EMERSON, Ga. – The 3rd annual Perfect Game High School Showdown kicked off at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint on Thursday as an interstate affair, with some of the top teams from Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Florida and Georgia taking part. It concluded Saturday evening with a battle of Georgia neighbors, which really should have surprised no one.
And, as is often the case when perennial Georgia power Parkview High School from Lilburn is involved, it is the always-ready to pounce Panthers who generally come out on top.
For the fourth time in four games at the Showdown, Parkview made exemplary pitching and flawless defense work to its favor – while also becoming extremely opportunistic – and beat nationally No. 21-ranked Kennesaw Mountain from nearby Kennesaw, Ga., 10-0 in six innings in Saturday’s championship game PG Park South.
It was a perfect ending to a perfect three days of play for the Panthers, who finished 4-0 at the Showdown and improved to 8-1 in their young 2015 spring season.
“It’s been a great experience; Perfect Game does a great job at what they do and we enjoyed every moment of it,” Parkview head coach Chan Brown said after the championship game victory. “We came up here with a purpose to try to make a name for (ourselves), and the kids played extremely well. We had some good pitching and I’m just proud of the kids.”
The championship game matched Parkview’s pitching and defense against Kennesaw Mountain’s dynamic speed and explosive run-scoring ability.
Eight Panthers’ pitchers allowed two earned runs on 18 hits in 21 innings (0.67 ERA) in their three wins leading to the championship game, and the defense behind them committed just one error in 97 chances. The Mustangs, meanwhile, hit .405 (32-for-79) as a team with eight extra-base hits, and scored 25 runs in their three wins.
At the conclusion of the championship game, Parkview’s numbers held true; Kennesaw Mountain’s, on the other hand, had collapsed.
The Panthers led the Mustangs 8-0 after three innings and put a two-spot on the board in the top of the sixth that ultimately sealed it under the national high school 10-run rule. Parkview had 12 hits in the game but seemed to benefit most from the Kennesaw Mountain’s sloppy play – the Mustangs’ six errors contributed to seven unearned runs.
Trevor Brown was 2-for-3 with three runs scored; Brandon Hill was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run; Corey Whitlock singled and drove in two runs, and Daino Deas tripled and drove in a run to lead the Panthers offensively. Trevor Brown finished the tournament 5-for-12 (.417) with a triple and seven runs scored.
“We don’t have that one big name that Parkview’s had in the past,” Trevor Brown said, “we just have a bunch of players that play together well and get after it together.”
Senior right-hander Andy Albright was the winning pitcher and threw five shutout innings, scattering eight hits while not striking out or walking anyone. Over the four games, Coach Brown used nine pitchers that worked as a group to allow only two earned runs on 27 hits over 27 innings pitched (0.52 ERA) while striking out 25 and walking only five.
“Our team strength is probably our pitching; we’re pretty deep in it,” Coach Chan Brown said. “We don’t have the guys that are going to light up the radar gun after the first two or three (innings) but after that they just pound the zone and our defense works.”
Boy, does that defense work. Panther fielders had 120 chances to boot the ball over four games, yet made only one error (.992 fielding percentage). That exceptional defensive play seems to start right in the middle of the infield where shortstop Trevor Brown (a Kennesaw State signee) and second baseman Daino Deas (Auburn) occupy their offices.
“We’ve been playing together since our sophomore year and we grew up together always playing,” Trevor Brown said. “We still have a lot of work to do together, definitely, but I think we’re getting there.”
While the championship game was a Georgia neighborhood affair, Parkview beat two out-of-state teams on its way to the title tilt. The Panthers punished Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Central High School 12-1 on Thursday before escaping No. 2-ranked IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 2-1 in nine innings in a memorable contest on Friday.
The game with IMG was what ESPN would call an instant classic, with dozens of scouts and dozens of other interested on-lookers in attendance to watch a match-up that featured nearly two dozen NCAA Division I recruits.
“Playing IMG, the number-two team in the nation, that was the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Trevor Brown said. “We’re going to see Kennesaw Mountain again, probably soon, but this has definitely been a fun tournament for us.”
Kennesaw Mountain (3-1 Showdown, 8-2 overall) was terrific right up until the error-filled horror show the championship game became. Standout senior outfielder Reggie Pruitt (Vanderbilt) and junior third baseman/right-hander Patrick Martin were both 2-for-3 in the title game but it seemed like at times the Mustangs just couldn’t get out of their own way. Six errors will have that effect.
Pruitt was electric throughout, collecting seven singles in 11 at-bats (.636) and walking twice for a .667 on-base percentage, with six steals in six attempts. The Mustangs hit .394 as a team but only eight of their 41 hits went for extra bases.
THE TALL TEXANS FROM CONCORDIA LUTHERAN crashed what was otherwise an all-Georgia party in the Showdown’s semifinal round. Perennial Georgia powers Cartersville (Ga.) and Parkview squared off in the first semifinal while Concordia Lutheran went head-to-head with Kennesaw Mountain.
The Panthers met up with longtime state rival Cartersville in the first semifinal and managed to escape with a 2-0 win.
They scored both runs in the top of the sixth inning on the strength of just one hit: a leadoff single from David Draper. He eventually scored on a wild pitch and a second run came across on a sacrifice fly from Ryne Inman.
Trevor Brown tripled and Jason Awtrey doubled for two of the Panthers’ three hits. Sophomore left-hander Cody Collett threw a complete game, seven-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking one.
Cartersville freshman both-handed pitcher Anthony Seigler threw six two-hit innings right-handed on Saturday, striking out two and walking four. He pitched four shutout innings left-handed in the Hurricanes’ 1-0, 10 inning win over Houston High on Thursday night, allowing only one hit and striking out six while walking no one.
Kennesaw Mountain broke loose for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie and made it stand for an 8-3 win over Concordia Lutheran in the Showdown’s other semifinal.
Junior Terence Norman was 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored to pace the Mustangs’ 11-hit attack; senior Tyler Stephenson (a Georgia Tech signee) was 2-for-4 with a triple and senior Michael Atkinson singled and drove in a pair of runs.
Senior right-hander Ryley Gilliam (Clemson) got the start for the Mustangs and allowed one earned run on four hits over five innings while striking out 11 and walking three. Senior righty Colin LoCurto worked two shutout innings in relief, allowing one hit, striking out four and walking one.
Ke’Bryan Hayes was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored for the Crusaders. Hayes, a PG All-American who has signed with Tennessee but is widely thought of as a first-round MLB draft pick in June, nit .455 (5-for-11) with a double, two home runs, five RBI and three runs scored in the Concordia Lutheran’s first three games at the Showdown.
At the end of the day, it was powerful Parkview at the front and center, ready to take the final bow.
“We’re definitely going to feed off this … and I’m excited for what we have going the rest of the season,” the shortstop Trevor Brown said.
“We try to play these national-type tournaments to get us ready for the (Georgia state high school) playoff run,” the head coach Chan Brown said. “It’s a good thing to come in here and have to play two games in one day to prepare us for down the road.
“We start Region (play) next Tuesday so this good timing to try to propel us towards that and keep some momentum.”
2015 PG High School Showdown runnerup: Kennesaw Mountain High School
(Editor’s note: Faith Baptist Christian School from Brandon, Fla., won its second straight PG High School Showdown-Academies championship with a 5-1 victory over West Oaks Academy from Orlando, Fla., on Saturday. A complete story highlighting Faith Baptist’s title run will be posted at perfectgame.org on Sunday).