FORT MYERS, Fla. – Arms were aplenty on Tuesday as four pitchers ruled the day in the 15u Super25 National Championship. The right arm of Ben Brock of the Keowee Cougars shined the brightest as his complete game shutout led the eighth-seeded Cougars past the top seed, SWFL Nation, 1-0.
An old-fashioned pitcher’s duel between Brock (2020, Westminster, S.C.) and SWFL Nation’s Cade Kontny (2019, Lakeland, Fla.) yielded opportunities few and far between to score, as the righthanders raced through six innings tossing up zeroes.
In the top of the seventh, a one-out walk to Gentry Hawk and an errant pickoff throw from Kontny allowed Hawk to move to third. After an intentional walk was issued to Trent Land, Hunter Land hit a grounder to shortstop that Trey Bacon could not handle, allowing Hawk to score to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
SWFL had a golden opportunity to try and extend the game to extra innings after Bacon singled with one out. With SWFL down to their last out, a long fly ball was hit out to left field and dropped, but Bacon slowed up believing the ball would be caught and could only advance to third.
Brock was able to get Mac Moise to fly out to left-center and clinch a spot in the semifinals for the Cougars.
The Cougars will match up with the Missouri Gators who dispatched of the Ninth Inning Royals-Bohana 7-2 in their quarterfinal matchup behind the right arm of Anthony Klein.
Klein (2020, Chesterfield, Mo.) was staked to a 3-0 lead after the first inning, with Trevor Austin, Briar Stinson and Nicholas Hemken collecting RBI singles for the Gators. Austin (2020, Jefferson City, Mo.) continued his strong tournament by doubling in another run in the fifth inning, as he sits with a .538 average (7-for-13) through five games.
Klein went six innings and struck out six before Stinson (2020, Rushville, Ill.) struck out two batters in the seventh pumping fastballs up to 85 miles an hour on the gun to push the Gators into the semifinals.
On the other side of the bracket, a pair of lefthanders stole the show for their respective teams as the PA Playmakers-Kelley and the Tri-Cities Titans will meet in the other semifinal.
The Playmakers bashed out 16 hits and got hits from all but one hitter in their lineup which was more than enough for Will Rhodunda (2020, Wilmington, Del.) to work with as he allowed only a run on three hits and struck out seven to pick up the victory.
Jack Haveson and Michael Eze had two-run doubles for the Playmakers, and Riley Davis and Logan Doran each went 3-for-3 on the day. Dan Kennan (2020, Wilmington, Del.) continued his stellar tournament by driving in three runs, as his average sits at .545 (5-11) for the event.
The Playmakers will take on the Tri-Cities Titans, who got a terrific effort on the mound from Cade Elliott (2020, Gray, Tenn.) as he shut down Marlins PR in the 9-0 victory.
The 6-foot-5 lefthander surrendered only two hits, scattered four walks and picked up seven strikeouts in the complete game shutout.
He was aided in large part by Perry Casaday (2020, Bluff City, Teen.), who singled home runs in the first and fifth innings and had a perfect day at the plate, walking twice in his four trips. Mason Mortimer (2020, Lexington, Ky.) also had a productive day at offensively, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and scoring three times.
The semifinals will take place at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday at the JetBlue Player Development Complex. The championship game is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. on Thursday.