EMERSON,
Ga. – After a long week that was filled with rain, hundred degree
temperatures and intense competition, the day to crown a national
champion had finally arrived. After losing a few games due to
rainouts and re-scheduling complications, it was nice to see that
this tournament finished on the right note; an all out battle for the
2015 17u WWBA National championship.
After
a storybook run to the semifinals that included two walkoff wins off
the bat of this tournament’s co-Most Valuable Player Rylan Thomas,
Elite Squad Prime faced the undefeated CBA Marucci on Friday morning
in the semifinals. Elite Prime's run would come to an end at the
hands of CBA, who would eventually advance to the championship game
on a 3-1 victory.
The
Dallas Patriots also made an undefeated run to the championship game,
but they were truly tested in the semis by the Team Citius Warriors.
The Patriots narrowly escaped with a 2-1 win that included an amazing
pitching performance from Jonathan Heasley.
This
title game was sure to be an exciting one, considering the talent on
both of these teams. CBA Marucci has a whopping 15 college
commitments, but as always, these games aren't won on paper. The
Dallas Patriots also carry a respectable amount of players committed
to D-I schools, with six already pledged to play ball at their
college of choice.
This
championship game would get started with Cameron Jabara dicing it up
in the first inning, and that would be his theme for the day, as he
would not allow a hit until the sixth inning. The Patriots would not
receive the same kind of performance from their starting pitcher, as
the CBA Marucci offense chipped away with three consecutive one-run
innings that included a towering home run courtesy of Griffen
Herrera. Herrera was the main source of offense in this game for CBA
Marucci, going 2-for-2 on the day with that bomb and a single.
Jabara
was cruising until the sixth inning, as he dropped in velocity a
little bit near the end and the Patriots capitalized. They would
finally get on the board this inning, starting it off with a clutch
double off the bat of Jordan Wiley. This inning featured some
incredibly competitive at-bats from the Patriots. In fact, Zack
Chastain had a 13 pitch at-bat against Jabara which eventually ended
with him getting on base by way of fielder’s choice to load them
up.
The
Patriots were very aggressive at the plate and put good swings on
almost every pitch late in the game. With their backs against the
wall, they fought off every pitch they could in order to put runners
on base. Even when behind in the count, they would foul off countless
balls until they found a pitch they could hit. Their approach really
paid off in this inning. A sac fly would eventually score Wiley and
bring the game to a score of 3-1.
Jabara
came out for the seventh inning to finish what he started. His poise
and composure were fantastic to watch, and he got three quick outs to
give CBA Marucci the 2015 17u WWBA National Championship. Jabara
finished with seven strikeouts through seven innings in a memorable
championship game performance on the mound. A dogpile ensued, as the
boys from California were completely elated to be champs.
Their
Head Coach, Daylon Monette, was just as ecstatic to win the
championship as the boys were, if not more. His journey with these
kids has been long, and he has been their coach since they were just
10-years old. To see them play like this brings him the utmost joy.
“I
hate to be cliché, but this is like the most amazing feeling,”
said a very excited Coach Monette after the game. “I’ve never
been in a tournament this big and had success and won it. Last year
we were close, but this time we had one goal, and this is my last go
around with these guys, so we just weren’t going to take no for an
answer. Every single pitch, every out, even when we were up, the
intensity in here was crazy. I feel like I’m about to sleep for a
week after this tournament.”
Coach
Monette believes that the pitching he saw from his staff this weekend
was some of the best he has ever seen, and really was the key factor
in winning this tournament.
“Honestly,
that pitching staff; I’ve never seen anything like it,” Monette
continued. “We knew we were gonna run into great arms out here, but
we have complete pitchers. The offense is great and makes things
happen but the pitching staff absolutely carried us. I don’t know
if we even let up more than ten runs the whole tournament. We had a
great, great run at it.”
Although
the pitching staff was very important for CBA Marucci this week, you
can’t win games without scoring runs, and the tournament MVP,
Nicholas Kahle, was a huge component of their offense. Kahle’s
stats speak for themselves when it comes to why he was honored with
the other half of the event's MVP award, as he batted .448 with 11
RBI, a .897 slugging percentage, .500 on-base percentage and one home
run.
“Well
this tournament was really fun,” Kahle said. “That’s the best
part, you know, with all the teammates and stuff. You really get to
bond. I just worked hard and got pitches up, and tried to play my
game and didn’t do too much. My approach at the plate was to just
get a pitch in the zone and go for it. They’re a good team, so I
knew we had to play our best game to win. I had our confidence in Cam
pitching and we got it done. This tournament had a lot of good teams,
and it’s always fun winning. I’m glad we got it done.”
As
good as CBA Marucci’s staff was, the Dallas Patriots had an ace of
their own. The Most Valuable Pitcher award was handed to Heasley, who
as noted above was just absolutely dominant in their semifinal
victory, throwing a complete game and finishing with 13 strikeouts.
Heasley’s stat line for the week included only one earned run
allowed through 13 innings of work, striking out 18 in total.
“I
think we knew we had been playing well all week, and we had been
crushing the ball,” Heasley said. “I knew I had a great defense
behind me, so I just wanted throw strikes and give them a chance to
make plays. We were all really confident going into that game. Focus
is a big thing for me, and I think I was locked in this week. Good
defense really helps my mindset.
“I
think being able to spot up my off-speed early in the count helped my
fastball. I was able to blow it by them and put it away. This
tournament is a grind, and it’s long, but we’re going to Arizona
next week for another tournament so this loss gives us motivation to
go out and get it next week.”
The
2015 17u WWBA National Championship had it all, from walkoffs to
Cinderella stories, and it is only right that it ends with a close
game between two great teams. CBA Marucci couldn’t have played a
better tournament, and in the end, they were the best complete team
on the field this week. They hope to continue the success with their
last two tournaments to finish out the summer, as these two teams
could face another another once again at the 17u Perfect Game World
Series in Goodyear, Ariz.
2015
17u WWBA National Championship runner-up: Dallas Patriots Stout
2015
17u WWBA National Championship co-MVP: Nicholas Kahle
2015
17u WWBA National Championship MV-Pitcher: Jonathan Heasley
