EMERSON, Ga. – The Georgia Bombers 16u beat the Gwinnett
Aces 12-0 in the 2017 PG Super25 17u Georgia Super Qualifier to win the
championship, securing them a spot in the Super25 National Championship.
It was a lopsided championship affair. Justin Kirby would
get the Bombers out on top early, singling to center to drive in Chandler Drake
in the bottom of the first inning. The second was a quiet inning, but they
burst out in the third, scoring eight runs. In that inning, a one-out,
three-RBI triple by Jadyn Jackson would break the game open. Drew Beiger would
later hit a 340.6-foot two-run home run to left field to put his team up 9-0. They
would tack on three more in the fourth, walking off on an RBI single by Beiger
to cap off the game.
This was the team’s second tournament win after having won
the 16u WWBA Memorial Day tournament at LakePoint in late May. At that time,
the team had not had much time to gel with each other, as it was their first
tournament of the season. This time around, the team seemed much more
comfortable with each other, and it showed in their play.
“They’re starting to come together,” said head coach Wes
Rynders. “Summer time it takes a couple weeks to really get rolling together,
understand your roles, and all that kind of thing, so I think they’re starting
to figure it out and I look forward to the huge challenge of playing in the 17u
WWBAs starting Friday.”
The team cruised to a 9-1 win over Fury 17u in their first
pool play game, but it was the walks that enabled them to win, not their
hitting. Rynders realized this and had a conversation with the team about their
approach after the game.
“Well after our first pool play game, we actually scored a
bunch of runs, but only had four hits, so I talked to them about having better
at-bats and being more aggressive and after that game we really hit the ball
well, had a ton of hits in every game,” Rynders said. “I told the kids after
the event was over, I said ‘I’m proud of the way you guys made an adjustment,’
and it really showed obviously in the scores.”
Their approach certainly showed up, as the team scored 48
runs over six games. Beiger, Jackson, and Kirby would combine for seven RBIs
and three runs in the championship game. Nadir Lewis and Kirby would pace the
team all weekend, with Nadir finishing 6-for-12 with two doubles, a triple, a
home run and seven RBIs. Kirby would garner MVP honors in the tournament,
collecting nine hits in 16 at-bats, while hitting a double, a triple, driving
in six runs and stealing two bases.
“It means a lot just because it definitely gives me
confidence going into the bigger tournaments of the summer, and I hope I can
keep the ball rolling,” Kirby said.
Kirby batted in the No. 3 hole for much of the weekend for
the Bombers, putting him in a prime position to drive in runs. In addition to
the change in approach that the whole team took in the tournament, Kirby said
that it was a change in the way that he took BP that enabled him to have better
results at the plate.
“This past week, I focused a lot just when I was taking BP,
just how I hard I could hit into the back net. I think that just helped me keep
my swing up the middle and stay through the ball,” Kirby said. “I was more
aggressive and I just tried to put the ball in play, mostly up the middle and
other way, and just tried to hit line drives in the gaps, and I think that
worked well.”
Bombers starter Bobby Spencer was able to be comfortable the
whole game on the mound after receiving the early run support. Spencer went a
four-inning complete game, giving up one hit and one walk, striking out four.
He only needed 51 pitches to carve up the Aces, and sat at 83-85 mph for much
of the game. Low pitch counts are usually the products of throwing strikes, and
that was a factor that Rynders said led to their success on the mound.
“Strike throwing machines. We don’t walk people and we make
plays behind them, and that’s the key,” Rynders said. “It’s always been our key
is pitching and defense and if we hit some, we’re going to have a good chance
to win every game. We gave up, I think, only four runs or only five runs in the
entire event, and that’s tough to do. I’m very impressed with the pitching
staff.”
Blake Renner would be the horse for the staff in this
tournament, throwing eight innings of two-hit baseball, while striking out 12
hitters and giving up just one earned run. MV-Pitcher honors would be given to
the 6-foot, 185-pound righty, who collected two wins over two starts. He said
that it was his fastball command and defense that helped him have the success
that he did.
“Mostly my fastball. I was able to throw it inside and
outside, had good late movement on it, and I had good control of my curveball,”
Renner said. “[My defense] did really well behind me, they picked me up, made lots
of plays behind me and helped me out on the mound.”
With the team clicking on all cylinders, they will look to
continue that success in the 17u WWBA National Championship that begins on
Friday, June 30. Even though the team is a 16-year-old team playing in another
17-year-old tournament, Rynders said that this team showed him this weekend
that they can compete no matter who the opposition is.
“That we can compete with anybody when we play well,”
Rynders said. “It’s usually about us, not the other team. If we play well, we’re
going to have a shot, and that’s all you can ask for in this game.”
2017 Perfect Game Super25 17u Georgia Super Regional runner-up: Gwinnett Aces
2017 Perfect Game Super25 17u Georgia Super Regional MVP: Justin Kirby
2017 Perfect Game Super25 17u Georgia Super Regional MV-Pitcher: Blake Renner
