EMERSON, Ga. – The Game On West Yankees defeated the Georgia
Jackets National 16u by a score of 9-3 to earn the first place trophy in the
2017 PG Super25 16u Georgia Super Qualifier at LakePoint.
The Yankees would jump out early, loading up the bases in
the first with no outs, which brought Jacob Boyd to the plate. He would start
the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center field that would score the only run
that they would get in the inning. They would score three more in the
bottom of the second, and although the third inning was quiet, the Yankees scored
five in the bottom of the fourth, pushing their lead to 9-0 heading into the
top of the fifth.
The Jackets would not go down without a fight, though. Reeve
Holley would drive in a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning to avoid an
early exit from the game. They would add one more in the top of the sixth, but
it would not be enough to overcome the six-run deficit that they were in.
Plenty of runs crossed the plate for the Yankees, who scored 35
in pool play. They would be held in check in the quarterfinals and semifinals,
winning by scores of 3-2 and 4-2 respectively, but were able to break back out
in the championship game.
“That’s one thing that I think our team is really good at,”
said Chad Grant, the head coach of the Game On West Yankees. “We really hit the
fastball well, and we’ve got a lot of guys that can really run well, so that
just gives us good production of runs. I’ve got a lot of advanced 16-year-olds
right now, and really the pitching that we’ve been facing is not good enough to
get those guys out, and that’s why we’ve really been producing a lot of runs.”
In the championship game, Boyd, Bryant Pietri and Jackson
Finley were the key cogs in the lineup, combining to drive in six runs. Boyd
finished the week going 5-for-11 with a home run and seven RBIs. Pietri had
seven RBIs of his own, as he had four hits in 13 at-bats. Finley would finish
the tournament 8-for-15 with two doubles, a home run, seven RBIs and two stolen
bases, and his efforts would lead him to be named the MV-Player of the
tournament. Finley offered his approach at the plate, and said that his success
was driven by keeping his front shoulder down in his swing, rather than pulling
up on the ball.
“Just feeling good, have confidence and just looking for the
right pitch, and just looking for something to hit,” Finley said. “I had to fix
my swing a little bit, because I kept getting underneath it, so once I
basically started doing that, it turned out right.”
Grant, too, realized the adjustments that his team has made
and credited them to the way the team goes about practicing.
“They’ve been listening to the approaches of the coaches,
and they’ve been really coachable and getting good pitches to hit,” Grant said.
The offense backed starter Jerry Bowman, who was brilliant
on the mound in the game’s first four innings,
gaving up only three hits, while mowing through the Jackets' lineup. He finished the game
going five innings, giving up two earned runs on seven hits, striking out eight
batters. The 6-foot, 160-pound Bowman said that the early run support allowed
him to settle in and be comfortable with attacking hitters.
“It was tremendous,” Bowman said about the early run
support. “Pitching ahead in the count is really good, and without that run
support, it’s hard to be able to use all three pitches, because you’re worried
about throwing strikes to make sure you get people out.”
The righty featured a fastball that ranged from 82-86 mph
and kept hitters guessing with a 65-67 mph curveball, which he said was the
reason for his success.
“Honestly, my curveball,” Bowman said. “My curveball hasn’t
been the best here lately, but with more work on the mound and in the cages and
such it’s really gotten better over the past few days.”
He would be named the MV-Pitcher of the tournament, giving
up only two earned runs over eight innings of work, while striking out 14
batters.
“It means a lot,” Bowman said. “I mean with all my friends
out here, just a great accomplishment and it feels great.”
The pitching staff for the Yankees gave up only 10 runs
through six games, which allowed them to claim the No. 2 seed in the
tournament. Grant was very proud of his staff and cited them as the reason they
were able to win the tournament.
“They got ahead. A lot of guys got a lot of strike ones,
didn’t walk a lot of batters, and we had a very good defense to make out
pitchers even better,” Grant said. “I thought our catchers caught really well
to make our pitchers look good as well. They kept the tempo going. I thought
our pitching was really good and that’s the reason why we won in my opinion.
Even with the win, Grant said that his team never took
anything for granted and wants to continue to win and improve as a team, having
goals that are far greater than just winning one tournament.
“They don’t get comfortable. We haven’t lost a game in two
weeks, and they’re still hungry, they still want more than just these wins,
they want the No. 1 spot in the country, so they keep pushing forward and they
just showed me that they won’t give up and they’re not satisfied. They stay
hungry,” Grant said about what he thought his team showed him.
He continued on saying that the team will look to turn the
page and focus on what is next, rather than staying in this moment.
“We’ll celebrate it today, but we have to get on to our next
thing. Our next thing is Jupiter, we’re happy to celebrate a championship, but
we’re looking forward after this.”
2017 PG Super25 16u Georgia Super Qualifier champions: Game
On West Yankees
2017 PG Super25 16u Georgia Super Qualifier runner-up: Georgia
Jackets National 16u
2017 PG Super25 16u Georgia Super Qualifier MVP: Jackson
Finley
2017 PG Super25 16u Georgia Super Qualifier MV-Pitcher: Jerry
Bowman
EMERSON, Ga. – The BigStix Gamers shutout the Michigan Storm
4-0 to win the 2017 PG Super25 15u Georgia Super Qualifier at LakePoint.
The Gamers would secure the lead early in the game, with
Corbin Shaw doubling in a run with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. Three
more runs would cross the plate in the game for the Gamers, with one coming in
the second and two in the third inning. The game would be silent from there,
with neither team scoring after the third inning.
After going 3-0 in pool play, the team would be given the
No. 3 seed heading into the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, the Gamers beat the
Game On Diamond Bears 8-2 to put them into the semifinal matchup. The next two
games would be a lot closer, as they would just escape a bases-loaded jam in
the bottom of the seventh of the semifinals against the Georgia Jackets
National to move on to the championship game.
Their success began with the offense. Twenty-six runs would
cross the plate over three games for the Gamers in pool play, and the offense
would continue to score in the playoffs, putting up eight runs in their first
playoff game. Head coach Jack Stewart said that the offensive outbreak came
from a change in the material of the bats that they swung.
“We’ve been swinging wood all summer, and this was our first
aluminum bat, so everybody got a little more comfortable swinging what they
swing,” Stewart said. “My guys know that they’re not professional hitters, and
I tell them all the time that professionals use wood, and you guys have just
got to play the game with wood. They all know that they’re not going to hit
bombs and we’ve got to play tight and clean, and we’ll stay in games, so that
was our biggest focus. I could tell that my hitters were a lot more comfortable
with what they use in high school.”
Stewart said that he is a coach who loves to work on
baserunning, but this team struggled out of the gate with running the bases. It
finally clicked with the team this weekend, and Stewart said that is was a key
factor in their team’s offensive success.
“The [baserunning] stuff that I bring to them has gotten
into their head a little bit, so they’re all trying to make something happen on
the bases that’s not there, and this was the first tournament that we limited
the mistakes, and they’re starting to play comfortable and slow the game down a
little bit,” Stewart said.
In the championship game, Shaw and Trippe Moore would lead
the Gamers’ scoring efforts. Moore went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI,
while Shaw went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Shaw would receive the MV-Player award for
the tournament and said his success was fueled by a change in his swing.
“I was feeling good,” Shaw said. “I finally fixed my swing
and I was just connecting with the ball very well. I stopped rolling over the
ball. I started squaring up with it and driving it to the alleys.”
The pitching was also solid for the Gamers, who gave up just
10 runs over the duration of the tournament. They were led by David Chenoweth
who finished with eight innings over two outings, giving up one earned run, while
striking out six. Stewart offered his strategy on utilizing his pitchers in the
tournament, which he said helped them succeed on the mound.
“Just working all of our pitchers with the pitch counts and
keeping all my guys that I need to go and I know can give me long innings,
keeping them rested around the pitch count limitations,” Stewart said.
The four runs of support in the championship game would more
than enough for Gamers’ starter Cole McWhorter, who went six innings, surrendering
just one hit and one walk, striking out two. He attacked hitters with a 76-78
mph fastball, mixing in a breaking ball as well. Stewart said that McWhorter
was not even a primary starter for them, but provides a different look for
hitters.
“It’s a little bit different strategy, that was actually my
catcher, he’s not even a pitcher for me, but he’s quirky enough,” Stewart said.
“He comes from a little bit different arm slot with his catching arm slot, and
the ball gets in on them a little bit quicker. He’s done nothing everything I
bring him in short inning but throw strikes and give our good defense a chance
to play for him, so I knew he would be a good guy to go. I didn’t think he’d
throw six complete, but he had quick innings.”
Stewart’s squad had been kicked around by some powerhouse
teams by in prior tournaments, so he said that this win was a boost to the team’s
morale.
“I think it helps their confidence a lot,” Stewart said. “They’re
used to winning at 14u, they were one of the better teams and were used to
playing in these tournaments and winning. Both teams just walked all over us in
our first two tournaments, so just for them to win a little bit and to get that
taste back in their mouth, they’re starting to loosen up.”
Jakob Marsee of the Michigan Storm garnered the MV-Pitcher
Award. The lefty struck out 13 batters over 8 2/3 innings, while giving up just
four earned runs in that span.
2017 PG Super25 15u Georgia Super Qualifier champions: BigStix
Gamers
2017 PG Super25 15u Georgia Super Qualifier runner-up:
Michigan Storm
2017 PG Super25 15u Georgia Super Qualifier MVP: Corbin Shaw
2017 PG Super25 15u Georgia Super Qualifier MV-Pitcher: Jakob
Marsee
