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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/22/2018

MWE Bombers rise to BCS glory

Bryan Cooney     
Photo: MWE Bombers 16u (Perfect Game)



FORT MYERS, Fla. – After not even playing in the MWE Bombers’ first two two games, Daniel Garcia was inserted in the lineup and never stopped producing. After driving in at least one run in six of his team’s next eight games, Garcia’s two-run double in the second inning gave the Bombers a lead they would not relinquish as MWE defeated Power Baseball 2020 10-4 to claim the 2018 16u BCS National Championship at jetBlue Park.

Out of all of the talent featured on the MWE Bombers, a player like Daniel Garcia (2020, San Bernardino, Ca.), a Grand Canyon commit, would fly under the radar being on a roster with four players in Perfect Game’s Top 100 rankings for the Class of 2020.The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Garcia was even a relative unknown on his own club before the tournament started, and for good reason: it was his first tournament with the Bombers, and his first time even taking part in a Perfect Game tournament.

“Playing with a newer team, it was kind of tough to fit in at first,” Garcia said. “This group of guys, though, a lot of talent on this team and it was great to getting this opportunity to play with them here.”

The MWE Combers entered the tournament fresh off a strong showing at the 16u WWBA National Championship in Georgia that saw them go 6-1, however, they lost out on advancing to the playoff bracket due to a tiebreaker. MWE head coach Lale Esquival brought his group into Fort Myers with high expectations and saw his team handle all challengers on their way to the title.

“I’ve had most of these kids since they have been 10, 11 years old,” Esquival said. “It’s a great bunch, they’re hard workers and give it 100% all the time. Last year, we came up a bit short in the BCS, but they came back this year and won it. I’m very proud of what they accomplished here today and I’m looking for a lot of great things ahead for these kids, I’ve got some good ones.”

With a title game matchup of a Bombers lineup rich in experience against high-level competition, Power Baseball’s pitching staff entered the final allowing just 25 runs over nine games. In addition, they had one of the top arms in the country on the hill ready to go in Florida State commit Carson Montgomery (2020, Windermere, Fla.), the No. 12-ranked prospect in the class of 2020.

Right from the opening pitch, Montgomery flashed his big fastball and struck out his first two batters of the day. However, after Yanluis Ortiz (2020, Grapevine, Texas) singled through the left side, the righthander lost command of the strike zone and three consecutive walks to force in a run. The Bombers were gifted another run as a simple throw back to Montgomery went awry to put Power Baseball in a 2-0 hole before they even got a chance to bat.

In the home half, Power Baseball’s Pablo Delgado (2020, Windermere, Fla.) lined a single to right, and thanks to a two-base error from the Bombers on a throw from third to first on a ground ball, a chance to respond was there for the taking. Power Baseball took advantage of wildness from MWE starter Jovan Gill (2020, Overland Park, Kan.) as two balls in the dirt with two outs brought in runs to even the score through an inning of play.

In the second, Montgomery continued to have issues finding the plate as three straight one-out walks ended his outing. Mitchell Harding (2020, Windermere, Fla.) was tasked to try and put out the fire with Garcia due up with the bases loaded. Garcia greeted Harding by launching a deep drive to right that one-hopped over the wall for an automatic double to put MWE back in front 4-2.

Power Baseball had an answer as they took advantage of another Bomber error as Anthony Garcia (2020, West Orange, Fla.), who had been hit by a pitch to open the second, scored on a two-out error at shortstop to close the gap to 4-3.

In the fourth, the Bomber offense went back on the attack. A Power Baseball two-base error on a Jorge Figueroa (2020, Southlake, Texas) ground ball allowed him to go all the way to third before Ortiz brought him in on a single through the right side. Bryan Muniz (2020, Orange Park, Fla.) and Colby Jost (2019, Copperas Cove, Texas) would add RBI singles in the frame that was aided by two walks and a balk from Power Baseball pitching to extend the MWE lead to 8-3.

Gill issued a one-out, bases-loaded walk to bring Power Baseball a run closer at 8-4 in the fourth, but picked up back-to-back strikeouts to limit the damage. He would get the first two outs in the fifth before being replaced by Jonathan Martinez (2020, Mission, Texas), who would go on to record 2 2/3 hitless innings and collect four strikeouts the rest of the way.

The Bombers added a run in sixth with Alex Garcia (2020, Fort Myers, Fla.) lining an RBI single to right to score Muniz, who led off the inning with a triple off the Green Monster in left. They tacked on one more in the seventh on another RBI single to right off the bat of Francisco Hernandez (2020, Laredo, Texas).

Several Bombers showcased their abilities with the bat over the course of the week, but none were as vital as Garcia as he finished with a .542 average (13-for-24), five doubles, a triple and 10 RBI in nine games to earn him MV-Player honors for the tournament. Coming to the East Coast for the first time in his life, Garcia relished the chance to show what he can do on a big stage going up against the best of the best from around the country.

“I’d walk into the hotel room and see all these guys on this team is 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3, and I’m like, ‘where am I going to play?’” Garcia said. “I ended up hitting the ball well and found a spot at first base and it was really fun to be able to play with these guys, they’re all great people. Being out here trying to prove myself, at the same time trying to contribute was great.”

Jordan Andrade (2020, Yucaipa, Calif.), Hernandez, Muniz and Ortiz all had double-digit hits for the week for the Bombers. Their top arms – Gill and Felix Fabian Sanchez (2019, Coamo, Puerto Rico) – combined to strike out 22 batters in 18 2/3 innings over the tournament while allowing three earned runs between them.

Power Baseball’s Najer Victor (2020, Clermont, Fla.) was selected as the tournament’s MV-Pitcher as his quarterfinal performance against the No. 2-seeded 643 DP Cougars Sterling played a big role in his team’s run to the title game. Victor worked 6 1/3 innings while allowing two runs on Saturday and finished the week with a 1.40 ERA in 10 1/3 innings while collecting nine strikeouts.

Offensively, Power Baseball was paced by David Parker (2020, Orlando, Fla.), who tied Garcia with 13 hits, which led the field. Victor batted .324 (11-for-34) with seven RBI and Delgado also had 11 hits for the week in 32 at-bats, good for a .344 average.


2018 16u BCS National Championship runner-up: Power Baseball 2020



2018 16u BCS National Championship MVP: Daniel Garcia



2018 16u BCS National Championship MV-Pitcher: Najer Victor
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