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Tournaments  | Story  | 5/23/2021

East Cobb Astros 17u Ready for Summer

Matthew Welsh     
Photo: Dylan Cupp (Perfect Game)
ATLANTA, Ga. -- It’s no secret that the East Cobb Astros 17u team is loaded with talent. Historically, East Cobb’s ranks have been among the nation’s elite, and the program itself has produced scores of collegiate and professional prospects. This year’s team willingly fits that profile.

East Cobb’s 2022 roster boasts 32 total college commits from 15 different states, with more names sure to sign next year following their performance this summer. Among those 32 signees are Vanderbilt commit Dylan Lesko and Miami commit Termarr Johnson, ranked second and fourth overall, respectively, in the 2022 class.



Alongside them are 22nd-ranked Dylan Cupp, 28th-ranked Michael Gupton, and a slew of the top-500 players that collectively form a team well-known for its capabilities. And as the summer season resumed this weekend, so did the Astros’ winning ways.

Through their first two pool play games of the North Atlanta Open, this year’s first large core Perfect Game tournament event, East Cobb fielded nine college commits including Johnson, en route to two run-rule victories and a plus-24 run differential. The Astros also feature nine of the top-10 ranked players in this weekend’s tournament, a kind of warm-up for events in later months.

Although talented, the team recognizes the necessity to apply that skill with sound fundamentals and a willingness to out-work the competition.

“This is my first time back, and I played in the fall, but it’s a lot different in summer ball, so it just feels really good to be able to come out here,” said one of Saturday’s starters, Logan Quales. “I just really want to work on locating and building velocity, that’s really what I’m working for.”

Quales, a Bristol, Tenn. native and relatively new member of the team, has settled into a starting position with the Astros, a role that he has embraced despite the early jitters of playing for a nationally-ranked club.

“You can get really nervous at first, but then you realize that all of the guys are really cool, and that you play at the same level as them, and you kind of calm down,” Quales said. “It’s amazing just playing with guys that know how to play the game the right way.”

Combine passion and performance and you get an on-field product that East Cobb strives to produce on a day-to-day basis. Although early, coaches and players alike are optimistic about what this summer holds for the orange and blue.

Johnson, the team’s highest-ranked player and de facto leader, has his sights set on several lofty goals through the next three months. Although personally excited for the Perfect Game circuit events, Johnson remained firm in his commitment to his team’s accomplishments.

When asked what a successful season would like for the Astros, Johnson was blunt.

“We want to be the best team in the nation for sure,” said Johnson. “I feel like we could even go two loses at most through the whole season, and I feel like we have a great team, and we’ll be ready for it.”

There are plenty of good 17u baseball teams around the nation, battling the Astros for titles, trophies, and eyes, but few can compare to East Cobb’s blend of discipline, execution and relative on-field enjoyment. The coaches are constructive and the players uplifting.

The team stressed the importance of their unique chemistry, especially on a team that pulls from multiple regions of the country in an effort to create the best team possible. It’s not often that a pitcher from the Bronx develops an on-field connection with a second baseman from north Georgia, but that ability to connect quality players is what separates East Cobb from the competition.

But the Astros don’t consider themselves a normal baseball team. No normal teams are perennial champions.

“It’s so fun. You’re with great guys, top guys and guys who know how to play the game and play it the right way. We just have fun, pick up each other, and combine as a team to be great,” Johnson said. “I’m ready to have some fun and get [the season] going with my guys.”

Quales echoed his infield colleague, in an additional nod to the team’s bond, and how its tenacity has already begun to rub off on himself.

“We just want to come out here, go to work and play the game,” Quales said. “We have some of the best talent around, so if we just keep playing our game, it should be a great summer.”

For East Cobb, the North Atlanta Open really is just that: the beginning of a three-month summer slate of contests, headlined by Perfect Game’s Southeast Elite Championships and WWBA Championships, two events that draw massive fields.

Although we don’t yet know how the East Cobb Astros 17u team will fare come mid-season form, one thing is for certain. The Astros possess more than enough talent to put together title runs deep into July, and have a legitimate opportunity to add to their already-cluttered hardware collection.
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