FORT MYERS, Fla. – Wayne Harrell knows what it takes to lead a championship caliber roster. After all, the Florida Burn 2027 Scout Team coach played a role in the squad that won a WWBA title in 2019.
And following his team taking home the 14U BCS National Championship on Tuesday, Harrell noticed some keen resemblances between the two.
“I stepped away from the Burn for a couple years to take a little break so I’ve been away a little bit,” Harrell said. “But I see a lot of similarities in this team as I do in that 2019 team with the depth of arms and they’re only gonna get better. This team may be top to bottom even more talented, especially at this age.”
Burn advanced to its final matchup following a 4-0 victory over Wow Factor 14u where Jace Moran and Cian Stephens combined for a seven-hit shutout.
And just as it had all tournament long, pitching continued to dominate in the championship with left-hander Keagan O'Brien.
“[O’Brien] has been one of our bulldogs all season,” Harrell said. “He’s not our hardest thrower, he’s up there in the low-80s, but he throws three-four pitches for strikes, keps the hitters way off balance, very seldom gets squared up. And he just attacks the strike zone and attacks the hitter.”
O’Brien tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out nine in the 6-0 victory before Brayden Casselli came on to save in the top seventh.
“Don’t let the pressure get in my head,” O’Brien said. “Just gotta focus and throw strikes, don’t worry about anything else.
“Perfect pitching, defense, hit the ball, we hit the ball really good [all tournament].”
Burn’s offense immediately got started with Cole Vogel notching a two-run single in the bottom first to bring in Ben Todd and Moran.
After a first pitch double from Jonathan Mauro and single from Vogel, Zachary Allaire brought both guys home with extra bases of his own to extend the lead to five.
Stephens added one insurance more in the bottom half of the sixth, which proved more than enough after Casselli struck out two in the final frame.
Now traveling to Hoover, Alabama, to compete in the WWBA 2027 Grads National Championship, Harrell wants his guys to continue representing the four letters on the front of their jersey.
“We just continue to play Burn baseball,” Harrell said. “Playing baseball the right way, being aggressive on the bases, filling the strike zone up with multiple pitches. Our kids have just been playing hard all week, nine games and we’ve given up very few runs.
“Being respectful to your teammates and the other team across from you and your competitors. You know you’re always going to get a great game when you play us, and it’s just because we play the game the right way - there’s no secret.”