EMERSON, Ga. – History has a way of repeating itself, and
that was the case in the 18u WWBA National Championship, as the East Cobb Astros
defeated the Game On West Braves 8-2 to win their second straight 18u WWBA
title.
The team won it last year at LakePoint, beating the East
Cobb Yankees 2-0 to bring home the championship trophy. They beat the Game on
West Yankees in the semifinals of that tournament, to move on to the finals.
“I think this is the first time that anyone’s won it
back-to-back since the Florida Bombers the first two years that this event
started, so that’s a testament of its own, that nobody’s won it back-to-back
since ’02 and ’03. That’s a testament to this team,” said Jamie Crane, the head
coach of the Astros.
In this year’s game, the team would display more offense, with
Zachary Daniels scoring the first run of the game in the top of the first
inning via a wild pitch. Daniels would later add on to the offense with a
three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning that would give the Astros a
5-0 lead. The home run by the Tennessee commit went 399.8 feet to straight away
center field, leaving the bat at 98.2 mph. Kevin Dowdell would later single
home a run to cap off the four-run inning.
The Game On West Braves would score one run in the fourth
and the fifth to put them on the board. They threatened in the fourth inning,
with bases loaded and one out, but were left stranded as Jacob Smith danced out
of danger. The future Vanderbilt Commodore would strikeout Tyler Garner, before
getting Austin Brown to groundout to third.
Sam Praytor would hit a two-run homer to left field in the
fifth to increase the breathing room in the championship game. The ball left
the bat at 92.7 mph, traveling 384.9 feet for the second homer of the game for
the Astros. They would tack on one more run in the top the sixth to seal the
deal, and would shut down the Braves the rest of the way.
Eight of the nine hitters in the Astros lineup would collect
a hit in the game. Praytor, Daniels, and Dowdell would all finish with
multi-hit and multi-RBI games, showcasing the power that their lineup
possesses. Garrett Mathes also finished the game 3-for-4 out of the No. 4 spot.
“Josh Burris works our hitters,” Crane said. “He does a
great job of dialing them in, get them ready for games. I think the strength of
our offense this year has definitely been that we’re deep, we can hit 1-9, and
when we hit 10, we can roll 10 guys out capable of hitting the ball out of the
park. Great approaches, and patience has been the key for us this whole tournament.”
Ninety-two runs would cross the plate for the Astros over
nine games, including three games where they scored 16 or more runs. Their 2-2
tie with Academy Baseball Canada would be the lowest amount of run support that
their pitchers would receive all tournament. Praytor led the offense all week,
finishing the tournament 15-for-29 with six doubles, three home runs and
15 RBIs. The University of Alabama commit would be named the MV-Player of
the tournament, winning the award in the event in back-to-back years.
“The award means a lot, it’s pretty cool, but it means even
more to me that we won the championship two years in a row. It’s been a blast
to be honest,” Praytor said. “To be honest with you, it was just my last
tournament, I knew it was my last tournament ever playing with Jamie or East
Cobb, last Perfect Game Tournament, [so] I just wanted to go out there and have
fun, go up there with a good approach, hit the first pitch that I saw that was
a good pitch and just play hard.”
“I’ve coached Sam since he was 15 years old, he’s locked in
all the time, he’s always ready to hit, he’s a smart hitter,” Crane said. “I
think the fact that he’s a catcher helps him understand what pitches are coming
in some cases, so he hits the ball hard every time out, and we’re just blessed
to have him on our team, and I’m blessed to have had him for three years.”
On the pitching side, the staff only allowed 12 runs, and
were benefitted by the large leads that they often inherited. Trevor Higgs
would be named the MV-Pitcher of the tournament after striking out 20 batters
over 11 innings. His best performance came in the form of a complete game,
two-hit shutout against Team Elite Premier. The Auburn commit would strikeout
14 hitters in that game, and was dominant from the start. He offered his keys
to success on the mound this week.
“My slider was really one of my most dominant pitches, and
also my fastball,” Higgs said. “Get them down in the count, hit them with a
slider, if not, I work away with a fastball to see if they would chase. Just
attack them, just go straight after them, don’t beat around anything, just try
to get them out.”
For many players, including Higgs and Praytor, this was the
last tournament together, with many of them having graduated and set to attend
college. This made the win even better for the team, knowing that many of them
went out on top as back-to-back champions in one of the most prestigious 18u tournaments
in the country.
“Oh, it means
everything, this is the whole reason why we play, to love the game and to win,”
Praytor said. “What other way would you want to go out?”
2017 18u WWBA National Championship runner-up: Game On West
Braves
2017 18u WWBA National Championship MVP: Sam Praytor
2017 18u WWBA National Championship MV-Pitcher: Trevor Higgs
