Team Kansas City takes 14u crown
EMERSON, Ga. – Team Kansas City was one of the most impressive teams during pool play and the playoffs at the 14u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational and the championship game was no different. Although closer than previous games, Team Kansas City still had plenty left in the tank against the Georgia Jackets on Monday morning. They utilized dominant pitching, efficient defense and timely hitting to propel them to a 2-0 victory over the Georgia Jackets.
Both teams were locked in a pitcher’s duel for the majority of the game. Jamir Simpson started the game for Team Kansas City and he was electric in his outing. He was sitting at 84-85 consistently with his fastball and reached as high as 87 on the day. Simpson fired five innings of one-hit ball and put his team in a great position to win the championship.
For the Georgia Jackets, Davis Mortland was able to keep the Team Kansas City offense in check through the first four innings. Mortland only allowed two hits through the first four but the wheels fell off in the fifth inning. After an RBI single and an RBI hit by pitch, Mortland’s day was done and the Jackets had surrendered the lead.
After accumulating the lead in the fifth inning, Sammy Cooper came in for Team Kansas City and shut the door. He pitched two hitless innings to clinch the championship for Team Kansas City.
It was a competitive game for both sides, but the rally in the fifth inning was enough to push Team Kansas City to victory.
Simpson was named MVP of the tournament and his pitching performance showed he was more than deserving of the award. In addition to his outing on the mound, Simpson had a .412 average for the tournament and led his team in hits (7), RBI (7), and home runs (1).
Josiah Siegel, of the Georgia Jackets, was named MV-Pitcher of the tournament. Siegel had an impressive outing in the semifinals as he threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run baseball to help send the Jackets to the championship game. Siegel’s final numbers were 8 2/3 innings pitched, one win, only one earned run allowed and eight strikeouts.
Manager Dayton Moore of Team Kansas City was pleased with the amount of contributions received from all players and that the players were able to finish the tournament on top.
“Today there were two really good teams,” said Moore. “And both teams are very fundamentally sound with great pitching. We’re just really happy for our players, they all contributed. We played everybody and everybody got their opportunities.”
Moore emphasized the gameplan heading into Monday’s semifinals and championship game. He stressed the importance of being aggressive with all opportunities and especially from his pitchers.
“The most important thing is throwing strikes and playing consistent defense. We did a good job of keeping runners out of scoring position, last game (championship game) they only had one hit. Jamir (Simpson) was on the attack, commanded the fastball and everybody made good plays.”
Simpson admitted after the game that he was a bit nervous pitching in the championship game. He overcame the nervousness and was able to help his team secure the championship.
“I had butterflies at first,” said Simpson. “I’m not going to lie, for the first two three innings and then I got the hang of it. We did our thing.”
The Georgia Jackets defeated Elite Gamers RWB by a score of 4-1 on Monday morning in the semifinals of the tournament. Josh Davis was the key contributor offensively as he went a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. The Jackets got on the board early with a two-run triple from Corey Collins and then an RBI single from Davis gave them a 3-0 lead before Elite Gamers even got up to bat. The Jackets then rode Josiah Siegel the rest of the way to victory. The Jackets added a final run on an RBI groundout off the bat of John Anderson to give the Jackets the final run of the game.
Team Kansas City advanced to the championship game after defeating Roadrunners Baseball by a score of 4-3. Team Kansas City took advantage of an error in the first inning to plate two runs and then added on two more in the fourth inning thanks to RBI singles from Kendall Diggs and Trevor Kardell. Both teams had multiple pitchers contribute to the final outcome. Team Kansas City rode the arms of Sam Brady and Quinton Hall to register seven strikeouts and only three runs allowed. Derek Radtke started for Roadrunners Baseball and let up four runs, only two of them earned, but Caleb Bohn finished the final 3.2 innings of the game and did not surrender a hit.
2016 14u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational champions: Team Kansas City
2016 14u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational runner-up: Georgia Jackets
2016 14u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational MVP: Jamir Simpson
2016 14u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational MV-Pitcher:Josiah Siegel
Team Elite Prime coasts to 16u Championship
EMERSON, Ga. – The 16u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational had been competitive throughout the weekend and that culminated with an uneventful championship game. Team Elite Prime defeated Team Georgia Elite handily by a score of 7-1. Team Elite showed up ready to hit and thanks to nine hits they were able to plate seven runs en route to victory.
Team Elite made most of a five-run rally in the second inning to add on a big lead early on in the game. Parker Meadows, a 2018 commit who will be attending the Perfect Game Jr. National Showcase in Fort Myers later this week, got the scoring started with an RBI walk. Later in the inning, Team Elite added more runs on an error and Angelo Dispigna knocked in the final run of the rally for another run to score. Jarrett Ford, a 2018 Tennessee commit who will also be attending the Perfect Game Jr. National Showcase, knocked in two more runs in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach for Team Georgia Elite.
Team Georgia Elite put a run on the board in the top of the fourth in an attempt to spark a comeback. Cade Heil knocked in a run on an RBI groundout.
Justin Wrobleski, the No. 2 pitcher in the state of Georgia for the class of 2018, set the tone on the mound as he racked up seven strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings to get the win for Team Elite Prime. Nolan Crisp, a 2019 Mississippi State commit (who will also be attending the Perfect Game Jr. National Showcase) and Cody Lewis came in following Wrobleski and only allowed one hit over 1 2/3 innings to shut the door on the Team Georgia Elite comeback.
Griffin Cheney of Team Georgia Elite was named MVP of the tournament. He batted .333, including two triples, and scored seven runs and had one RBI. Cheney did not impact the championship game much as he went 0-for-3 with one strikeout at the plate.
Kumar Rocker, the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2018 – another Jr. National participant later this week – took home MV-Pitcher honors for his performance in the overall tournament. Rocker sits in the low-90s with his fastball and went 2-0 with nine innings pitched, no earned runs allowed and 14 strikeouts over the course of the tournament.
Manager Shane Hopper sees this tournament victory not as a standalone achievement, but as a potential springboard into a productive summer. Every game and tournament that passes Team Elite Prime gains more playing time together, and more opportunities to gel into a cohesive unit.
“These guys came together this week,” said Hopper. “The second week of our season, and our guys haven’t played a lot together. Steadily working hard, this is just the first one of hopefully many. With that being said this is a great group of kids, they’re putting the time and the energy in. This is a great program win too, Team Elite has been improving at a steady pace and this is a total organizational win. We’re excited for the future.”
Hopper described the championship game as a series of adjustments. Whether it was offensively, defensively, or pitching any championship team needs to be able to make in-game adjustments.
“What I’ve learned over the years is that you have to let the game come to you,” said Hopper. “If a guy is pounding the zone then you have to jump on early pitches and not let them get ahead. Their guy today was throwing a lot of off-speed pitches so we changed our approach after the first inning and it paid off in the second. They came back and scored one in the fourth and I’ve been preaching, ‘win half innings, win the inning,’ so we come back and put two back on them. It’s a game of momentum so you just kind of let it come to you and figure it out as you go.”
Team Georgia Elite advanced to the championship game after an impressive 4-0 shutout to defeat the East Cobb Colt .45s. Team Georgia Elite was in great shape following Cade Heil’s impressive effort on the mound. Heil threw 6 2/3 shutout innings while striking out six. Offensively, Team Georgia Elite benefitted off timely hits and run scoring opportunities including an impressive at-bat from Chance Lovertich that resulted in an RBI walk.
Team Elite Prime defeated Dulins Dodgers by a score of 6-3. Kumar Rocker led the way on the mound tossing five innings and allowing no earned runs with seven strikeouts. After Rocker, Brennan Vasquez came in to put the Dodgers away for good. Jarrett Ford knocked in one run on two hits and Will Banfield, a 2017 Vanderbilt commit who is the No. 14 overall player for his class, also plated two with two hits for the day.
2016 16u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational champions: Team Elite 16's Prime
2016 16u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational runner-up: Team Georgia 16u Elite
2016 16u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational MVP: Griffin Cheney
2016 16u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational MV-Pitcher: Kumar Rocker
East Cobb Astros outlast Excel Blue Wave in extras
The East Cobb Astros and Excel Blue Wave played in a nail-biter as the championship game for the 18u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational went nine innings. The Astros struck in the ninth inning to score two and win the championship by a final score of 5-3.
Andrew Groagan made an inspired effort on the mound as he pitched six solid innings for the Astros only allowing three runs to score. Grogan stranded multiple baserunners as he did allow eight hits and two walks, but he also struck out five.
The game was tied at two apiece until the sixth inning when the Astros broke through to take the lead. Christian Furr gave the lead to the Astros with an RBI single in the top half of the inning. The Blue Wave did not waver as they came back in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single from Nathan Lloyd. However, Grogan was able to escape a bases loaded jam to keep the game tied heading to the seventh inning.
Troy Cordery, the No. 16 overall player in the state of Alabama for the class of 2017, came in after Grogan and kept the game scoreless to give the Astros a chance to win it. He threw three scoreless innings and was credited with the win following the scoring in the top of the ninth. In the top of the ninth, the Astros plated two following an RBI single from Joseph Odachowski, the No. 28 middle infielder in the state of Georgia for the class of 2017, and a sacrifice fly from Tristen Hudson, the No. 7 shortstop in the state of South Carolina for the class of 2017.
Following the game, manager Jamie Crane was proud of his team’s ability to persevere and to know that they would have a chance to win the game.
“The same thing I preach always is family and playing for each other,” said Crane. “That’s what they did all weekend is play for each other and stay focused. Just being a brotherhood where they have a faith in each other and faith to pull through, that’s what baseball is about and they played like a brotherhood today.”
Crane was also pleased that the Astros were able to win the tournament that they were hosting. This is the second time in three years that the Astros have won the Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational and Crane hopes that his team’s performance this weekend is a sign of things to come this summer.
“We’re a different brand,” said Crane “We expect to win and we feel like we have a target on our back every week, but we enjoy that target on our back. It gets the guys to play the game they love and bond together, we expect a good year. Going forward this is the second time we’ve won this event in three years and two years ago it led to a really good year and we’re just hoping the same thing transpires and to keep everybody healthy and let the kids have fun together.”
Christian Furr of the Astros was named MVP of the tournament. Furr hit .500 for the entire tournament and had eight runs scored and nine RBI, including the RBI to take the lead late in the championship game. Jacob Sears of the Blue Wave was named MV-Pitcher for his performance this tournament. Sears collected one win and only allowed one earned run in eight innings pitched.
Furr was very happy not only for himself, but also for his teammates. He realizes that even though he was the MVP that the team would not have won the tournament had it not have been for a collective effort from the entire team.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Furr. “Today we didn’t have a couple guys on our team and a bunch of other guys stepped up today. We dug deep a little bit, it was a long day and a long game but we pulled through.”
The Excel Blue Wave advanced to the championship after defeating Team Elite Prime 5-1. Jacob Sears started for the Blue Wave and he allowed a run to score in the first inning against Team Elite. Following that he was able to stifle the offense for the remainder of the game as his complete game allowed the Blue Wave to advance. Nathan Lloyd knocked in two runs to help the offense and that was enough with the way Sears was pitching.
The East Cobb Astros defeated Team Elite South 9-3 in order to advance to the championship. The Astros jumped on Team Elite’s pitching early as they scored all nine of their runs in the first four innings. Christian Furr and Tyler Wilkerson collected two RBI each to propel the offense to victory.
2016 18u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational champions: East Cobb Astros
2016 18u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational runner-up: Excel Blue Wave
2016 18u Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational MVP: Christian Furr
