SANFORD, Fla. – When the Motor City Hit Dogs 14U Scout Team’s Parker Picot stroked a one-out double to right field in the top of the first inning in Friday’s championship game at the Perfect Game 14U World Series, no one in attendance could have imagined that that would be his least significant contribution of the day. The best, as it’s been said time and again, was yet to come.
The first inning double became a bit of an afterthought when Pico drilled a two-run home run to left-center in the third, followed that with a three-run bomb to the same spot in the fourth and completed the run-producing trifecta with a two-run triple in the fifth.
It added up to the Hit Dogs 14U ST downing the Hurricanes 14U Scout Team, 9-1, in a championship game played at the BOOMBAH Sports Complex.
It was Picot’s 3-for-4, seven RBI performance that made this Championship Day even more special for the Hit Dogs 14U players, coaches, family and friends, and when you consider that Picot also singled twice and drove in a pair of runs in a semifinal victory Saturday morning, it was amazing the humility he showed in postgame comments.
“I really felt good; I really felt like something was coming,” Picot said almost quietly. “Our whole team, we had so much energy going and it felt really good.”
Picot, who bats second in the Hit Dogs’ order, hit his home run in the third after lead-off hitter Evan Haeger singled; his three-run bomb in the fourth came after Oliver Service had delivered an RBI double and Haeger had walked; the triple followed a double from Tait Picot and a single from Wells Graham.
In the meantime, 2024 righthander Parker Brzustewicz kept the Hurricanes 14U in check, allowing the one run on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. The Canes scored their only run in the bottom of the fifth when Mateo Gray-who doubled earlier in the game-received a lead-off walk and eventually came around on an RBI single from Javon Bello.
The Rochester Hills, MI-based Motor City Hit Dogs 14U ST (6-1-0) stumbled out of the gates here on Tuesday, losing their pool-play opener to the Banditos Scout Team 14U by a 7-0 margin. But they came back to win their next two pool games, including a pivotal 8-6 win over the Next Level Prospects Blue in the third that clinched second place in the pool standings and a No. 11 seed in the playoffs.
“That first game we came out and the Banditos, they kind of put it to us,” MC Hit Dogs 14U ST head coach Tony Leonard said post championship game. “After our third (pool-play) game I just saw the wheels start turning. The guys were coming together and playing as a team.”
When the tournament concluded Saturday, the Hit Dogs had won six straight games after dropping their opener.
“We came out with the loss to the Banditos and that really gave us a reality check; it kicked our butts in gear,” Picot said. “We really dialed it up, focused in and played the best that we could, and it worked. … It’s all about having fun out here with my best friends and just doing what we do.”
Thanks to his big day Saturday, Picot ended up hitting 9-for-21 (.429) with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, 12 RBI, four runs scored and four stolen bases and was named, wait for it, the Most Valuable Pitcher. A 6-2, 165-pound 2023 shortstop/righthander, Picot - an Alabama commit ranked No. 127 nationally in the ’23 class-also made two appearances on the mound over the last five days and threw 8 1/3, two-hit shutout innings with 14 strikeouts and six walks.
The MV Player award went to Haeger, who was more consistent at the plate throughout the tournament’s run. He finished 7-for-16 (.438) with a double, three triples, seven RBI, seven runs scored and five stolen bases.
“This is an amazing experience,” Leonard said. “We were here last year and we made it to the finals and we lost and this year we took care of business; I couldn’t be prouder. A team from the North. A team from the North. Nobody expects us to win. They expect Louisiana, Texas, Florida but a team from Michigan? We can ball. We can ball.”
Solid pitching performances carried both the Hurricanes and the Hit Dogs to victories in semifinal-round play Saturday morning.
The Hurricanes’ Bello, a 2024 righty, was the most impressive, throwing a complete game one-hitter at the No. 1- seeded Banditos Scout Team 14U (4-1-0) in a 3-0 win; he struck out two and walked one.
Three Motor City pitchers combined on a five inning one-hitter in the Hit Dogs’ 9-1 win over the No. 7 Indiana Bulls 2024 Black (4-2-0). 2024 righthander Troy Korvick threw the first three scoreless, hitless innings, although he also walked six. Haeger doubled and singled, drove in five runs and scored two others.