EMERSON,
Ga. – For many fathers, this day is a day to kick back and relax on
the couch; but for the proud fathers of participants in the 2015 14u
WWBA National Championship, it is a day to watch their son play
baseball. What better present could a Dad receive on this day than to
watch his son play well and win some ball games?
With
playoffs soon approaching in this year’s National Championship,
players set foot on the field today with a sense of urgency.
Team
Elite Prime came into this tournament with one of the most stacked
rosters out of all participating teams. In fact, a few players on
their team have been tagged as high follow and top 1,000 prospects,
so the expectations are high for this team. The talent has served
them well thus far, considering that they have won every game they
have played in this tournament. They sit atop the standings for Pool
E, and Sunday morning they escaped with a 2-1 win against the only
team in their pool that had a chance at challenging them for their
top spot.
Their
bout with the Dulin Dodgers required the best effort of two different
pitchers and a clutch twp-hit performance by Peyton Lejeune. Team
Elite Prime would hand the ball to Chance Burns in game 4 against the
Homeplate Chili Dogs. The Chili Dogs have only one win so far, but
they were a prime candidate to upset the talented Team Elite Prime.
Team
Elite Prime has a swagger that not many other teams exude. Their
mannerisms collectively as a team reflect their experience in these
big national tournaments, as they never seem to lose their cool in
any situation. Every player maintains a calm emotional balance
throughout the game, and every move they make on the field is
calculated, yet smooth. Not to mention, these kids have some size on
them for being only 14; they have 7-9 players that are 6-feet tall or
over.
The
Homeplate Chili Dogs did not seem to be intimidated by Team Elite,
and they fought valiantly in an attempt to give them their first
loss, but they would have no such luck.
The
game started with Homeplate getting two runners on against Chance
Burns, but he would get out of it unscathed, and that would be the
theme of Burns’ start. This Elite Prime team is always looking to
catch you off guard and take the extra base, and they showed that
they weren’t afraid to take risks when they stole third in the
second inning and got into a pickle. Elite Prime did look a little
sloppy on the basepaths today, but they cleaned it up as the game
progressed.
Offense
was at a premium early in this game, and in the third inning, Elite
Prime would capitalize off of two walks. With runners on second and
third base, shortstop Rece Hinds stepped up to the plate and
delivered a line drive that would score both runners, and Elite would
take the lead 2-0.
The
game remained close until the fifth inning, when Hinds would help
knock in yet another run. This run really deflated the Chili Dogs,
and it showed the very next inning when Prime tore the game wide open
with another four runs to make the final score 7-0.
It’s
only fitting that the game ended with Rece Hinds completing a 4-6-3
double play, as he had a huge impact in this afternoon’s win. Hinds
was the spark that ignited the offense for Team Elite Prime in this
game, and he was excited to see his team follow his lead and produce
a little offense in that last inning.
“I’ve
been struggling for the first few games, so I was just thinking 'sit
back and try to hit it to right field',” Hinds said. “I knew it
was going to be a hot day, but nothing was going to stop us from
trying to get the win.
“In
this game we came out a little sluggish and I think we didn’t
expect this team to put up the fight they did in the beginning, but
eventually we found out that we would have to come out and fight like
every game. I like our chances heading into playoffs. If we keep up
pitching and defense, we’ll be set.”
Hinds’
outstanding performance at the plate was important for Team Elite
Prime in this game, but Burns was the one that kept the Chili Dog
hitters in check throughout the game. The Chili Dogs had their fair
share of chances to get back into this game, but Burns’ resilience
on the mound prevented them from bringing a single runner across home
plate. Burns has an over-the-top motion, with great downward plane
and arm-side run on his fastball. He bewildered Homeplate’s
hitters all afternoon, and went 6 1/3 innings strong, with four
strikeouts. Burns also made a difference at the plate with a base hit
in the sixth inning that started a four-run rally for Team Elite.
“My
fastball was great today,” said Burns. “I was locating it pretty
good. In the bullpen, I was trying to get my changeup working, hoping
that it would run in on right handed batters. Whenever I got in jams
with runners on, I was trying to get groundball outs and just keep it
out of their wheelhouse.”
Head
Coach Jon Brewer thinks this group is special, and applauds the way
they performed today. He chalks up a lot of their success to team
chemistry and preparation. This year’s 14u WWBA National
Championship will probably call for a little bit more than chemistry
and preparation if Team Elite Prime wants to win it all, but they are
certainly on the right track and are poised to make a legitimate run
at the championship trophy.
“We
definitely have some personalities on this team,” said Coach
Brewer. “The manager of this team, Brook Richards, has done a great
job of getting local kids and kids from across the country. The
chemistry is hard to find; they spend a lot of time together. The
first win of the day against the Dulin Dodgers called for some big
hits, and they played us super close all game. We were fortunate to
get a run in the last inning to win us the game.
“I’m
real excited with what we did today, but I think we need to swing the
bats better. Our defense and pitching is there, but we haven’t
swung it as well as I think we’re capable of doing. I feel like we
prepare as well, if not better, than any other team in the country
and that plays a big role in tournaments like these. We’ll be
disappointed if we don’t win it all.”