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Tournaments  | Story | 7/2/2018

NLB repeats as 18U SE champs

Bryan Cooney
Photo: Next Level Baseball (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The ability to close out tight games was the theme for Next Level Baseball all tournament long as they aimed to make it back-to-back triumphs at the 2018 PG 18u Southeast Championship.

With a deep pitching staff that surrendered just 10 runs in their first four games, it took a walk-off hit in the early morning semifinal from tournament MV-Player Dawson Fietsam (2019, Jacksonville, Fla.) to get NLB back to the championship game, and in the final, a six-run first inning sent them on their way to a 10-2 victory over Long Island Strong Baseball Academy in six innings.

Fietsam’s walk-off hit to give NLB a 3-2 victory in eight innings over Gametime Select 18u Old Hickory set up a matchup of two teams that came from the same pool from the start of the tournament. Next Level Baseball also dispatched Long Island Strong 4-2 to win the pool on Sunday morning.

The visiting Strong threatened right from the start as Devin Marin (2018, Woodside, N.Y.) legged out an infield hit and Cory Tingo (2018, Coral, N.Y.) worked a walk. Marin moved up to third on a wild pitch and came in to score on another wild pitch, and Tingo came home to make it 2-0 as Jose Matos (2019, Coral, N.Y.) singled through the left side with the infield drawn in.

NLB was quick to answer as they saw their first six men reach with Brayden Gainey (2019, Panama City, Fla.) plating a run on a single to right and Tyler Sims (2019, Tallahassee, Fla.) bringing in two more with a single to center to give NLB a 4-2 lead. However, the bats weren’t done yet. With two outs, Fietsam continued his strong tournament by knocking in two more runs with a single the opposite way to left to give his team a 6-2 lead.

That allowed NLB starter Dawson Erbacher (2019, Lynn Haven, Fla.) a chance to settle in, and he went on to toss two scoreless frames before giving way to reliever Jaden Rudd. Rudd (2021, Lynn Haven, Fla.) picked up three strikeouts in 2 2/3 hitless innings to keep Long Island at bay while his teammates continued adding on to the lead.

Dallen Leach (2018, Tallahassee, Fla.) brought in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and in the fifth Victor Castillo (2019, Tallahassee, Fla.) lined a two-out, two-run single to right to put NLB up 9-2. In the sixth, NLB manufactured the clinching run as Gainey reached on an error and used his speed to eventually come home on a ground ball to short to wrap up the championship for the Tallahassee-based program.

“As a whole, we didn’t really hit well all tournament, but we pitched it really well and in the championship game we started taking better at-bats,” NLB head coach Justin Bruce said.  “We took advantage of some situations, and Dawson Fietsam had a big tournament. You can count on him all the time, getting on base and drive runs in. He does all the small things right, and I think some of our guys can learn from him because doing the small things can add up to big things in the end.”

Heading into the playoffs, NLB’s offense hadn’t kicked things into gear as they only scored 11 runs in their three pool play victories. The chances to put runs across were there for the taking early in the week but the inability to convert those opportunities made the work of the pitching staff even more important as the week wore on.

In their quarterfinal matchup against Freshwater Storm on Sunday, NLB found themselves trailing 5-2 entering the bottom of the fifth and were staring at a quick playoff exit. It was there that the bats came alive as NLB sent 14 men to the plate, strung together seven hits and scored 11 times in the fifth to send them to the semifinals. From there, the combination of quality arms and a lineup that was able to piece together better at-bats carried NLB all the way through to the championship.

“We had games during the week that we left double-digit men on base, but that fifth inning of that quarterfinal game is where the bats came alive and I think it gave us momentum going into the playoff games there,” Bruce said. “The middle of our order had struggled most of the tournament, but in the final three games, they got some big hits for us and we just did a better job of putting together quality at-bats.”

Fietsam’s great offensive showing for the week, which earned him MV-Player honors, saw him go 9-for-13 with a pair of doubles and six RBI. For the week, Gainey topped the NLB pitching staff with 8 1/3 innings of work and posted a 0.80 ERA with six strikeouts.

Ryan Kane (2018, Yaphank, N.Y.) was selected as the MV-Pitcher for Long Island, as he helped the runner-ups make the championship game with a complete game performance in the semifinals as the Strong defeated Gametime Select 18u Red 4-3.


2018 PG 18u Southeast Championship runner-up: Long Island Strong Baseball Academy



2018 PG 18u Southeast Championship MVP: Dawson Fietsam



2018 PG 18u Southeast Championship MV-Pitcher: Ryan Kane
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