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Tournaments  | Story | 3/5/2022

Trophies Claimed at High School Showdown

Blake Dowson
Photo: IMG Academy Ascenders (Perfect Game)
PG High School Showdown Event Page | Day 1 Scout Notes

 White Bracket
 
IMG Academy Grey showed up at the Perfect Game High School Showdown with the youngest roster in attendance.
 
But as they made their way through the White bracket on Thursday and Friday, it didn’t seem to matter all that much. A 9-0 win against Bob Jones High School in the championship game solidified that.
 
“We’ve got a really good mix in this group of guys,” IMG coach Kason Gabbard said. “Our seniors have done a good job guiding them in the direction we want. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, they’re going to be prepared to play.”
 
The talent Gabbard has on his roster rivals any other, regardless of age.
 
Noah Franco and Dean Moss, a pair of freshmen who both call California home but play at IMG, are a pair of Perfect Game Select Festival alums. Moss is the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2025 class, and Franco isn’t far behind at No. 32. Both are top-10 outfielders in the class.
 
Hitting out of the leadoff spot for IMG, Franco was almost impossible to get out all tournament long. He ended his four-game run with 11 hits, including two doubles, nine runs scored, and 10 RBI.
 
His two-RBI double in the bottom of the fourth inning of the championship game broke the contest open and gave IMG a 5-0 lead.
 
Franco was awarded the MVP award of the White bracket.
 
“He and Dean [Moss] are the two ninth graders,” Gabbard said. “They’re fun to watch. We call them the little bash brothers. [Franco] is very mature for his age. He’s got a bright future. We’re looking forward to the rest of his season.”
 
IMG had scratched across three runs before Franco’s double to the left-center field gap. Harrison Blueweiss bunted to the left side to beat the shift to get things started in the bottom of the second inning, and a hit-and-run executed by Max Kaufer allowed a ground ball to get through the infield in the spot vacated by the shortstop covering second base.
 
A hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, and a dribbler down the third base line from Hector Vilorio produced a throwing error that scored two runs.
 
Vilorio added another nice piece of hitting in the fourth, taking a two-strike fastball on the outer half the other way into right field to score Andre’ Modugno and push the score to 3-0 ahead of Franco’s double.
 
That lead ended up being plenty for IMG’s starting pitcher, Jaden Stockton. The Florida State commit tossed five innings, allowed just two hits, and struck out 10.
 
For his work, he was named the MV-Pitcher of the event.
 
All told, Gabbard was happy with the production he got from both his lineup and his pitching staff, and is glad to be packing a trophy for the team’s travels back to Florida.
 
“We’ve been coming here for four years now, and we’ve placed every year,” he said. “It’s a great tournament, that’s why we keep coming back. We’re obviously happy for the guys, they really worked hard to get to where they’re at today.”
 




Red Bracket
 
IMG Academy made it 2-for-2 on Championship Saturday, as the Ascenders took care of business in the Red bracket against Hoover High School, winning by a 12-2 final.
 
IMG tallied nine hits and six walks and kept constant pressure on Hoover.
 
“We played the game the right way,” Head Coach Dave Turgeon said. “I’m really proud of the other [IMG] group as well, they grinded and got it done…I’m very proud and happy of my group. We had a really tough schedule, tough turnaround with a late game last night, 11:30 start today. We pitched exceptionally well, and they’re obviously coming together as a team.”
 
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the third inning, it looked like Hoover High School was going to give IMG Academy everything they could handle.
 
At that point, IMG had scratched across just two runs in the second inning thanks to singles from Nathan Fink and TayShaun Walton, followed by an errant throw that scored them both.
 
Hoover juiced the bases in the third inning with two outs though, when Carter Milliron jumped all over a first-pitch fastball. The liner landed in foul territory, and Milliron ended up flying out to right field to end the inning, and IMG starting pitcher Luke Ross got out of the jam unscathed.
 
The dam broke in the next half inning.
 
Fink and Walton again found themselves on base to start the fourth inning, and as Stone Russell worked to lay down a sacrifice bunt, he ended up putting it in the perfect spot and legged it out for an infield single.
 
With the bases loaded, Chase Ingram kept his weight back on a two-strike breaking ball and shot it the other way for an RBI single to make it 3-0. Nicolas Pepe followed with a walk to bring in another run for IMG. Nine-hole hitter Alvin Keels laced a two-RBI single immediately that. Elijah Green laced a singled on the next pitch to score Pepe, and JeanPierre Ortiz finished off the scoring with a two-RBI single of his own.
 
When the dust settled, IMG had scored seven runs in the inning and all of a sudden held onto a 9-0 lead.
 
“We have to be disciplined at the plate and have an approach,” Turgeon said of his lineup. “We faced some really good pitchers in this tournament, with guys pitching us backwards. We hung in there and grinded out at-bats. And we’ve got some team speed, that helps put pressure on the defense.”
 
Brady Neal was named the MVP of the event for IMG. The Perfect Game All-American hit .308 for the tournament, including a pair of doubles, three runs scored, and four driven in. He also provided what might have been the biggest hit of the tournament for IMG, a two-RBI single that tied the game against Hartselle on Friday in a game that was controlled by Hartselle up to that point.
 
On top of his work at the plate, Neal handled the most talented pitching staff at the tournament, and proved his immense talent behind the plate. Catching Jackson Ferris on Thursday, the battery totaled 13 strikeouts in six innings. With Davion Hickson on Friday, it was 15 strikeouts in six frames. For that effort, Hickson won MV-Pitcher of the event.
 
Neal said he gets a lot of enjoyment out of catching those guys.
 
“It’s fun. I did it last year, and it’s just a joy,” he said. “You have to sit back and realize that I’m not going to see this every day. So I just enjoy it and try to work hard for them.”
 
And while Neal didn’t record a hit in the championship game, his teammates certainly picked him up.
 
IMG got hits from eight different players, including two from Green out of the leadoff spot. He added four RBI, as well.
 
The way Turgeon explained it, IMG has the ability to lean on one aspect if the other isn’t working on any given day. If the bats are asleep, the arms can save the day. And the other way around.
 
On Saturday, everything was working. IMG is tough to beat when that’s the case.
 
“You don’t feel like you have to put pressure on yourself, because we catch it really well and pitch it really well,” Turgeon said. “And we have the ability to bunt and move runners, too, if we’re not really swinging it. We had some big hits today. We got some guys on base and we made it hurt.”
 


Blue Bracket
 
It looked like the Blue bracket championship at the PG High School Showdown was going to be a crazy affair, as the Central Red Devils and Hewitt-Trussville Huskies traded runs in the early going.
 
Central jumped out early, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Landon Russell walked to start the game, and Jax Yoxtheimer singled him home two batters later. Yoxtheimer then scored on a double steal.
 
Hewitt-Trussville answered right back though, with three of their own in the bottom half. In the top of the second inning, Central got the lead right back with two more.
 
And away we would go, or so it seemed. Central made a pitching change with two outs in the first inning, and relief man Brooks Barbaree really took control for the Red Devils.
 
Barbaree would take the lead and not give it back, with his team winning by a 7-4 final.
 
“He’s a guy we use to bridge the gap during the course of the season,” Central coach AJ Kehoe said of Barbaree. “He came in and threw strikes and located and settled things down for us.”
 
Barbaree ended up going 3 1/3 innings, allowed just one hit and no runs, striking out three and getting a lot of soft contact.
 
He gave his teammates an opportunity to gain a lead in the top of that second inning, which they did thanks to two RBI from Brody Capps, and then stretch it in the fourth inning with another two scores, pushing the lead to 6-3.
 
Central would add another run in the fifth inning to get to seven, and it was more than plenty.
 
Yoxtheimer was 3-for-4 in the contest with a pair of runs scored and one driven in, a continuation of his dominance at the Showdown. He ended his weekend with a .538 average and was named the MVP.
 
Kehoe praised the consistency he gets from his three-hole hitter after the game.
 
“You always know what you’re going to get out of him,” he said. “He’s an athlete, and he really competes in the box. I’m proud for him, he did a great job.”
 
Russell was named MV-Pitcher for Central. The Auburn commit tossed a complete game shutout against Magnolia Heights in Hoover, allowing just one hit and striking out 11.
 
He also hit .385 and scored five runs out of the leadoff spot for the Red Devils.
 
“It’s a luxury to have someone like that on your staff that you know is going to go out there and give you a chance to win,” Kehoe said of Russell.
 
Kehoe got a lot of that from his pitching staff this week, something he wasn’t so sure of when the team got here on Thursday.
 
This is a tournament that demands depth from your staff, with four games spread across three days and the obvious pitch count limits in place.
 
If you want to make your way through a championship bracket and hoist one of those coveted trophies at the end, you need contributions from a lot of people.
 
Kehoe said he knew he had a lot of guys who would get a shot, but there was some uncertainty coming into the weekend.
 
“We graduated 280 innings last year,” he said. “We really wanted to come in here and find opportunities to see who can get it done. Coming into today, we had thrown 23 innings and only allowed teams to score in two of those. And then I thought we did enough today.”
 
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