FORT MYERS, Fla. – The players and coaches from the Next Level Baseball 18u squad came into this week’s 3rd annual Perfect Game WWBA 18u Southeast Championship knowing exactly what would be required to take a championship trophy/banner back to Tampa with them. They had, after all, won the first two WWBA 18u Southeast Championship titles.
And after beating the No. 2-seeded Game Time Prospects Orange 11-2 in five innings in the championship game played at Hammond Stadium on a hot and steamy Tuesday afternoon, the three-peat was complete.
Top-seeded NLB 18u (7-0-0) turned a 5-0 lead after three into a rout with a six-run fourth and sent the No. 2 GT Prospects Orange (5-1-1) on their way back to their base of operations up in Tampa with a runner-up trophy in tow.
“This is an event that you take pride in that you’ve won it a couple of times in a row and you want to keep it going,” NLB 18u head coach Justin Bruce told PG postgame. “Streaks are meant to be broken but whenever you get a chance to keep one going you want to keep it going.
“It’s a testament to the core group of guys that we have to come back and keep fighting hard even though you have won this tournament before,” he added. “It’s very easy to not have as much effort, but for them it really means something.”
Javier Bonilla was hit by a pitch and Tyler Borges and Jaden Rudd both singled to load the bases with no one out to start that pivotal bottom of the fourth, more than adequately setting the table for Next Level.
Victor Castillo walked to push across a run and Chase Bragg followed with a two-run double. Bryce Dillmore delivered a sac fly and Cade Parker and Matthew Moss came through with one-out and two-out RBI singles, respectively, and the damage was done.
2020 right-hander Jason Roberts threw four innings of two-hit ball and allowed two runs, but both were unearned; the 2019 right-hander Parker needed only six pitches during a 1-2-3 fifth to end the game. The Prospects Orange’s Zane Guess and Andrew Booth both singled and Mitchell Farris and Ethan Frasca were credited with an RBI apiece.
Rudd singled three times and scored twice; Parker singled and doubled, scored twice and drove in a run; Dilan Lawson singled and drove in two; Bragg finished the game with three RBI.
“We just come out every game, no matter what it is or what we’re playing for and play hard and try to beat every single team,” Rudd said. “We’ve got to throw a lot of strikes and hit the ball around a little bit and just play hard no matter where we are.”
Offensive production needs to be talked about any time a team puts up 11 and wins a run-rule championship game, but the real story of this tournament for NLB 18u was its stellar pitching – it’s hard to believe it can get any better than this. Five of the seven wins came by shutout and a total of four runs were scored in the other two, all four unearned.
Pace Mercer, Shawn Snyder, Ben Gurley, Matthew Moss, Jace Dunsford, Dawson Erbacher, Dilan Lawson, Jaden Rudd, Bryce Dillmore and Jason Roberts didn’t allow a single earned run in a combined 30 innings of work, giving up 17 hits while striking out 28.
“Pitching sets the tone for everything and we got really good outings from every pitcher we threw,” Bruce said. “I think they really started taking pride at about the mid-way point, knowing that we hadn’t given up very many runs and none of them wanted to be the one to give up (an earned) run. It’s something that just kind of went through the team and it pushed everyone to go out there and work harder.”
Rudd, a top-500 2021 outfielder/catcher/left-hander from Lynn Haven, Fla., enjoyed a sensational tournament at the plate. He earned Most Valuable Player recognition after batting 10-for-17 (.588) with a double, three triples, five walks (.682 OBP), 11 runs, six RBI and two stolen bases.
He told PG that when the team’s pitchers are on, it lifts everyone’s game. When it’s as hot and humid as it was Tuesday – the temperature topped out at 96 – the less time the position players have to spend playing defense out on the field the better. It enables the hitters to reach down and find a little bit more energy to take up to the plate with them.
“It really does (carry over) into the box,” he said. “We can go out and play defense for five minutes, just come back in and start hitting again, get rallies going.” And then, he quickly added: “I love these guys. They’re really fun to play with, fun to be around, and they’re just great kids that I’ve surrounded myself with.”
Game Time Prospect Orange 2020 right-hander Colby Hoffman from Largo, Fla., was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher. Hoffman worked 9 2/3 innings over three appearances and allowed one earned run (0.70 ERA) on three hits, striking out 10 and walking one.
The GT Prospects Orange (5-1-1) earned the No. 2 seed after completing pool-play at 3-0-1. They then got past the No. 7 Next Level Scout Team 8-7 in Monday night’s quarterfinals and topped No. 6 Next Level Baseball 16u 15-2 in three innings in a semifinal Tuesday morning.
Next Level Baseball 18u outscored its four pool partners 39-2 and was the only team to go unbeaten/untied during pool-play. It blanked the No. 8 Rawlings Legends 8-0 in the quarters and No. 5 Empire Baseball 18u 8-0 in the semis.
At the end of the day, Bruce continued to laud his pitchers, and justifiably so. They were the ones most responsible for a third straight PG WWBA 18u Southeast Championship
“This is a testament to the pitchers that we have and (pitching) is something that we’ve based our program around for so long,” he said. “If you’ve got good pitching you can kind of cover up some other things that happen in a game.
“Sometimes when you’re throwing in this heat, you’ll throw two or three innings and it feels like four or five. So for them to come out and keep battling through, it’s an awesome thing to watch.”
2019 PG WWBA 18U Southeast Championship Finalist: GameTime Prospects Orange
2019 PG WWBA 18U Southeast Championship MVP: Jaden Rudd
2019 PG WWBA 18U Southeast Championship MVPitcher: Colby Hoffman