FORT MYERS, Fla. – A dominating week was capped off in style for 5 Star National Burress as they marched through an imposing paths of teams before handling Top Tier Roos 16u Americans 9-1 to take home the 16u BCS National Championship.
Going through the East Cobb Astros in their first playoff game and surviving two close games Saturday with a walkoff victory against Ostinger Baseball Academy 2019, and a come-from-behind quarterfinal triumph over Ropes 16u Florence, brought 5 Star to Sunday's semifinal matchup against USA Showcase Prime.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first, 5 Star had a quick response by plating four runs of their own with Harrison Long's two-run double giving them a lead they never relinquished. Dante Visconti (2019, St. Johns, Fla.) was stellar after the first, striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings as 5 Star moved to the championship game with a 6-2 victory.
In the final, they would matchup with Top Tier Roos 16u Americans, who defeated SWFL Nation 2019, 8-2, in their semifinal behind a complete game effort from Cody Lee.
5 Star jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first inning on an RBI double from Lilo Paxia (2019, Easthampton, N.J.) and an RBI groundout from Jarrett Brown (2019, Ellabell, Ga.). That gave lefthander Cameron Jones (2019, Kathleen, Ga.) an early lead to work with.
Jones surrendered an unearned run in the second, but his teammates would put the game out of reach with a huge reply in the bottom half of the inning.
With two outs, Brian Baughman (2019, Tampa, Fla.) singled through the left side to bring home a run to make it 3-1. After a hit by pitch and a walk to load the bases, Trey Lipscomb (2018, Clarksburg, Md.) launced a double to the gap in left-center to clear the bases and make it a five-run inning and a 7-1 advantage.
5 Star added on to their lead again with two outs in the third as Long grounded a single into center, scoring two more runs to make it 9-1.
Jones had a first and third with one out situation in the fifth, but coaxed a ground ball to 5 Star shortstop Harrison Thiel (2019, Parrish, Fla.) who tossed to Long at second, who fired a strike to first to seal the victory and start a massive dogpile on the mound.
The 9-0 week for 5 Star was made even more impressive as three of their prominent players were at USA Baseball endeavors during the week.
Rece Hinds, the No. 2 ranked player in the class of 2019, 32nd-ranked Isaiah Bennett and 146th-ranked Christian Cairo were all unavailable, but 5 Star coach Andy Burress saw it ripe for opportunities for players like Long, who took home Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament, to step up.
"When we were up at the WWBA in Georgia, we couldn't get Harrison at-bats with all of our guys available, but he was ready to play when he was called upon,” Coach Burress said. “Having kids like that in any program is a great thing, and you look at the week winning MVP, he took advantage of his opportunity."
Long (2019, Sarasota, Fla.), who finished the tournament 9-for-14 at the plate with nine RBI, relished the chance to shine and help his club all the way to the top.
"I saw the ball good all week, we all did as a team when we needed to,” Long said. “Those guys that we were missing are such a big part of this team so guys had to step up and get the job done.”
Jones grabbed Most Valuable Pitcher honors, with his fine performance in the championship game to go along two other strong outings for the week as he didn't allow an earned run in 10 1/3 innings of work.
"It was a tough week knowing our big guys would be off to USA Baseball, but we knew we were still good enough to win this thing,” Jones said. “I'm a guy that doesn't throw too hard, won't strike out a ton of guys out. I really believe I've got the best defense in the country behind me, so pitching to contact and getting guys off balance works for me."
2017 16u BCS National Championship runner-up: Top Tier Roos 16u Americans
2017 16u BCS National Championship MVP: Harrison Long
2017 16u BCS National Championship MV Pitcher: Cameron Jones
