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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/3/2023

PG Freedom Classic Rings in New Champions

Riley Sheppard      Hannah Jo Groves     
Photo: East Coast Baseball (Perfect Game)
14U

FORT MYERS, Fla. 

TBT Sluggers 14 came out swinging and didn't stop until they got the 13-5 win over Wolverines Baseball.

TBT spread the wealth when it came to RBIs, with second baseman Carlos Vega, catcher Anthony Holloway, third baseman David Amaya and extra hitter Alain Condomina each getting two. Shortstop Christian Arias, center fielder Angelo Ugueto and right-handed pitcher Levi Pash had one apiece.



Pash's action didn't stop there, however, spending four innings on the mound for TBT, racking up 59 pitches and using mid-60’s fastballs to strike out three batters.

Pash came in for relief after Sebastian Garcia pitched the first three, allowing no walks and striking out two with high-60s fastball, while mixing in a mid-60’s curveball. 

Though Wolverines' right-handed pitcher Hayden Pelegrin put in some solid work on the mound, throwing 57 pitches and striking out three with mid-60s fastballs - the defense could not stop TBT's immense hitting power.

15U 

VSA 2026 Sr used consistent hitting and efficient pitching in its 12-4, run-rule victory over Mosteel Baseball 15U.

VSA's right-handed pitcher, Dimitrios Hall, was the team's standout guy in the box and on the mound, throwing 46 pitches - including a low-70s fastball and high-60s curveball - striking out three in 3 ⅔ shutout innings and team-high four RBIs. 

Also standing out for VSA was Jesse Chimenti, who went into this game batting .647 over his past five games and notched two hits and three runs to continue his hot streak. 

Adding to the RBI column were extra hitter Andrew Derosa, second baseman Roman Zabala, right fielder Brody Buck, who each contributed one. Center fielder Darien Lawrence also knocked in two RBIs on the day.

16U

The City Gtz 16U Baseball came out on top in a back-and-forth battle against FTB Blue Wave Miami. 

A two-run double in the bottom of the seventh from Ethan Jimenez sealed the deal in the 8-7 victory after being down by one in the sixth.

"The teammates told me, 'sit on the fastball,'" Jimenez said. "I had a nice barrel off [the pitcher] - a single the bat before - so, I sat on that fastball, drove it and took it home."

Hitting from both teams was extremely aggressive - with neither team shying away from consistently getting good swings on first or second pitches.

Though City was the first to strike, FTB showed it had some big hitters too with second baseman Alex Alonso driving in a two-run single to center field and first baseman Nathaniel Montano knocking a one-run single to left field.

Two scoreless innings passed for City before catcher Aiden Delgado got up to bat with the bases loaded.

"My coach calls me over, [he] says, 'be aggressive,'" Delgado said. "Don't take no strikes. I fall in the count, 0-2, two fouls, I just widen up, look for my pitch, hit it out the other way. It felt great standing on second and tying up the game."

Directly afterward, right fielder Eric Vazquez capitalized on Delgado's three-run double, hitting a perfectly-placed ball to the edge of right field to drive in two.

"The coach is telling me, 'it's just like soft toss in the cages,'" Vazquez said. "And I hit good opposite field. I just took them over there...it's a moment you dream about."

Though FTB put forth a valiant effort to come back with Jacob Lopez and Adrian Gallardo each adding RBI singles, the walk-off, two-run double from Jimenez made for an exciting end to the hard-fought battle.

"This is a team effort," Jimenez said. "You can't just pin it on one person. Everyone's been in the game every single moment fighting tooth and nail to get to this point."


17U

Heading into this year’s Freedom Classic, Team Francisco knew it was going to be an uphill battle. 

But despite being down key players, the team used its tight-knit bond to head home back-to-back champions. 

“This year was gonna be tough for a lot of us,” Jace Alvino said. “To take this means a lot for us and it definitely means a lot for them back in New York.”

After posting a 3-0 pool play record, Team Francisco knocked off SWFL 2024 Nation in the semifinals on Sunday to set up a championship matchup against Florida Legends. 

And it didn’t waste getting the offense rolling, with Brady Belfus notching a two-run double and Victor Frederick driving him in two batters later. 

But Legends responded right away with a two-run inning of their own after Roydan Perez and Magdiel Esteves made their way around the bases. 

However, that would be the only runs scored from Legends the rest of the way with Christopher (CJ) Forman and Alvino shutting them out over the next six innings. Forman would strike out three over his two innings on the mound before Alvino came on for relief - punching out seven over 86 pitches. 

“Jace is everything that embodies our team,” Fusco said. “Tough, being a competitor, a little bit of that edge to him and just a workhorse. We call him the “horse” because that’s exactly what he is, he’s been our guy since he was 14 years old.” 

Team Francisco brought home one more insurance run in the top fifth with Andrew Lenski knocking an RBI double, but the defense and pitching effort truly solidified the victory down the stretch. 

“Without those guys on the field it can’t happen,” Alvino said. “The guys out here make the plays, they have my back and I’m grateful for them.”

And while taking home a championship is great, Team Francisco reminds itself what the bigger picture is in moments like this. 

“I’ve been on this team since I was 13 years old and to a certain degree when you get ranked this high and you’re No. 1 in your state, yeah it’s all cool, but this is more about baseball to me.,” Alvino said. “Moving forward I really could care less if we don’t win another tournament as long as I’m with these guys and we have a great time and ride out however long we can go for.”

“I know for a lifetime these guys will always have my back no matter what situation I’m in and I’ll have theirs for as long as I’m here. A lot of guys can come together and be a national team, but it’s nothing like going back home and being able to be with these guys.”

18U

The 18U finale came down to a walk-off victory between East Coast and Tornadoes Baseball on Monday. 

The first run of the game came following a Michael Rodiguez double, with Emilio Gonzalez driving him in with an RBI single the next at-bat to get East Coast on the board. However, that would be the only run from either side until the seventh inning. 

Right-hander Christian Eddy took the mound for Tornadoes, tossing a strong six innings - allowing just five hits and the lone run over 98 pitches. 

While on the other end, East Coast’s combination of Nick Staszak and Alex Lazar combined for 13 strikeouts and allowed just three hits.  

After Charlie Wilson reached via error in the top of the seventh, Tornadoes had a prime opportunity to tie the game at 1-1 and Manuel Torres wasted no time doing so - driving him in with a two-out RBI single. 

Down to the final three outs before heading to extra innings, David Perez led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. And with one out and facing a full count, Rodriguez roped a double out to center and Perez rounded the bases to send East Coast home as champions. 
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