TOMBALL, Texas – With two on and two out in the bottom of the first inning, Premier Baseball Futures-Nixon’s right-handed swinging, 2017 corner-infielder Matthew Swick must have decided it was time to make a statement. Why put off to the sixth or the seventh what can be accomplished in the first?
With Zachary McAdams on second base and Tyler John on first, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Swick smacked an opposite-field home run to right that chased both McAdams and John home before he followed suit.
Those tallies proved to be more than enough support for pitcher Ryan Rusinovich in No. 2-seeded PBF-Nixon’s 5-0 victory over the No. 13 NTX Banditos-Turner in the championship game at the PG WWBA South Qualifier, played at the Premier Baseball of Texas complex.
The victory completed a 6-0-0 run to the South Q championship for Premier Baseball Futures-Nixon, which was playing the tournament at its home facility. The title also secured for the team a paid invitation to the prestigious 85-team PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., Oct. 20-24.
“Getting a bid to play over in Jupiter was something that was our goal,” PBF-Nixon manager Mark Nixon said after the championship game victory. “I’m proud of our boys and I couldn’t be prouder of Premier Baseball of Texas. We’re ready to go down to Jupiter and see how we can compete.”
When asked if he felt the team was in position to represent itself well on Florida’s Atlantic Coast a month from now, Nixon said emphatically: “I really believe we can.”
If this Premier team can get the same high-level pitching performances in late October down in Florida that it got in late September at home in Texas, it should feel good about its chances.
A 2018 right-hander from Cypress, Texas, Rusinovich –listed at 5-foot-8, 130-pounds on the official roster – threw a complete game, five-hit shutout at the NTX Banditos-Turner (5-2-0) in the championship game, striking out two without a walk; he needed only 70 pitches to complete the seven innings of work.
His performance was a snap-shot of the kind of outing Nixon received from his pitching staff all weekend. He used eight pitchers in the six victories – five shutouts – and they allowed only one unearned run in 40 innings (0.00 ERA) on 23 hits with 36 strikeouts and 13 walks.
“The pitchers have prepared in the proper way and they guys have worked hard for this,” he said. “I felt like we had the right kids in line to pitch (all weekend). Our starters went deep into the game, we’ve got relievers who came in behind them and did their jobs and our defense was pretty much flawless.”
PBF-Nixon was involved in three pretty tight pool-play games, winning by scores of 4-0, 2-1 and 2-0. The one run against was much more important than the eight runs for, and earned the team the No. 2 seed.
It hit .239 as a team and averaged just over four runs per game but did get a Most Valuable Player Performance from Caden McMullen. An uncommitted, 2018 third baseman/outfielder/right-hander from Spring, Texas, McMullen slashed .429/.529/.500 with a double and four RBI.
Swick, who with Rusinovich and many of the other players on the roster attends Cypress Woods High School, hit .308 for the tournament and also pitched six, four-hit, shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and two walks.
“I was extremely proud of the way we played,” Nixon said. “All of these guys have practiced, trained and worked hard, and we develop all these kids at our facility … and the kids have worked extremely hard to reach this point.”
NTX Banditos-Turner manager Omar Turner used 12 pitchers in his team’s seven games and they combined to compile a 2.27 ERA in 43 innings. Zach Carrion, an uncommitted, 5-foot-10, 165-pound 2017 left-hander from Fort Worth, worked nine innings over two appearances and allowed one earned run (0.78 ERA) on four hits while striking out 16 and walking two; he was named the Most Valuable Pitcher.
Both semifinal games were played at PBT Monday morning when the Nos. 1 and 3 seeds were eliminated. PBF-Nixon getting past the No. 3 Dallas Patriots-Brooks (4-1-0) by a 2-0 count and the NTX Banditos-Turner escaped the No. 1 SA Angels Blue (4-1-0), 6-5.
The two big Macs – McMullen and McAdams – delivered two-out, line-drive, RBI singles to centerfield in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, to account for PBF-Nixon’s scoring in its semifinal wins.
2019 right-hander Garret Zaskoda scattered four hits over 6 1/3 shutout innings, striking out one and walking one; 2018 lefty Blake Wilson needed only seven pitches to record the last two outs, one by strikeout. Isaac Maes and Nick Davis both smacked doubles for the Patriots-Brooks.
The contest between the Banditos and the Angels was a back-and-forth affair, with SA lead 1-0 after one; NTX 2-1 after three and SA 5-2 after a four-run fourth. But the Banditos scored a single run in the fifth and added three more in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good.
A young prospect identified only as Garcia (no first name provided) had a two-run double for NTX in the frame; he finished 4-for-4 with three doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Ortega Jones singled twice, drove in a run and scored a run as part of NTX’s 11-hit attack.
2016 WWBA South Qualifier runner-up: Ntx Banditos-Turner
2016 WWBA South Qualifier MVP: Caden McMullen
2016 WWBA South Qualifier MV-Pitcher: Zach Carrion
