Team Louisiana.
Both managers are extremely proud of their teams for making the championship game and both are expecting a fiercely competitive game Friday morning. The Astros finish Thursday with a 9-0 record and enter the championship game riding consecutive complete game shutouts.
“It feels great, the kids have played hard and they deserve to be here,” said Astros manager Jamie Crane. “They grasp what we teach and their blue collar atmosphere has pushed them through these games.”
The Yankees had a bit of work to do after their first game. They tied the East Coast Sox and had to win the battle of run differential to advance to bracket play.
“Our pitching has been very good, we haven’t given up a ton of runs,” said Yankees manager James Beavers. “I was proud of our guys for making the playoffs after that tie in the first game. We had to shoot for a number of runs not to give up, because (the East Coast Sox) won out as well; it’s tough to come out and have to shoot for a number. You can’t make bad plays, walk guys, and give up unnecessary runs.
“We swung the bat a little bit, still having trouble with situational hitting, but we’ve had some big hits like Griff’s home run earlier today. We’ve played solid the whole time and we have had two of our better players out this week. It shows we have some depth, we’ve pitched great, played pretty good defense, and had some timely hitting.”
Crane remains steadfast in his belief that at the end of the day, the wins and losses don’t matter as much as making yourself a better player and person. Tough breaks and tough games just happen sometimes but looking at the bigger picture, developing a relationship with your team and maturing through sport are vital.
“The kids play hard for each other,” said Crane. “What we teach is not about the wins and losses, they’re going to come, but it’s about them playing together and developing a brotherhood that will last forever. We instill a sense of accountability, they’re young men, to develop for their lives. If we win we win, but the focus is on them growing together and developing a strong work ethic that will last forever.”
Beavers attributes a lot of his team’s success in this tournament to the depth of talent that they have. The Yankees have been missing a few players, due to injuries and other showcases, and their team has had a lot of players step up to fill roles.
“I don’t think there’s any easy outs (on our team),” said Beavers. “The bottom of the order has been swinging the bat pretty good and that’s been important as our three-hitter has been gone all week and our leadoff hitter has been sick. At first it looked like we might have too much depth, but we’ve had what I call ‘lineup trauma.’ When you’re making the lineup you’re thinking who’s been hot and who’s not. We’ve got some pitching depth, a lot of these guys can throw a little bit.”
Friday promises to offer an exciting and highly-contested championship final. Both teams are incredibly talented, well-coached and filled with future Division I stars. The one certainty of this game is that the champion of the 18u WWBA National Championship will once again reside in East Cobb.