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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/15/2018

BigStix pursue Super25 repeat

Nate Schweers     
Photo: Trippe Moore (Perfect Game)

MARIETTA, Ga. – After winning last year’s 15u division, BigStix Gamers Prime 16u picked up right where they left off on Friday, beating the East Cobb Angels 8-3 in the 2018 PG Super 25 16u Georgia Super Qualifier. The win moves BigStix to 1-0 in this year’s tournament.

Fitting to the name, BigStix got the scoring started early on Friday, plating three before their starting pitcher even had to take the mound. After a one-out run-scoring sacrifice fly from Austin Slate, BigStix came through with three straight two-out hits.

After Jim Brown singled into left, Jack Davis executed a brilliant hit and run that put runners at second and third. Trippe Moore came to the plate, ripping a single into left field to plate the last two runners of the inning. Moore, who reached base in every at-bat in the opener, uses his speed and aggressive play to be a gamechanger on the field.

“I’m not the biggest guy in the world, so I’ve got to scrap and claw and get on base anyway that I can,” Moore said. “It has always been part of my game. I was just seeing the ball well and taking a lot of close pitches today. I was getting my pitch to hit to help the team win.”

Moore also played a solid center field on Friday, and showed the ability to track balls both to his left and right.

BigStix struck again in the third inning, highlighted by a no doubt two-run home run from Jim Brown.  After getting ahead in the count, Smith was looking to do damage with runners in scoring position. The home run cleared the fence in left field by a long way, and BigStix was up 5-0 early.

“He started me with a curveball that missed out and away, and he I thought he would try and come back inside with a fastball,” said Smith. “I guessed right and didn't miss it.”

Brown also delivered a strong outing on the mound Friday, tossing all five innings and allowing just one earned run. Brown featured a low-80s fastball, and was able to keep hitters off balance with a well-timed mix of off-speed pitches.

“My changeup was really working well today. I was able to really keep them off balance with it because they were sitting fastball early in the count.”

Repeating as champions is a tall task for any team, but with their first step on the road to a repeat behind them, head coach Recardo Billips was proud of his team’s effort and focus.

“The biggest thing is that last week we just got done playing in the qualifier [WWBA] and got third, so were kind of depleted right now, but everyone is picking up the slack,” said Billips. “With some guys banged up, we will need to be focused to repeat as champions this year.”

Moore also believes his team has a great chance of winning the tournament. Moore, who is a native of Forsyth, Georgia, is a top 1000 player in the 2020 class, and ranks as the 50th-best in the state. A primary outfielder, he knows the bats need to come alive if BigStix wants to win it all.

“We just need to keep pitching because I feel like we are deep in the rotation,” said Moore. “We've also got a lot of guys swinging the bat. We’ve been struggling a little bit at the plate as of late, but we are starting to pick it up at the right time.”

With strong pitching and bats that are starting to come alive, BigStix is becoming a dangerous team to look out for at this year’s tournament.
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