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Tournaments  | Championship  | 6/25/2020

Banditos Go the Distance in OKC

Jerry Miller     
Photo: Banditos Scout Team 16u (Perfect Game)
The Banditos Scout Team 16U ran roughshod over the entire field at this year’s Perfect Game 2020 WWBA 16U South Championships held in Oklahoma City. The Banditos pitching staff did not give up a run in pool play and only allowed five in total in the semi-finals and the finals as they easily captured the first place trophy.

Following up their run-rule victory in the semi-finals over an always competitive Texas Twelve Silver 2022 club, the Banditos made short work of the Premier OKC Athletics-Dion in the finals, by a score of 12-2, in a game shortened to five innings by the PG run-rule.



Riding their dominant pitching staff and their rock solid defense, this 16U edition of the Banditos Scout team appears to be the consummate winner. They have no heroes. They play the game the right way and they play together. More than anything, the Banditos are tremendous competitors and appear to be great sportsmen. They recognize their teammates accomplishments and give credit to their opponents when the opposition makes a solid play or gets a big hit. Theirs is a story of a true team. Although numerous individuals had noticeably outstanding performances throughout their run to the championship, no one player was more important than any other.

The OKC Athletics also had a fine tournament. They are a gritty bunch and are fundamentally sound. They battled throughout the tournament, especially when the weather altered the schedule and forced them to stretch their pitching staff. They never quit and never hung their heads in the final game, even when the score got a bit out of hand. They are a well-coached team and certainly deserved to be in the championship contest. They earned that.

This day and this tournament, however, belonged to the very talented Banditos Scout Team 16U.  They are gifted individually and collectively. They rarely make mistakes and seemingly never make the same mistake twice, which is a small example of their drive towards perfection and their ability to take coaching. Each player knows their role and they play that role well. They show a collective maturity rarely seen at this level. That is a credit to their parents and their coaches. The future looks bright for this fine group of players. 

Congratulations to the Perfect Game 2020 WWBA 16U South Champions, the Banditos Scout Team 16U.

MVPitcher – JC Gutierrez – Banditos Scout Team 16U
MVP – Xavier Perez – Banditos Scout Team 16U



WWBA 16u South Semi-Final: Texas Twelve Gold 2022 vs. Premier OKC Athletics-Dion 

Two clubs similar in roster composition and playing style met in the first WWBA 16U South Championship semi-final contest at The Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in downtown Oklahoma City.

Texas Twelve Gold 2022 and the Premier OKC Athletics 16U-Dion battled until the last out of a very entertaining ballgame. OKC staged a furious rally, scoring six runs in the fourth, and overcame an early 3-0 deficit to defeat an always game Texas Twelve Gold club by a score of 6-4. The local Premier OKC club now awaits the winner of the second semi-final game between the Banditos Scout Team 16U and Texas Twelve Silver 2022.

Texas Twelve got on the scoreboard first, scoring a single tally in the 2nd inning. Andrew Berg (2022, Conroe, TX) reached on a rare OKC error to open the frame. Joshua Rivas (2022, Spring, TX) singled Connor Nichols (2022, Houston, TX), running for Berg, to second. Following a walk to Collin Coker (2022, Sweeny, TX), Trent Baker (2022, Spring, TX) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Nichols with the game’s first run.

Texas Twelve added to their lead with a two spot in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, Jack Little (2022, Katy, TX) doubled to the deepest part of right centerfield. Andrew Berg drove the very next offering to center to score Connor Nichols, who again was running for Berg. Following walks to both Collin Coker and Trent Baker to load the bases, the OKC A’s pitcher balked in Nichols. After three and half innings, Texas Twelve took a seemingly comfortable, 3-0 lead into the bottom half of the fourth. That comfort level changed in a hurry when the A’s came up to hit in the fourth.

The Twelve undoing started with back-to-back walks to the first two OKC hitters, Rhylan Wright (2022, Tulsa, OK) and Ethan Rone (2022, Choctaw, OK) to open the A’s half of the fourth. After a Berg wild pitch advanced Wright and Rone to second and third respectively, Gage Gilchrist (2022, Edmond, OK) drove a solid single through the right side hole to plate Wright and Rone with OKC’s first two runs. 

Following a walk to Colyn McNair (2022, Blanchard, OK), Texas Twelve pulled starter Andrew Berg and replaced him with righthander, Harrison Golden (2022, Sugar Land, TX). Golden proceeded to strike out the first hitter he faced, but that was where the good news ended for the Texas Twelve bunch. With one out, Camden Bates (2023, Goldsby, OK) drove a pitch into the left field corner plating Gilchrist with the tying run, with McNair advancing to third. A wild pitch scored McNair giving the OKC nine a lead they would never relinquish. 

The wheels then fell off the Twelve wagon. Back-to-back singles by Brody Roe (2022, Stillwater, OK) and Jesse Tisdell (2022, Choctaw, OK) pushed across another run, making the score 5-3. Cadyn Karl (2022, Edmond, OK) was then hit by a pitch loading the bases. Ethan Rone, who had been in the middle of most of the OKC rallies during the week, then walked to drive in the A’s sixth and final run for the day. 

The A’s big six run bottom of the fourth was just too much for the Twelve Gold club to overcome. Although the Texas club would force Colyn McNair from the game with a bit of an uprising in the top of the seventh, the OKC Athletics would get a two out save from their closer Jesse Tisdell to prevail and advance to the WWBA 16u South Championship final.

WWBA 16u South Semi-Final: Texas Twelve Silver 2022 vs. Banditos Scout Team 16U

The Banditos Scout Team 16U pitching staff gave up their first run of the tournament in the first inning of their semi-final playoff game versus a very talented Texas Twelve Silver 2022 squad. Even though Twelve would score a couple of more runs in the third inning, the Banditos Scout Team overwhelmed the College Station, Texas-based Twelve squad with an eight-run onslaught in the fourth and fifth innings, to capture the semi-final game by a score of 11-3.

Twelve tallied the first run of the contest when, with one out, Harrison Dipasquale (2022, The Woodlands, TX) reached on a very rare Bandito error. With two outs, Ethan Davis (2022, Montgomery, TX) would single, advancing Dipasquale to second base. Parker Kidwell (2022, Katy, TX) then drove a pitch into right field plating Dipasquale with the game’s first run.

It did not take long for the Banditos to answer the Twelve run. University of Houston commit, Thomas Lyssy (2022, Harlingen, TX), who has had a solid tournament for the Banditos, singled on the first pitch of the bottom half of the first inning. With one out, University of Florida commit, Xavier Perez (2022, Corpus Christi, TX), who has been the most dominant offensive force of the tournament, singled to left on a line, advancing Lyssy to second base.  The Bandito clean-up hitter, Reese Ratchford (2022, Sulphur OK), then walked to load the bases. TCU commit, Murphy Brooks (2022, Cypress, TX), also walked, driving in Lyssy to tie the ball game. The Banditos would continue to take advantage of the first inning wildness of Twelve starter, Ethan Davis, when Pepperdine commit, Jacob Rebrook (2021, The Woodlands, TX) would take a pitch in the right arm to force in Perez with the Scout Team’s second run of the inning.

The Banditos would tack on a run in the bottom of the second when, with one out, Matthew Whitting (2022, Bellaire, TX) would single to left. Hot-hitting, Thomas Lyssy would then lace a ringing double down the right field line advancing McKaylon Bowie (2021, Spring, TX), who was running for Bandito catcher, Matthew Whitting, to third base. A Davis wild pitch would then plate Bowie with the Banditos third run of the game.

The always enthusiastic and driven Twelve club would answer back in the top of the third. Jhonnatan Ferrebus (2022, Katy, TX) smashed a high fastball deep into the left field corner for a stand up double to start the Twelve rally. Connor Pratka (2022, Magnolia, TX), laid a perfect drag bunt down the third base line for a single, advancing Ferrebus to third. This early offense in the Twelve half awoke the Silver club. On the first pitch offered to Ryan George (2022, Katy, TX), Bandito starter Landen Yorek (2022, Spring, TX), was charged with a balk, scoring Ferrebus and advancing Pratka to second. 

This action forced Bandito skipper Ray DeLeon to his bullpen. He brought on Texas Tech commit Wilson Woodcox (2022, Houston, TX) to help quell the Twelve uprising. Woodcox didn’t appear to ever find his comfort zone on the Bricktown mound. Although Woodcox would strike out the first batter he faced, he would then walk Harrison Dipasquale. Woodcox was then lifted for RHP, Reese Ratchford who would walk Blake Pitts (2022, The Woodlands, TX) and then strike out Ethan Davis for the second out of the inning before Parker Kidwell topped a ball that Rathford got his glove on but couldn’t field cleanly. The infield knock resulted in the tying run crossing the plate for the Twelve Silver squad.

With the score tied at three, the Bandito bats came to life in the bottom of the fourth. University of Houston commit, Coby DeJesus (2022, Diboll, TX) worked a walk to open the inning. He was wild pitched to second base. Joseph Ferraro topped a ball towards the mound, and although Twelve pitcher Connor Pratka appeared to field the ball cleanly, he dropped the ball on the transfer. DeJesus advanced to third and Ferraro reached base on the fielding error. This little opening was all the Banditos needed. With no outs and runners on the corners, Maxwell Childress (2022, College Station, TX) singled to right, plating DeJesus and giving the Banditos a 4-3 lead. Conner Bennett, (2023, Spring, TX) running for Ferraro, advanced to second base and the Banditos were off and running. Matthew Whitting, who seemed to be in the middle of a lot of Bandito rallies during the week, was hit in the back with an 0-2 pitch. This loaded the bases with one out. With two outs and the bases loaded, a wild pitch on a 2-2 count to Thomas Lyssy, would score Connor Bennett and allow Childress and McKaylon Bowie, running for Whitting, to advance. Lyssy would eventually coax a walk to load the bases.

The Banditos then put the hammer down. Xavier Perez would single, driving in Childress. Reese Ratchford would drive in Bowie on an RBI fielder’s choice grounder making the score 7-3. Murphy Brooks would take a pitch to the arm to re-load the bases, before Jacob Rebrook would walk, forcing in Nickens with the Banditos fifth run of the inning and eighth for the game.

The Banditos would put the game away with a three spot in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out, Matthew Whitting would walk. Thomas Lyssy would continue his outstanding tournament with another single, advancing Whitting to second base.  Landen Yorek would enter the game and run for Whitting with two outs. Cameron Nickens singled to left centerfield to plate Yorek, making the score 9-3. Lyssy and Nickens both advanced a base, to second and third respectively, on the throw to the plate. McKaylon Bowie’s two-RBI single to shallow right field, would score Lyssy and Nickens with the final runs of the ball game, as the Banditos walked off the Texas Twelve Silver 2002 club via the Perfect Game run-rule, 11-3.
 

 
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