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Tournaments  | Championship | 10/15/2025

CBA Marucci Makes it Back-to-Back

Hannah Jo Groves
CBA Marucci took its second consecutive WWBA World Championship title - winning 6-5 over the East Cobb/SD Padres ST. 

This win is in addition to another 17U WWBA title CBA Marucci took in July 2025.



CBA Marucci’s owner and head coach, Jon Paino reflected on his organization’s repeated achievements: 

“It sounds cliche, but I don’t think the boys and the team together look at the individual championships as the ultimate result or what they were essentially aiming for, shooting for or set as a goal. I think it was more of a game-to-game approach and we try to focus on the journey rather than the result...And so, changing the focus a little bit, I think it led to more success, but an unbelievable run by an unbelievable group of kids together...I’m not sure that we’ll ever be able to duplicate anything like that, obviously, but just an awesome group of people.”

Though the first two days of this year’s event in Jupiter were chaotic because of rain, the final three days were smooth enough to play championship baseball on Monday, October 13. 

“This was another example of Perfect Game, through all of the weather delays and all the weather problems, getting creative and making the event the best possible event, especially under the circumstances. That’s why we keep coming back. The energy of the event, the competitive nature of all of the teams and the superior scheduling around all of those issues,” Paino said. 

Right from the start of the championship game, East Cobb/SD Padres ST showed their offensive strength by putting two runs on the board.

With the bases loaded, William Cutshall crossed home plate off a wild pitch and RJ Cope scored on a fielder’s choice.

But CBA Marucci, according to Chase Hilt, is no stranger to working their way out of a deficit. Hilt said this had been a theme of not just this tournament, but the whole summer. 

“No matter what’s the score, what’s going on, we can always win,” Hilt said. “We never really lose faith in each other and I think that was the reason why we were so good, because we had so much confidence in each other.”

True to form, CBA Marucci answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first, as Eric Zdunek grounded out to score Troy Southisene.

No runs scored in the second or the top of the third, so CBA Marucci added 2 runs to take their first lead of the game: Andruw Giles scored on a fielder’s choice and Noah Johnson plated a run with a line drive to center field. 

For the next few innings, CBA’s defense kept East Cobb/SD Padres ST at bay. The pitcher who put in the most work for CBA Marucci was Santino Williams. In 4.1 innings, he threw 60 pitches and struck out 4 batters. His average fastball was in the low-80s and topped out at 88 mph. He also worked in a high-60s curveball and mid-70s slider. 

Working with Williams, Paino mentioned catchers Johnson and Bandel as major contributors to the defense’s success:

“They call all the pitches, the position of the defense, they do it all after some simple guidance. These guys played out of their minds.”

The defense’s consistence and strength opened things up for the offense to build up a steady lead.

Giles grounded out to score Owen Glick in the bottom of the fourth and hit a sacrifice fly to score Taden Krogsgaard in the bottom of the sixth. In that same frame, Lyndon Lee shot a double to left field to plate another run - making the score 6-2 at the beginning of the seventh inning. 

With this potentially being their last chance, East Cobb/SD Padres ST used their last efforts to make a comeback - and they came about as close as they could. 

Yonathan Ramirez scored on a wild pitch after getting on base with a double off the first pitch of the at-bat. 

A little later, with two outs and the bases loaded for East Cobb/SD Padres ST, a costly error by CBA Marucci brought in two more runs as Brycen Harris and Joseph Raimonda both came in to score. 

Just like that, the score was 6-5 - with East Cobb/SD Padres ST only needing one run to tie, and CBA Marucci only needing one out to win. 

Hilt, who had taken the mound after the first out of the seventh inning, said he knew what he had to accomplish.

“The reason why I closed the game was not all just to win, but also to be there for my friends and my boys on the team.

Of course it’s nerve-wracking, but I kind of just got tunnel vision. My catcher, I’ve known since I was 12 years old. So I kind of just blocked everything out and focused on me and him.”

Hilt called “game” with a 3-pitch strikeout to secure his team’s championship. 

“I felt like I could climb Mount Everest,” Hilt said of his feelings after his final pitch. “I was so excited and happy - I was freaking out. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life.”

Even beyond the last strikeout, Hilt said the team’s dynamic and chemistry is something he’ll always want to carry with him.

“I just cherish all we did this week. We all did it together and I just cherish our time together. We’re the best team in the country…I want to strive to have that with every team I play for in the future…[I want to] keep that going into college and pro ball or any other team I play for and take that into my life, too.”

Paino said building that team culture came with a lot of deliberate work. 

“I went all in on certain things I’ve learned over time and I read about that are science-based, chemistry-based, to try to create an impenetrable culture inside of what we do. There are rules to it - there are protocols to it that a lot of people might think are unnecessary, but these guys embraced it. 

For example, when you get to the yard, you’re obligated to greet every single one of your teammates, even the new guys. That’s unwavering. That’s not an option. And so, through doing certain things over the course of a day or course of a practice or course of a game, there are certain things that they have to do to promote that team chemistry. And they embrace it all. There was not one person that resisted and by the end, it was completely their own culture and their own environment.”

Paino recognized Giles and Southisene as unique team leaders. 

“Giles brings to a team something I’ve never had. He has a fearlessness about him, but it’s in a way that’s relatable, not only to somebody my age, but to all of his teammates.”

Southisene was the Tournament MVP - with 11 runs, 11 hits and 7 runners batted in during the event. 

“That young man has unbelievable leadership characteristics,” Paino said. “He’s a selfless player - while playing and results are extremely important to him, being a teammate is more important, which is rare today, I think, but he has that.”

Paino knows his team will remember the win, but he also said he wants them to remember the mindset that led up to the win.

“The resilience it takes to get through something like that, whether we win or not - playing three games a day, two days in a row - there’s no amount of work too great. There’s no hill too steep to climb and there’s nothing too difficult for us to accomplish in life with the right perspective and the right demeanor.”
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