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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/10/2022

Top Tier 5 Star Claims World Championship

Blake Dowson     
Photo: Top Tier 5 Star Roos Mafia (Perfect Game)
JUPITER, Fla. – John Abraham waited patiently for his opportunity to pitch at the WWBA World Championship for Top Tier 5 Star Roos Mafia.

He waited through the three pool play games. The two playoff games on Sunday. And he waited through the quarterfinals and semifinals on Monday morning. Then finally, about 30 minutes before the championship game against Canes National/NY Mets Scout Team, he got the nod.



He responded with a complete game two-hit shutout against the tournament’s No. 2 seed, delivering his team a 5-0 victory in the biggest event of the travel ball year.

“I’m just locked in,” Abraham said. “I don’t really ask questions, I just do. This is an unbelievable feeling. It was just amazing.”

Abraham, who is a 2023 grad who hails from Tampa, worked up to 92 with his fastball in the title game and featured one of the nastier sliders in the tournament, earning five of his seven strikeouts on the pitch. The righty is currently uncommitted, though that won’t be the case for long.



His coach, Jeremy Neyra, was blown away by his pitcher’s performance.

“That was probably the game of his life,” Neyra said. “It’s unbelievable. He pitched against a great team and honestly dominated in all reality…Before the game, Jason [Miller, Top Tier coach] said he felt really good about John because he’s got a good breaking ball and he’s a competitor. I said, ‘Well, that’s all I need.’”

The big 6-foot-3, 190-pound right-hander figures his recruitment might pick up from here, but he’s actually close to being done with it.

“It might skyrocket a little bit,” he said. “But I’m pretty close to making my decision. I’m going on a couple visits soon.”

While Abraham was waiting for his turn, his Top Tier 5 Star lineup was grinding through its eight-game slate en route to the championship game.

After a tie with Hawaii Elite 2G to begin the tournament, the team won seven straight to claim the Jupiter title, with a plus-30 run differential over their final seven games.

Ariel Antigua led the way offensively for Top Tier 5 Star out of the leadoff spot, hitting .333 over 21 at-bats, leading the team in hits (7), runs scored (9), and OPS (1.089). He also homered in the tournament.

Antigua, who is the No. 108 overall prospect in the 2023 class and No. 31 shortstop and is also currently uncommitted, drove in the first run of the championship game in the third inning on a hustle fielder’s choice on both his end and Tyler Zedalis, and was given the MVP award after the game.



“I’ve played in some big tournaments,” Antigua said. “I’ve played in a lot of games, and I feel like over time, you just get comfortable with being in situations where you need to drive in some runs.”

The other offense came from a couple usual suspects in 5 Star lineups. With runners on second and third and first base open, Perfect Game All-American Drew Burress got a pitch he could hit, and laced a single back up the middle to score Landen Maroudis and Riley Jackson to give his team a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Alfonsin Rosario, another PG All-American, drove Burress in with a single of his own back up the middle.



Abraham gave up just his second hit of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, but got a ground out and two fly outs in the next three at-bats to seal the WWBA World Championship for Top Tier 5 Star Roos Mafia.

The only thing left unsettled at this point might be who gets to keep the trophy between the two programs who joined forces to do precisely what they accomplished on Monday.

“It’s honestly amazing,” Neyra said. “Like to talk about it before the tournament and then for it to actually happen, that’s pretty cool.”
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