FORT MYERS, Fla. – The East Cobb Astros have had a strong summer run of tournaments, earning runner-up finishes in three major events yet haven’t been able to seal the deal and win the big one.
On Sunday, the Astros rode the momentum of a 19-run outburst in their semifinal victory by jumping all over the Motor City Hit Dogs early and scoring nine runs in the fourth inning to claim the 13u PG Super25 National Championship with a 14-0 victory.
“This was our fifth national championship game this summer and we’ve been runner-up three times, so the kids were itching to get out there for the last time summer and come home in first place,” Astros head coach Ben Blumenthal said. “It showed with the way they came out early and they were really excited and pumped to get it done out there.”
The Astros immediately jumped on top as their catalyst for the entire tournament in leadoff Benjamin Hamacher (2021, Marietta, Ga.) hammered the first pitch he saw just shy of the warning track in center for a leadoff double.
Jared Jones (2022, Marietta, Ga.) would bring him home as he hit a drive to the warning track in left-center for an RBI triple and would come into score on an RBI groundout by Treylen White (2021, Moore, S.C.) to make it 2-0.
In the second, William Mosley (2022, Acworth, Ga.) and Trey Sanders (2021, Columbus, Ga.) had back-to-back singles to put the Astros in business again. Mosley would score on an RBI double by Kain Collins (2022 Kingston, Tenn.) , and Sanders made it 4-0 as he came into score on a fielder’s choice.
White would drive in another run in the third on a sacrifice fly to give the Astros a 5-run advantage.
East Cobb broke the contest wide open as they would bring 13 men to the plate, and scoring nine runs in the fourth.
Lleyton Lackey (2022, Grovetown, Ga.), Hamacher, Thaddeus Ector (2021, Atlanta, Ga.), Dylan Lesko (2022, Dacula, Ga.), Mosley and Collins all collected RBIs in the inning, staking Lesko with a 14-0 lead needing three outs in the bottom half of the inning to close the game out.
Lesko allowed two singles in the fourth to Michael Perazza (2023, Lake Orion, Mich.) and Donavan Canterberry (2022, Wyandotte, Mich.), but got a line out to shortstop to close out a four-inning shutout as he struck out four batters on the day.
Hamacher capped a tremendous tournament at the plate by going 2-for-3 for the game, and finished the tournament with a .667 average (14-for-21) and had seven doubles and eight runs batted in as garnered Most Valuable Player honors. The Astros’ leadoff man was thrust into the top of the order for just the second time this summer and did an excellent job of setting the table for the East Cobb lineup.
“As the week went on, we seemed to get better and better,” Hamacher said. “It was a fun summer, the best I’ve had with this team and I was glad I was a part of it.”
John Locker (2021, Birmingham, Mich.) earned the Most Valuable Pitcher for the week for the Hit Dogs, as his semifinal performance on the mound carried Motor City to the championship game as he went six innings and allowing a lone earned run in the 3-1 win over the GoWags Jays.
2017 13u PG Super25 National Championship runner-up: Motor City Hit Dogs
2017 13u PG Super25 National Championship MVP: Benjamin Hamacher
2017 13u PG Super25 National Championship MV-Pitcher: John Locker
