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Tournaments  | Story  | 5/31/2021

East Memorial Titles Earned Monday

Sam Warren     
Photo: Cannons Baseball University 2022 Scout Team (Perfect Game)
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Cannons Baseball University 2022 Scout Team took home the 17u East Memorial Day Classic championship Monday afternoon, defeating the Florida Burn 2022, 6-1, in five and a half innings.

The Burn conceded the game in the top of the sixth inning after they announced they had used all of their pitchers for the tournament.



Cannons jumped on the Burn early, as Roylan Quevedo began the game with a single, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on an AJ Nessler single one pitch later. After Adrian Dominguez reached on an error and Jameson Caro walked, Mason Jantomaso drove in Nessler with a single. However, Caro was thrown out at third base before Dominguez could score, ending the inning.

Cannons’ head coach Nick James was proud of his players’ offensive statement to start the pivotal matchup.

“Being in the championship game, it is important to set the tone early,” James said. “The Burn is a great team, and by getting on the board early, it gave us a great chance to win.”

Cannons’ pitcher Brandon Gonsalves promptly took advantage of his team’s early lead. The 2022 grad and UCF commit struck out three through the first three innings, allowing three hits and two walks. Gonsalves believes that his team’s quick success was a factor in his achievement on the mound.

“Going out there and pitching with a lead gave me confidence,” Gonsalves said. “I could just fill up the zone and let the infield work.”

After the first, the Cannons’ bats went dormant. Edwards settled in for the next two innings, allowing only two baserunners via a walk and hit by pitch and striking out one. After Edwards was pulled, Dominguez hit a single in the top of the fourth, but his team couldn’t capitalize.

Leaning on Curley’s momentum, the Burn’s bats fought back in the bottom of the fourth. Matt Rose led off the inning with a single and later advanced to second on a passed ball. After two infield pop outs and Logan Tribble reaching on an error, Chris Barr shot a ground ball past the Cannons’ first baseman, scoring Rose. However, Gonsalves was able to prevent further damage, striking out Curley to end the inning.

Gonsalves said that limiting the damage was a crucial moment in the Cannons’ victory despite the run.

“[The strikeout] was pretty big, getting the momentum back on our side,” Gonsalves said. “They were starting to take over a little, but that strikeout allowed us to control the situation.”

Fresh off of Gonsalves' emphatic finish to the fourth, the Cannons fired back in the top of the fifth. After an Eddie Boe Rodriguez one-out walk, Oviedo drilled a double to right field, scoring Rodriguez. Oviedo then advanced on a passed ball on a Nessler walk before Chris Arroyo drove Quevedo home with a groundout. Erik Blair then grounded out to end the inning, but not before the Cannons mounted a 4-1 lead.

The Cannons stayed on the offensive attack in the fifth as Dominguez led off the inning with a single. Caro also singled on the next pitch, and a passed ball allowed Dominguez to score. After another passed ball advanced Caro to second, Jantomaso singled to drive him home, giving the Cannons a 6-1 lead. Shortly after Jantomaso reached first base, the Burn announced that they had no remaining pitching to continue the game, conceding the game to the Cannons and crowning them East Memorial Day Classic champions.

Despite the losing effort, Burn outfielder Chris Stanfield received MVP honors for the tournament. The 2022 Auburn commit was 9-for-18 for the weekend with two walks, nine runs and five RBI.

Blair took home the MV-Pitcher award for the weekend after throwing five shutout innings, allowing no hits and fanning 11 batters on the tournament. The 2022 Florida commit said that scoring early allowed the Cannons’ pitchers to be comfortable and confident on the mound, contributing to their +35 run differential, the best in the tournament.

“Scoring runs early let us take out teams that should be taken out by us,” Blair said. “Easy run support makes it a lot easier on the mound.”

In the team’s first tournament together for the summer, James was most proud of the selflessness of his team to secure the victory.

“It comes to a point where winning becomes more important than anything else for them,” James said. “That’s why we put this team together, and we got to see a little bit of the fruit of the labor today.”



Perfect Game 18u East Memorial Day Classic

In a tightly-contested battle, a fourth-inning RBI double by Zeth Rodriguez proved to be the winning factor as the Florida Rebels beat the Gametime Prospects 18u Orange, 2-1, for the 18u East Memorial Day Classic title on Monday afternoon.
 
The Prospects hopped out to an early lead after Garrett Glasgow scored on a fielder’s choice in the top of the first. The Rebels then answered in the bottom of the second after Ryan Waldschmidt scored on an error, then took the lead after Camden Sprague scored on Rodriguez’s double.
 
Despite a solid performance from Dylan Cheeley on the mound, the Prospect bats could not muster more than one run as Luke Ridley gave the Rebels six scoreless innings in relief, striking out eight while only giving up two hits and walking one.
 
Rodriguez also took home MVP honors, going 7-for-15 on the weekend with two doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI for the tournament.
 
Logan Waldschmidt was named MV-Pitcher of the tournament, throwing nine shutout innings for the Rebels, striking out 14 while surrendering only six hits and two walks on the weekend.



Perfect Game 16u East Memorial Day Classic

Four runs in the second, two in the third, and two in the sixth were more than enough for the Elite Squad 16u National to run away with the 16u East Memorial Day Classic, beating the Florida Burn 2023, 8-3, in the championship game Monday afternoon.
 
After a passed ball allowed Blake Opie to give the Burn a one-run lead in the top of the second, the Elite Squad offense tallied four runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to a series of Burn errors. The Elite Squad then scored twice more on passed balls in the third and finished their offensive attack with two runs coming on a Robert Rodriguez fielder’s choice in the sixth.
 
Eight runs were plenty for Elite Squad pitcher Dylan Radtke to work with, as the pitcher allowed just one hit and two walks in 5 2/3 innings in relief. Despite a late Burn push behind a Cameron Burleson home run in the seventh, the Elite Squad emerged victoriously.
 
The Elite Squad’s Daniel Cuvet received the MVP award for the tournament, going 9-for-19 on the weekend with three home runs and nine RBI.
 
The Burn’s Aidan Knaak took home the MV-Pitcher award for the tournament despite the losing effort, as Knaak threw seven shutout innings on the weekend, striking out 12 while surrendering only two hits and one walk.


Perfect Game 15u East Memorial Day Classic

Canes Florida 2024 jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on Monday afternoon, breezing past Power Baseball 2024 platinum on their way to an 8-3 championship win and 15u East Memorial Day Classic. 
 
The Canes jumped out to a one-run lead in the top of the first through a Gian De Castro double, scoring Jackson Miller. After pitcher Rylan Lujo shut down Power in the bottom of the inning, the Canes offense exploded for three runs in the second behind a two-run single from Lujo.
 
After Lujo quieted Power bats for four innings to keep the Canes lead, the Canes bats then erupted for four runs in the fifth, as a series of RBI singles by Niko Benestad, Mateo Gray and Jason Bello extended the Canes lead. After Power tacked on one more run in the bottom of the seventh, Anthony Espinoza was able to retire the final Power batter, securing the victory for the Canes.
 
Gray took home MVP honors for the tournament, going 7-for-19 on the weekend with eight runs, six RBI and four stolen bases.
 
Despite the loss, Power’s Brayden Toro took home the MV-Pitcher award for the tournament, as Toro threw eight shutout innings on the weekend, striking out 12 while surrendering only four hits and no walks.


Perfect Game 14u East Memorial Day Classic

 SANFORD, Fla. - Florida Pokers 14u went a perfect 7-0 to claim the 14u East Memorial Day Classic championship on Monday.

A talented team with scrappy players, the Florida Pokers were a part of the most exciting games of the tournament. They grinded through the quarterfinals (2-1), and semifinals (4-3), until the bats exploded in the championship game, putting up 13 runs on 15 hits for a 13-3 victory. 
 
The quarterfinals was a pitcher's duel at its finest. Manny Lantigua threw a gem against a tough TBT Ballers lineup surrendering only five hits and one run in six innings of work. His fastball was sitting 81-83 with a 75 mph curveball with some nice depth to it. The turning point came in the seventh inning, when Luke Cherry came up firing from center field to throw out the would-be go-ahead run at the plate. In the bottom of the inning, Nicholas Hammerman sent a double down the right field line. After a bunt to move him over, Cherry put the ball in play to score Hammerman for the walk-off, winning 2-1. 
 
The semifinal was another close game and another great outing from a Florida Pokers starter. Jonathan Rodriguez went five strong innings allowing only four hits. His fastball topped at 75 with a curve at 68, as he attacked the zone and let his defense make plays for him.

The first inning was the difference maker for the Pokers. After getting the bases loaded, Carter Wojcik hit a deep fly ball to left field for a ground-rule double, picking up two RBI. Cole Lasher knocked in another a groundout to the infield to cap off their three-run first inning. They would go on to win, 4-3.
 
The championship game was an offense showcase for the Pokers, as they cruised to their 13-3 win, mashing 15 hits.

Jonathan Rodriguez showed off the bat, going 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, and was joined by Lasher, who also knocked in three runners. Notables included Wojcik, again going 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, and Nick Diaz going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a pair of runs scored. Diaz also came out of the 'pen to shut down the Florida Legends the last two innings, giving up no hits, no runs, and striking out one. 
 
The Florida Legends made it to the championship game with a perfect 6-0 record, rolling through the quarter and semifinal games. In the quarters, a big go-ahead three-run homer from Juan Diego Lopez Faria sparked the offense to wake up and win big, 12-4. In the finals, the offense was led by Christian Miranda, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Miranda was named the MV-Pitcher of the event for his efforts on the mound, tossing seven innings across two outings and striking out eight, not allowing any earned runs.

Erick Torres, playing for the Florida Pokers, was given MVP honors. Torres threw five innings on the mound over three appearances, not giving up a single earned run and striking out eight. At the plate, Torres hit .556 (10-for-18) with a home run, 4 doubles, 10 RBI, and 11 runs scored.

-Jered Goodwin



Perfect Game 13u East Memorial Day Classic

Champions: FTB - Phenoms

Finalist: Florida Burn Tampa National 2026

MVP: Wilson Andersen

MV-Pitcher: Yuniel Paredes



Perfect Game 12u East Memorial Day Classic

Champions: Kangaroo Court Roos National

Finalist: 5 Star 12u Seise

MVP: Will Milner

MV-Pitcher: Maximus Sakala



Perfect Game 11u East Memorial Day Classic

Champions: Chet Lemon's Juice

Finalist: Central Florida Blue Jays 11u

MVP: Alejandro Martinez

MV-Pitcher: Adam Ndiaye
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