14u Florida Select
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Facing off for the 14u Florida Select Championship was PBA Diamonds and Florida Dodgers 2024 Scout team. Every pool play game for the Dodgers was a shutout, rightfully earning them a spot in playoffs where they had to fight to make it into the championship. On the other hand, PBA also went undefeated through pool play but dominated through the playoffs to claim their spot in the championship with ease.
As the championship got underway, PBA took an early lead after Jayden Gordon Somers hit a grounder through the gap in center for an RBI. PBA carried their performance into the bottom of the first where pitcher Sebastian Velasquez had back to back K's and an infield out to keep the game moving.
The Dodgers cleaned things up in the top of the second with three up three down, including a strikeout from pitcher David Martin. As they then came to the plate, the Dodgers got close to bringing in the tying run but PBA wouldn’t allow it and they were forced to leave two on.
Through the third and fourth inning, Dodgers pitcher David Martin took away any opportunity PBA thought they had of putting another run on the board. Martin pitched to just seven batters in which he gave up one hit and struck one out.
For PBA, they continued to show their strength under pressure as they kept the Dodgers from ever reaching home, despite them getting into scoring position in both the third and fourth inning. Playing the big role these shutout innings was pitcher Sebastian Valasquez who handed out two K's.
After being shut down at the plate by David Martin for three innings, PBA now faced Jesse Murrell in the top of the fifth. With the pitching change came a new opportunity to score when Murrell walked Orlando Fernandez during the first at bat. Fernandez was eventually brought home thanks to a grounder to short off the bat of Santiago Liendo and the score went up to 2-0.
As PBA worked to keep their lead through the bottom of the fifth, it became time to bring in relief pitcher Kyle Klaric to close out the inning. Klaric did his job and forced the Dodgers to leave runners on first and third.
Moving into the sixth inning, Jesse Murrell found his groove on the mound and threw a clean inning for the Dodgers with one K and one hit.
Then after five scoreless innings, the Dodgers started raking in the bottom of the sixth. Up to the plate first was Kody Daneault who got things started with a grounder down the left field line.
A few batters later it was Cameron Nadeau up to the plate and with a 3-2 count, Naudeau crushed a 75 mph fastball deep to right for a double to tie up the game at 2-2. To take the lead, Caiden Kowal traded places with Nadeau as he hit a double down the right field line and brought the score to 3-2. After PBA lost their lead, Kyle Klaric finally closed out the inning with a strikeout.
Dodgers coach Jordan Rooks told PG he knew his team had “battled through adversity” in the semi-final game which gave them the mentality “if they punch us we punch back harder” and that's exactly what they did in their sixth inning rally.
Securing the championship title in the top of the seventh was a joint effort from Dodger pitchers Jesse Murrell and Trevor Bradley resulting in PBA being the ones left in scoring position.
The Most Valuable Player award was given to Cameron Nadeau of the Dodgers for a tournament performance including six hits, nine RBI's, and six runs.
Jayden Gordon-Somers of PBA was named the Most Valuable Pitcher with four K's and thirteen outs over four innings pitched.
15u Florida Select
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The 15u Florida Select championship game turned out to not be the first time Florida Burn 2023 Platinum and Hit Factory Legends had met. These two teams had actually met on day two of the tournament where it was Florida Burn who won 7-5, making the championship game a rematch between teams with something to prove.
Coach Pat Russo of Hit Factory told PG they had previously lost “due to a couple of mistakes” and the championship was their second chance to correct them.
The championship started out as a game of repetition as both teams scored one run in the first and then went scoreless in the second.
First to get on the board was Hit Factory who scored off Clay Thompson's line drive to center. When it was Florida Burn’s turn at the plate, lead off hitter Cade Hentz crushed the first pitch he saw, sending it deep to left for a double. Hentz was then quickly brought home off a grounder to left from Trent Adrian to tie the game at 1-1.
The repetition stopped during the bottom of the third once Florida Burn loaded the bases with just three at bats. Once again, it was Cade Hentz at the plate who did his job and hit a sac fly to center for an RBI to raise the score to 2-1.
Florida Burn couldn’t get too comfortable with their one run lead as Hit Factory started heating up at the plate in the top of the fourth. After early singles from Brian Canasi and Clay Thompson got Hit Factory on base, Brooks Chamberlin hit a line drive to center giving both runners enough time to make it home and take back the lead, now 3-2.
Chamberlin’s two RBI's gave Hit Factory the momentum they needed and shook up Florida Burn’s infield.
With two outs on the board, Cayden Silver and Bryce Fraga got on base with grounders to the infield and got to work stealing bases. After a slew of wild pitches, both Silver and Fraga scored before an at-bat was even finished to bring them to a 3 run lead at 5-2.
To shut down Hit Factory, Florida Burn brought in pitcher Luke Donley who closed out the inning throwing just three pitches for a K.
While Donley was able to stop them in the fourth, Hit Factory came back and put up one more run in the top of the fifth off a sac fly to right from Brian Canasi.
After the fifth, Luke Donley took control and pitched to just seven batters through the last two innings to keep the score at 6-2.
Justin Rangel of Hit Factory was responsible for shutting out Florida Burn during most of the fourth and fifth inning, where he handed out one K and allowed just one hit.
Then taking over for part of the fifth and pitching though the seventh was Brian Canasi who struck out three batters, most importantly of which was the last batter of the game.
Florida Burn 2023 Platinum went from the seventh seed to winning the championship with a score of 6-2.
Rex Smith of Florida Burn was named the 15u Florida Select Most Valuable Player with seven hits, five RBI's, and one run.
Hit Factory’s Trey Gonzalez was awarded Most Valuable Pitcher as he threw for five innings with nine K's and seventeen outs.
16u Florida Select
FORT MYERS, Fla. - For the 16u Florida Select championship, it became clear early on that the game would come down to which pitcher could maintain better control of the game between Florida Burn 2022 Doc and Cannons Baseball Academy 2022 National.
For the start of the championship, it wasn't until the top of the second that Florida Burn got their bats going and started loading the bases. Three consecutive grounders from Dillion Costello, Gunnar Alexander, and Miles Curry were all they needed and then, with the next batter, Florida Burn walked in their first run of the game.
From that point on, both teams went scoreless through the fourth with Cannons finally breaking the cycle and putting up three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Shutting out Cannons for the first four innings however was Camden Boyer who handed out five K's and gave up one hit before Cannons gained their momentum in the fifth.
Starting things off at the plate for Cannons was Frank Villella who crushed a line drive to center for a single. Alex Walsh then came in to pinch run for Villella and demonstrated his speed by making it to third during a bunt to the pitcher from Aiden Hernandez. Walsh was soon able to score as a wild pitch opened up enough of a window for him to make it home and avoid the tag as Hernandez advanced to third.
Hernandez was next to be brought home courtesy of a sac fly to left from Leonardo Beltran. To bring in one last run during the inning and bring the score to 3-1, Roger Vergara sent a line drive deep into center for an RBI.
When Cannons came back to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, JP Callens created an opportunity for his team to put at least one more run on the board with his line drive to center. Callens then made his way around the diamond getting into scoring position off a walk and stolen base. When his opportunity came due to a wild pitch, Callens sprinted home and brought the score to 4-1.
Overall for Cannons, pitcher Brandon Barriera pitched through the first six innings, racking up six K's, giving up four hits, and allowing only one run. Then coming in to relieve Barriera for the seventh was Frank Viella who walked two and struck out the last batter he faced to complete Cannons’ five inning shutout and keep the final score at 4-1.
The Most Valuable Player award was given to Dillon Costello of Florida Burn due to his ten hits, six RBI's, and six runs throughout the tournament.
Quin Spalding of Cannons Baseball Academy was named the Most Valuable Pitcher with a tournament record of thirty two outs and twelve K's over ten innings pitched and a 89 FB velo.
17u Florida Select
FORT MYERS, Fla. - For the 17u Florida Select Championship, well known SWFL Nation 2021 was set to take on Primal 9 Royalty 2021. During the tournament, both teams had a record of 2-1 through pool play but overall, SWFL Nation had a total of twenty four runs scored with just six runs allowed compared to Primal’s ten runs scored and seven allowed. Going into the championship, it looked like SWFL Nation would be at an advantage based on their stats.
Pitching the first four shutout innings of the game for SWFL Nation was Allen Guerrero who handed out six K's, gave up just three hits, and had a fastball topping out at 82 mph. SWFL then made a substitution on the mound after the fourth inning and brought in Haile Daley who pitched for the remaining three.
It was in the top of the sixth that Primal ended the shutout after Daley walked three batters and lost control of a pitch allowing Dylan Renard to score. Daley however regained composure on the mound and stuck out the batter to end the inning.
Daley finished out the game on the mound and overall, struck out two batters, allowed one run, and topped out at 79 mph.
When SWFL Nation was at the plate, they played a steady game and racked up run after run through the first five innings.
Leading SWFL Nation in RBIs during the championship was Blake Barquin who went 1-3 with three RBI's and hit .600 over the course of the tournament. Right behind Barquin was Logan Adams with two RBI's and both Andrew Sundean and Perry Cook contributed one.
Staying consistent at the plate combined with incredible pitching from Allen Guerrero and Haile Daley secured the 17u Florida Select Championship for SWFL Nation with a final score of 7-1.
Most Valuable Player of the tournament was given to Blake Barquin who led SWFL Nation offensively and was the top tournament performer with an impressive thirteen RBI's, one homerun, nine hits, and three runs.
Colby Lipovsky of Primal 9 Royalty was named the 17u Florida Select Championship Most Valuable pitcher with seventeen outs and ten K's over five innings pitched as well as an 83 FB velo.