EMERSON,
Ga. – This year’s 2015 14u WWBA National Championship is chalked
full of great teams, but there are two that have stood out among the
rest. The Evoshield Seminoles, out of Richmond Baseball Academy in
Virginia, and the Houston Banditos, from Houston, Texas, completely
obliterated their competition in pool play. There are teams that go
undefeated, and that’s certainly impressive, but the amount of runs
that these two teams put up is something you don’t see on a regular
basis.
During
pool play, these two teams combine for a 139 runs, with the Seminoles
having the slight edge on the Banditos with 71 runs scored compared
to 68. Looking at these stats could leave an opposing starter shaking
in their boots, but teams such as Team Elite West and the 643 DP
Cougars would try their hand at quieting these two devastating
lineups.
On
top of the absurd amount of runs that these two teams have scored,
they have amazing defenses to match. The well roundedness of these
teams has a lot to do with why they’re the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds
heading into the playoffs. The Seminoles have only allowed a
miniscule three runs through eight games, which is simply unheard of,
and the Banditos have allowed just 13 runs.
This
morning the No. 1 seed, Evoshield Seminoles, squared off against the
No. 16 seed, 643 DP Cougars, in the opening round of playoffs. The
Cougars were hoping to add a little drama to the tournament and knock
off the top team with an unprecedented upset, but they would not be
able to accomplish the unlikely feat. The Seminoles looked about as
solid as they have all tournament in their 8-0 run-rule victory over
the Cougars.
This
game included just a snippet of what this Seminole offense can
produce, as they started off with a big five-run first inning. The
Seminoles were smacking the ball to all parts of the field and they
would combine for seven total hits, overwhelming the 643 DP Cougars.
The
Seminoles starting pitcher, Waring Garber, was fantastic on the mound
today. He was able to get ahead and stay ahead, with 14 first-pitch
strikes. He also sat down seven of the Cougars’ batters by way of
strikeout.
“My
slider was really working, and it helped my fastball look a lot
faster than it was,” said Garber. “I think we need to improve on
hitting with runners on. We just have to take it one game at a time.”
These
Seminoles are always looking to improve on something, and regardless
of the success that they have experienced thus far, Coach Chris
Gerrity wants his boys to focus on improving each game. Coach Gerrity
would throw his ace, Chase Smith, in the quarterfinal game later
Thursday afternoon against Team Georgia Mizuno Elite, and it would
work to the Seminoles’ advantage; they won 8-1 to advance to the
semifinals.
“These
are all fun going guys, and we try to keep them up and energetic,”
said Coach Gerrity. “Some of these guys have been playing on the
team for years, and I think we have put together a really strong
team. We don’t have anybody with a power arm, but we have guys who
throw strikes. We have worked with wood bats for the last couple of
weeks, so that preparation helps. I think we need to improve on our
base running moving forward. We’ve run ourselves out of innings and
if we want to win this tournament, we’re pretty much going to have
to be perfect.”
The
Seminoles have gained a fair amount of attention due to their
success, but talk of the Houston Banditos has been buzzing around the
LakePoint complex as well. They would open their playoff run in the
2015 14u WWBA National Championship against Team Elite West, who
would also be looking for an upset against this powerhouse from
Texas.
The
Banditos got off to a fast start in this game, as they scored three
runs in the first inning off of a pair of base hits. The Banditos
didn’t exactly get the offense going much in this game, and would
rely on their defense and the big righthander, Adam Kloffenstein.
Kloffenstein
has an intimidating stature, and his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame allows
for a long, deceptive pitching motion. His fastball gets on you
quick, at 85 mph, and he is pretty tough to hit when he has his
breaking ball going as well. Kloffenstein’s mechanics make his
power fastball look effortless coming out of his hand, and he was
able to lean on that pitch in tough spots.
Those
tough spots would not occur frequently, but in the middle innings of
the game he would get a little bit wild and give up some free bases.
Obviously you never want to walk anyone, but it is how you battle
back from that situation that defines you as a pitcher, and
Kloffenstein showed a lot of maturity by keeping his composure and
inducing groundballs when he had runners on.
After
the wild streak, Kloffenstein would settle in and really start
racking up strikeouts. His stat line for the day would end up being a
little bit over five innings pitched, six strikeouts and no runs.
“My
changeup was probably my best pitch today,” Kloffenstein said of
his outing. “I was able to get it down in the zone, and it really
helped the effectiveness of my fastball. Whenever I was in a jam, I
just wanted to concentrate and bear down. Getting ahead and staying
low, working off speed after that. That’s the philosophy I stuck
with today.”
The
Houston Banditos are throwing Nolan Crisp, who is a power pitcher
that sits in the low- to mid-80s, in their quarterfinal game against
the also undefeated Team Elite Prime. This matchup should prove to be
a tough one for the Banditos, but if they play like they have been
playing this entire tournament, Team Elite Prime will certainly have
their hands full.
Coach
Ross Santos is proud of the game that his boys played on Thursday
morning, but feels that they need to step it up at the plate. The
Banditos really won the game due to their stellar pitching and
defense, but the offense was lagging behind. It really didn’t get
started until they broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning.
They’ll look to improve that against Team Elite Prime.
“These
kids respect the game and pick each other up,” Coach Santos said.
“This tournament, we decided to bring just the boys, have them all
stay in a house together, and they have been getting along great. You
could see in today’s game there were a lot of ups and downs, and
right before we broke it open late, they were picking each other up
and boosting morale.
“We
have to hit more, though. Every team can hit, so we can’t wake the
bats up for just two innings like we did today. We don’t have a lot
of superstars, but we’re gritty. This is a scrappy bunch of kids.”
Seeing
these two teams play each other in the championship would be an
intriguing matchup to say the least, and it is not too far out of the
realm of plausibility.