EMERSON, Ga. – After starting about four hours after their
intended start time, the Canes 17u defeated Texas Twelve Maroon 6-2 to win the 17u
WWBA National Championship.
The playoffs were grueling for both teams, as they battled
storm delays all throughout the tournament. Coming into their semifinal games, both
teams came off quarterfinal games that started in the early hours of Friday.
“It’s been hectic,” said head coach Jeff Petty. “You know we
were up until three in the morning, our kids just dug deep. We played really
good teams, I just can’t say enough about this group of kids. I mean, to do
what they did here, I’ve never seen anything like it. I know the circumstances
weren’t great, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was just the circumstances we
were all thrown, and we kind of took the thought process, ‘Well, someone’s got
to win this thing. Someone’s got to stay up and play through this thing until
two, three in the morning. Someone’s got to turn around, wake up early the next
morning and figure this thing out, and why can’t it be us?'”
That is exactly what the Canes
would do as they came into the championship game with eight wins in nine games,
with their only other decision being a 0-0 tie against Bo Jackson Elite in pool
play. In the playoffs, the team would shutout four of the five teams they faced
including a 1-0 win over Team Elite 17u Prime in the quarterfinals, a game that
ended around 3 a.m. LSU commit Landon Marceaux was given the ball in that game
and threw a complete game, shutting down one of the top lineups in travel
baseball.
“Huge atmosphere. Fans come out for
two top teams in the country, it’s exciting to be a part of that, and to be
able to get the ball for that start was just amazing, and I thank coach Petty
for that,” Marceaux said.
Marceaux would be named co MV-Pitcher
of the tournament for his efforts on the mound. He finished the tournament having
thrown eight innings, giving up just four hits and three walks, while striking
out 18 hitters.
Texas Twelve Maroon came into the game having taken a
similar road in the tournament, as they tied the Philadelphia Whiz Kids 7-7 in
their third game of the tournament, while winning all of their other games
coming into the championship. The College Station, Texas-based squad would match
up against Nelson Baseball School 17u Red and would win 4-2 in a game that
started around 1 a.m. on Friday.
Originally scheduled for 2:45, the championship game finally
began around 6:45 p.m. after a prolonged lightning delay. Even with the delay, and
the minimal sleep from the game morning, the Texas Twelve looked sharp early,
scoring the first run in the championship game. Korey Holland tripled with one
out in the inning and was driven in on a broken bat single by Dru Baker that
was just out of the reach of Xavier Edwards at short. Baker would be stranded
at second as Canes starter Daniel Lloyd was able to limit the damage.
Carson Rollins took the mound for Texas Twelve and would set
the Canes down 1-2-3 in the first, looking strong through the game’s first two
innings. The Canes bats would wake up, though, after a walk to Miko Rodriguez
and a single by Xavier Edwards in the third. Emilio Rosas would plate both runners
with a double to left-center to take the team’s first lead of the game.
Nicholas Northcut would then hit a sac-fly to left field to extend the lead to
3-1.
The Canes would add on in the bottom of the fourth, as Chase
Sanguinetti would plate two runs with bases loaded, pushing the lead to 5-1. They
would tack on another in the bottom of the sixth, giving them even more
breathing room, and although Baker would hit a long home run to leadoff top of
the seventh for Texas Twelve, it was not enough to make a comeback, as Northcut
would shut the door to seal the win.
“This group just wants to freaking win so bad,” Petty said. “I
don’t know if it’s because we’ve won before and we have won some stuff in the
past, and it’s attracted guys that want to win. This day and age, a lot of guys
just want to get showcased and scouted and they can [care less] if they win or
not, and we attract those guys too, but we don’t have one guy in our dugout
that cares about being scouted over winning.”
Contributing to the win would be Rosas and Sanguinetti, who
both finished the game with two RBIs a piece, while Northcut also added an RBI
out of the No. 3 spot. Xavier Edwards, who had a hit in four trips to the plate
in the championship game, would be named the MV-Player of the tournament after
finishing tied for the tournament lead with 11 hits. He also added a triple, a
homer, five RBIs and three stolen bases to his line score.
“It’s an honor, but honestly, I’m
more proud of our team the way we played this weekend, and this MVP could’ve
gone to any one of our teammates, but it’s a great feeling for sure, great
accomplishment,” Edwards said.
The Canes have been no strangers to
team success in events like this and were able to take the title back after
winning it in 2014. Even though it was a big win for Petty and the Canes
organization, Petty said that he is looking for his team take their winning
ways and do even more in the future.
“Three-hundred ninety-two teams,
and you’re the last one standing, we’re going to enjoy this one for a little
bit, we’re going to go to the Perfect Game World Series in Arizona, and that’s
going to be highly competitive,” Petty said. “You know champions, they only
remember their last one, so let’s go after another one. Let’s get back on the
saddle and get another one.”
Matt Rudis of Texas Twelve Maroon would
be named a co MV-Pitcher in the tournament after throwing 9 1/3 innings, giving
up three hits, while striking out 12.
2017 17u WWBA National Championship runner-up: Texas Twelve
Maroon
2017 17u WWBA National Championship MVP: Xavier Edwards
2017 17u WWBA National Championship co MV-Pitchers: Matt
Rudis (left) and Landon Marceaux
