Midwest Super Qualifier Recap

Jordan Posway

Westfield, Indiana was the epicenter of baseball activity in the Midwest region last weekend, as 126 teams barreled into Grand Park for an exciting four days of baseball. As of Sunday afternoon, five more teams from the 13-17u age groups qualified for the 2015 PG Super25 National Championships.

The first of which being the 13u LIDS Indiana Bulls-Black. The Bulls cruised to the Midwest Super Qualifier championship courtesy of an 11-3 win over the Wardogs in the semi-finals. The weather cooled off in time for the championship game, but their bats didn’t. The Bulls prolonged their offensive excellence in a barnburner against the Indiana Bulldogs in which they turned in an outstanding 20 run effort to secure the 20-11 victory and a national championship berth.

The 14u Missouri Gators, led by Coach Chris Cradick, would join the Bulls as champions of their respective age group. “Something we stressed going into the tournament was getting big hits in timely situations,” said Coach Cradick. His team did just that in their 11-1 championship victory over the Michigan Blue Jays. Tommy Geders, their starting centerfielder, was among those who exhibited timely hitting. Geders finished the day with three RBIs on two triples – in the same inning. Josh Plohr got it done on the defensive side by pitching four masterful innings and allowing only one run, while John Stallcup took over in the 5^th inning to record the save.

Not only did the Gators win the 14u Midwest Super Qualifier, they also finished second at the PSA Sox Invitational in Memphis the prior weekend. “We had back to back great weekends against really good competition,” said Coach Cradick. “Hopefully we can build off that and use that momentum to go far in our upcoming tournaments as well.”

After a 10-0 shut-out victory over Slammers Coyote, the 15u Cincinnati Spikes will return to the PG Super25 National Championship for the second consecutive year. Coach Trenton Hanna was quick to commend his entire team on their spectacular performance this weekend. “All 18 guys served a purpose, and all 18 guys contributed throughout the course of the weekend,” said Coach Hanna. He attributes his team’s fantastic finish to the way his team “grinded” during their 6-2 triumph in the semi-finals by scoring four of their six runs with two outs. “It really started in that semi-final game, and we carried that momentum over into the championship. We scored six runs in the first inning of the championship game, and that set the tone right away.”

With the qualifier tournament in the books, Coach Hanna and the Spikes are one step closer to their big goal. “We want to win the National Championship.” Said Hanna. “That is something that this team specifically has sought out to do.”

In the lowest scoring championship game of the tournament, the 16u 29ers squeaked out a 5-2 win over the HBF Maroons. Excellent defense by the 29ers proved to be the deciding factor, as no team in the tournament could tally more than four runs against them. If the 29ers can continue to clamp down on opposing offenses while churning out runs of their own, they could be a dangerous team come July 29^th in Emerson, Georgia.

In the 17u qualifier championship, the Indiana Outlaws and the Ohio Surge played a game for the ages. It was a shoot-out until the very end as the Ohio Surge nearly erased a two run deficit in the 7^th inning, but ultimately came up one run short. The Outlaws would walk away with the 12-11 victory, largely due to Drew Campbell and Jake Franklin, who contributed three RBIs a piece.

The largest tournament of the weekend certainly lived up to its billing. Five more deserving teams from America’s heartland have qualified to participate in the Super25 action as we approach the heart of summer and National Championship season.

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