FORT MYERS, Fla. – When, several weeks ago, the directors and coaches from the Tallahassee, Fla.-based Next Level Baseball organization started to assemble a roster for the 18u team they would send to the 18u Perfect Game BCS National Championship, they were faced with a harsh reality.
It became evident that several of the top senior players that formed the core of this team – the prospects from the class of 2017 – weren’t going to be able to make the trip for a variety of reasons. It sent the staff into somewhat of a scramble-mode, and left them with only one viable option.
They were going to have to fill-out the roster with a handful of their younger players from the program’s 16u team – prospects in the class of 2019 – and throw them into the 18u fire. At least two of those youngsters must have been wearing flame-retardant uniforms.
With 2019s Tyler Borges and Victor Castillo hitting 1-2 at the top of the batting order, and with talented 2017 Kevin Long occupying the 3-hole, NXTLB 18u (7-1-0) erased a 3-2 fifth-inning deficit and rallied for a 5-3 victory over Kennesaw, Ga.-based Nelson Baseball School 18u (6-2-0) in the 18u PG BCS National Championship title game played Thursday morning at City of Palms Park.
The NXTLB 18u’s led 2-1 after an inning of play but lost that slim margin when NBS 18u pushed across single runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. They tied it in the top of the sixth when Zachary Taylor delivered a one-out, line-drive RBI single to left field, and when the NBS 18u’s were held scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, the game moved into what promised to be a nail-biting seventh tied at 3-3.
NBS 18u quickly recorded two outs to start the top of the frame, but those two outs came from the bottom of NXTLB 18u's order and meant that the top of its lineup was coming to the plate.
Borges promptly singled sharply to right field, Castillo followed suit with another single to right and then Long – a 5-11, 230-pound 2017 first baseman/catcher from nearby Bonita Springs – drilled a line-drive single into left field that chased both Borges and Castillo home. NBS 18u managed a base-runner in the bottom half of the frame but couldn’t score.
Borges and Castillo both finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, accounting for six of NXTLB 18u’s nine hits; Long finished with three RBI.
“They absolutely competed their tails off and I couldn’t be any more proud of those guys right now,” NXTLB 18u head coach Kelly Mosley said of his two standout 2019s. “The (high) level that they played at very consistently all week is just unbelievable; I’m blown away by these guys.”
2017 right-handers Logan Lacey and Taylor combined on a seven-hitter with eight strikeouts and seven walks for NXTLB 18u, and none of the three runs they surrendered were earned.
Jamison Wilks accounted for two of NBS 18u’s seven hits, and Bryson Parks, Alex Prosser and Bailey Campbell contributed one hit and one RBI apiece. 2017 left-hander Jamie Boatright was solid for six innings, scattering six hits and striking out four without walking a batter; the three runs he gave up were all unearned.
Mosley called the championship game a “microcosm” of the entire week, when comebacks and back-and-forth affairs became the norm. In each of the last three games the NXTLB 18u’s played in, they jumped to early leads, let those leads slip away and then rallied for late wins.
“In crunch-time we really battled and we were able to pull those games out,” he said. “We had some timely hits by some young guys – it’s been started by our young sophomores at the top – and you couldn’t tell by the way they played that they’re sophomores. … We never caved – we would bend, but we never broke – and I’m just blown away.”
Borges, a 5-foot-7, 145-pound shortstop from Tallahassee, hit .571 (12-for-21) with eight singles, four doubles, four RBI and a 1.371 OPS, and also stole four bases; he was named the 18u PG BCS National Championship Most Valuable Player.
“I was playing ‘up’ this week because our other shortstop, unfortunately, got sick,” the 16-year-old said after receiving the MVP award. “I was just blessed to have this opportunity, and it was just a great experience to come down here and play lots of competitive baseball and go out and play to the best of my ability.”
NXTLB 18u 2017 right-hander Nick Agosto from Panama City, Fla., made three appearances on the mound over the course of the tournament, and threw 9 1/3 innings of one-run ball (0.75 ERA) while allowing five hits, striking out six and walking two; he was named the Most Valuable Pitcher.
“This is probably the best group of kids that we’ve had the chance to coach, even though it’s probably not our ‘best’ group of guys, per se,” Mosley said. “But the way they compete, hands-down they’re the best group of kids that came together this week and gelled. For (six) days they just kept grinding away in the heat, and I just can’t say enough about the guys.”
2017 18u BCS National Championship runner-up: Nelson Baseball School 18u
2017 18u BCS National Championship MV Player: Tyler Borges
2017 18u BCS National Championship MV Pitcher: Nicky Agosto
