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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/7/2021

Southeast Elite Titles Earned Monday

Matthew Welsh     
Photo: 5 Star National 16u Burress (Perfect Game)
ATLANTA, Ga. -- 5 Star National 16u dominated their championship game in the Perfect Game Southeast Elite Championship on Monday afternoon, defeating 643 DP Cougars 15u, 19-2, in five innings. The victory is one week removed from the 5 Star National 17u affiliate victory at the Southeast Memorial Day Classic and is the first tournament win of the calendar year for the 16u squad. 
 
It was the 5 Star bats and a disciplined at-bat approach that propelled the Warner Robins, Ga.-based team to victory. 5 Star logged eight hits, including two doubles and drew 10 total walks in their title game effort. 
 
The 5 Star bats caught fire in the top of the second inning after Riley Jackson singled to lead off the inning. Six of the team’s following eight batters reached base on a combination of walks and hit-by-pitches, and saw 5 Star assume a 3-0 lead with two outs. 
 
Stone Russell added a two-out two-run RBI single late in the frame to expand his team’s lead to 5-0.
 
Connor Crisp started on the bump for 5 Star and was effective in limiting the Cougars’ offense to just one hit and no runs in two innings of work. Crisp also started and was credited with the win in 5 Star National 17u’s championship last weekend. 
 
The offensive onslaught resumed in the top of the third with another flurry of walks to five of the first six 5 Star batters of the frame, which plated another run. Drew Burress then doubled to center field with no outs, scoring two more runners that had previously reached on free passes. A sacrifice fly later in the inning from Brady Neal gave 5 Star 13 runs exiting the third inning. 
 
“I’m always looking for the fastball and adjusting to anything else,” said Burress of his approach at the plate. “You can always adjust to a breaking ball, but if you’re late on a fastball, you aren’t going to hit it. Each and every single one of our players is always working. Everyone is getting better and everyone has to want to get better on their own. That’s the basis we have.”
 
Then came the rain. An approximately 30-minute-long rain delay commenced in the middle of the third inning, giving both teams a chance to assess their strategic options. Crisp would exit the game for 5 Star, giving way to Josh Fernald, who continued the team’s mound dominance. 
 
After another scoreless defensive inning, 5 Star came to bat for the fourth time. Two singles and two walks chased 643 reliever Conlon Walker from the game. Two batters later, another single from Neal brought home two more runs, which was immediately followed with a subsequent RBI double from Russell. After four trips to the plate, 5 Star had scored 19 runs. 
 
Neal shares the mindset of his teammate, Burress, when attacking at the plate. The two of them combined for three hits and seven RBIs in the win.
 
“We just look to hit first-pitch fastballs,” said Neal. “It’s the easiest pitch to hit, and a ball that we like to hit far, so that’s basically, for me, what I do.”
 
The lead proved insurmountable for the Cougars, who despite facing a run-rule loss, scratched across two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to avoid the shut out. 
 
5 Star’s weekend not only ends with the title claim, but also a 7-0 Southeast Elite Championship tournament record, and MV-Pitcher honors for Hudson Rowan
 
“We know this is what we’re supposed to do, and this is what we come here to do so it’s obviously a good feeling when you can accomplish that,” Neal said. “I think we have a lot of momentum, even carrying from last year to this year, and into our next couple tournaments because we have a big one coming up with a lot of good teams.”
 
643 DP Cougar's Bryant James won MVP honors in the 16u division, hitting .615 for the tournament with two doubles, a triple, a home run, and 10 RBI.

5 Star’s next competitions will be at the Ultimate Baseball Championship beginning June 22 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Also ahead is the WWBA 16u National Championship held in Marietta, Ga. in July. Both are tournaments that Burress and Neal expressed as tournaments they want their team to win. 





2021 18u Southeast Elite Championship

East Cobb Yankees 18u cruised to their championship victory this weekend in a 14-2 one-sided affair against Georgia Bombers 17u Victus in their final game of the tournament. 
 
Mason McBee started for the Yankees and allowed only six hits through four innings and struck out five batters in the process. 
 
Jonathan Jaime went 2-for-2 in the game with a double and scored a run, while Hunter Paulsen went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs. Four individual players on the team had at least one RBI in the team’s title-clinching win. 
 
The East Cobb Yankees finished the tournament with a 6-0 record.

Jared Jones, playing for the Yankees, won the MVP award. Jones hit .625 over six games, including three doubles, four runs, seven RBI, and added four walks.

Terry Garmon, pitching for the Georgia Bombers, took home MV-Pitcher honors for his efforts against US Elite 2021 Owings, tossing six innings of scoreless ball, with seven strikeouts.



2021 17u Southeast Elite Championship

Georgia Bombers 17u Marucci beat the East Cobb Astros 17u in their weekend semifinal and Team Elite 17u Black in the championship en route to their first title of the summer. 
 
The Bombers’ offense edged Team Elite, 7-6, led by Parker Walsh, who went 2-for-3 in the game and scored a run. Nicholas Hollifield also went 2-for-3 at the dish and is ranked in the top-1000 players of the 2022 class. 
 
Matthew Holcomb started for the Bombers, allowing three runs in three innings, accompanied by five hits, four strikeouts and one walk. Eric Snow relieved him and earned the win, going one inning where he allowed one hit and registered a strikeout. 
 
Seven total players had at least one RBI in the team’s championship effort.

Will Tippett won MVP honors for Team Elite, hitting .600 for the week, with a pair of doubles and triples, a home run, eight runs, nine RBI, and nine stolen bases. He added a scoreless inning on the mound for good measure.

Baylor Homesley walked away with MV-Pitcher honors for Georgia Bombers, tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings over two appearances, striking out seven and allowing only three hits.



2021 15u Southeast Elite Championship

The Team Elite 15u Scout Team edged out the Home Plate Chili Dogs, 8-6, in the 15u age bracket of the Southeast Elite Championship this weekend. 
 
Jake McGhee started and went 4 2/3 innings for Team Elite, while allowing three hits, and striking out eight in his championship win. McGhee’s fastball topped at 83 mph and was complemented by a 65 mph breaking ball. McGhee took home the MV-Pitcher award for his efforts in the title game. 
 
Other standouts for Team Elite were Jayden White (2024 High Follow), who went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI in the game, and four other players on the team recorded RBIs. Jase Peoples and Cade Brown also plated two runs in the victory.

Home Plate Chili Dogs' Jack Alley was the MVP of the event, as he hit .476 over seven games with 12 RBI.



2021 14u Southeast Elite Championship

A steady barrage with the bats allowed Georgia Jackets 14u National to run away with a title in the 14u division of the Southeast Elite Championship over Devine Baseball 14u, by a score of 10-4.

The two teams traded scoreless frames in the first and two-spots in the second, but three runs for the Jackets in the third, two more in the fifth, and another crooked three-spot in the sixth put the championship to bed.

Ean Marria had three RBI in the title game for the Jackets, and was joined by Carson Rech and Ralph McMurry in the multi-RBI category.

Marria also started on the bump for the Jackets, tossing four innings and striking out five, allowing three runs. Marria was named MVP of the event.

Devine's Jared Glenn was the MV-Pitcher, as he tossed 10 innings of scoreless ball over two appearances, striking out eight, and only allowing one walk and five hits along the way.



2021 13u 60/90 Southeast Elite Championship

Champion:
Team Elite 13u National

Finalist:
643 DP Cougars 13u Rookard

MVP: Grady Emerson

MV-Pitcher: Joseph Mittiga



2021 13u 54/80 Southeast Elite Championship

Champion:
Sandy Springs Storm

Finalist:
ATL Lightning 13u Holder

MVP: Michael Gregozeski

MV-Pitcher: Cooper Graves



2021 12u Southeast Elite Championship

Champion:
East Cobb Astros 12u Orange

Finalist:
RBI Scout/P3

MVP: Malachi Washington

MV-Pitcher: Jose Doubront



2021 11u Southeast Elite Championship

Champion:
TG D-Backs

Finalist:
Prospect Tools 11u Black

MVP: Ander Elorriaga

MV-Pitcher: Thomas Davis



2021 10u Southeast Elite Championship

Champion:
NYO Toros 10u

Finalist:
East Cobb Astros 10u Orange

MVP: Grayson Albert

MV-Pitcher: Will Novascone



2021 9u Southeast Elite Championship

Champion:
643 DP Cougars 9u

Finalist:
Georgia Jackets 9u Horner

MVP: Everett Burr

MV-Pitcher: Cade Keller