FORT MYERS, Fla. – As the final results of Sunday’s third-round playoff games at the Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championship began trickling in Sunday evening with the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico, a Perfect Game typist began searching for the perfect adjective to most accurately describe the position the East Coast Sox Select found themselves in.
Unlikely? The definition reads, “Not likely to happen, be done, or be true; improbable.” OK, how about improbable? “Not likely to be true or to happen.” Not satisfied, the note-taker went for it. How about impossible? “Not able to occur, exist, or be done.” Improbably, impossible seemed to be the adjective that best described the situation.
The No. 62-seeded East Coast Sox Select, the last team allowed into the playoff field at the 14th annual PG WWBA Underclass World Championship, shocked the World by beating the Nos. 3 (Phenom Signature), 30 (Diamond Skills Dodgers) and 14 (Marucci Baseball) seeds in the first three rounds of the playoffs and earned one of eight spots in Monday’s quarterfinal round.
Unlikely? Improbable? Impossible? Well, as it turns out the East Coast Sox Select made sure none of those adjectives applied. And now the Sox Select – despite being a little geographically challenged considering their base of operations is in Cordova, Tenn., not far from Memphis and in the middle of the country – will be playing on Monday. There might have even been some divine intervention involved, according to head coach Joe Caruso.
“It would not shock me at all with this group,” Caruso said when asked about his team’s chances of playing on into Monday before it faced No. 14 Marucci Baseball in its third-round playoff game. “They’re finding a way to win and they’re finding a way to compete and we just feel like God can do anything. If we can keep doing our job and God takes care of his job, we’ll see what happens in the end.”
The No. 62 EC Sox Select (5-1-0) will face No. 6 FTB Black (6-0-0) from Kissimmee, Fla., in their quarterfinal game Monday morning at the JetBlue Player Development Complex.
The other quarterfinal matchups – all at JetBlue – feature No. 1 Florida Burn 2017 Pennant (5-0-0) from Sarasota, Fla., against No. 9 Scorpions 2017 Prime (6-0-0) from Altamonte Springs, Fla.; the No. 52 EvoShield Canes (5-1-0) from Fredericksburg, Va., against No. 28 SCORE International 2017 out of Land O’ Lakes, Fla.; and No. 2 Elite Baseball Training Chicago (Ill.) 2017 (5-0-0) versus No. 10 Marucci Elite (6-0-0) from Baton Rouge, La.
It’s true: the first three rounds of the playoffs eliminated six of the top-10 seeds, and every team seeded 11 through 27 and 29 through 51. Such craziness should be expected at a 246-team talent-laden tournament with a 62-team playoff field.
The EC Sox Select walked on a precarious precipice the entire weekend. They won their five games by scores of 3-2, 5-2, 4-3, 6-4 and 3-1, and suffered an 8-3 loss during pool-play. Twice in their five wins they trailed or were tied heading into the seventh inning and once they trailed going into the fourth before rallying for wins.
“It feels like we’ve been down every game but we’ve always kept our cool and we’ve always stayed humble,” Caruso said. “We’ve just said, all right Lord, it’s in your hands and let’s go out there and keep doing it. The sixth and seventh innings have been very good to us.
“I’ve been very pleased with their perseverance,” he continued. “It seemed like every game we faced a really good pitcher down here in a Perfect Game event, and that’s why we come to play is to face exceptional players and exceptional teams from all across the country. We’re just blessed to be a part of it.”
In the 3-1 third-round playoff win over No. 14 Marucci Baseball (5-1-0), 2017 left-handers Jack Brittle and Shelton Clevenger, and 2017 righty Ben Glass combined on a seven-inning two-hitter, allowing one earned run while striking out five and walking two.
Cameron Parikh singled and drove in a pair of runs and Trey Harrington was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Harrington hit .368 (7-for-19) with a double and five RBI in the first five games to lead an offense that is hitting just .189 as a team.
The third-round win came over a Marucci Baseball outfit that joined its big brother Marucci Elite in the playoffs and was 5-0-0 heading into its game against the EC Sox Select. Head Coach Rooster Southall felt good about his group heading into the third-rounder, and for good reason.
“The kids jumped in and we talked about buying into winning – it’s not a showcase and were going to try to win; the longer you’re here the more you’re going to actually showcase yourselves,” he said pregame. “They bought into it, it’s working, all the athletes are getting their playing time and we’re just grinding it out, doing the best we can.
“It’s a good group of kids, and when you get all the ingredients you try to make (yourself) a good gumbo.”
Monday’s quarterfinal and semifinal round games will be at JetBlue in the morning with the championship game tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. at Hammond Stadium at the CenturyLink Sports Complex. Regardless of how tomorrow plays out, Caruso knows this entire adventure has been well worth everybody’s time.
“This is why we come to Fort Myers every fall; that is why we spend a month in Atlanta during the summer,” he said. “Perfect Game World Wood Bat (Association) events are where all the colleges are and that’s where we want to be. We’re just blessed to be a part of it because if this wasn’t here, a lot of these kids wouldn’t be getting seen or getting this exposure.”