SANFORD, Fla. – With their first pool-play game at this week’s Perfect Game 14U World Series already in the books by early Tuesday afternoon, the Banditos Scout Team 14U are certainly looking the part of a realistic championship contender. Just like they did during pool-play a little over a week ago in Hoover, AL, although that one didn’t end so well.

The Hoover Met Sports Complex was the site of the PG WWBA 14U National Championship held July 10-16, The Banditos ST 14U frolicked through pool-play at 7-0-0 and outscored their opponents by a combined 62-7 to earn the No. 1 seed, only to lose their first playoff game to the No. 17 Cincy Flames by a score of 9-1.

“They’re 14 years old so it’s up and down,” he said referring their performances. “These kids are starting to understand how the wood bat works and the adjustments they have to make but at the end of the day they’re 14. Anybody can beat anybody out here; there’s a lot of great talent.”

Speaking of getting use to swinging wood, DeLeon pointed out that the game of baseball has always been about making the proper adjustments and trying to get better. Wood bats are, after all, the ultimate equalizer, forcing the hitter to square-up pitches and make solid contact.

He joked that his young players are finally beginning to fully understand why today’s big league ballplayers are paid millions of dollars-it’s hard to hit with a wood bat.

“These kids are learning how to handle it; it’s hard to string three or four hits together in one game,” he said. “It’s just tough, so they’re learning how to adjust, for sure.”

With only 28 teams invited to compete, the 14U PG WS is much more exclusive than the PG WWBA and PG BCS 14U national championships. They’re 28 of the very best, of course, and DeLeon, who has been doing this for 27 years, is absolutely floored by how talented this age group is. He sees 14-year-old pitchers approaching 90 mph with their fastballs and calls it “unreal.”

One of those is Jansen Kenty, the 6-0, 175 pound lefthanded Alabama commit from Georgia. His fastball averaged 85 mph and topped-out at 87 during a superb outing on Tuesday when he threw a complete game, four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and no walks; he also contributed a double and a single to the Banditos’ seven hit effort.

Arrambide, Andre Wood, Landon Victorian, David Hogg II and Cage McCloud each drove in one run apiece in the 7-0 win over the MC Hit Dogs. The Banditos were being shutout through the first four innings, then found their rhythm and scored all seven of their runs in the final three innings, including four in the top of the seventh.

“Every game, you can learn something new. You learn something about the other team, learn something about your own team,” Arrambide said of the experience. “If you do something wrong you fix it, you learn about it and you try to do your best to not let it happen again.”

It was just the first game at a PG national championship tournament with many more to be played over the next five days, but it did set the right tone for the Banditos Scout Team 14U. DeLeon has guided his share of championship teams through the years, and he fully understands what needs to be done to avoid another letdown like the one that surfaced in Hoover a  week ago.

“We’ve got to go out and get one game at a time and see where we lay,” DeLeon said. “You’ve got to try to throw your  number1, 2, 3, and 4 (pitchers) right away and then try to survive at the end; that’s the way you do it. If you try to sluff and wait you’ll be home eating Whataburger if you keep trying to save pitchers.”

And then the veteran skipper offered a little perspective to a circumstance that might be lost on his 14-year-old players:

“With the COVID-19 (pandemic), you never know what’s going to happen; we could get shutdown today, you just don’t know,” DeLeon concluded. “We’re just happy we’re playing and we’ll trust in God that we all stay healthy, and it’s been good so far. We’re looking forward to a good week, for sure.”