EMERSON,
Ga. – With the summer winding down, there are only a few big events
left to be played at the LakePoint complex in Emerson. One of them is
coming to a thrilling finish, as the 2015 15u Perfect Game World
Series began its quarterfinal round early Wednesday morning. Lately,
a lot of familiar programs have been dominating in the younger age
brackets, but this tournament’s final four has shown the emergence
of a fresh face, the Team California Warriors.
Along
with the program's 16u team (as profiled by Jeff Dahn on Sunday),
this spunky squad made the trip all the way from Carlsbad, Calif.,
with one goal in mind; win it all. They have certainly put themselves
in a good position to accomplish that, but to touch on where they are
now we must look at the journey they have taken to get to this point.
Through
pool play, the Team California Warriors posted an undefeated record,
which is certainly saying something considering the competition that
was in this tournament. After pool play they dropped a game against
Baseball Northwest, but they got right back to business in their next
game to come all the way back from the losers' bracket. The Warriors
are a team that never doubts themselves and that has shown throughout
this tournament.
They
have had multiple come-from-behind victories, and those victories are
a testament to the perseverance that this team exudes on a
game-to-game basis. What is more impressive about their ability to
come from behind is that this team has not had much time to gel and
get to know each other, considering this is their first full
tournament together as a whole. Head Coach Mitch Spiers feels that
his team has shown some true grit at this year’s 16u PG World
Series.
“They
have been playing together as a team,” Coach Spiers said of his
squad. “This is the first time that they are playing together, but
surprisingly the chemistry has been there. They have become super
close knit after a few comeback wins. Typically our strong suit is
pitching and defense, but we have just grinded it out in every
aspect. We’re just competing.”
They
were on their A-game Wednesday morning against Baseball Northwest,
and even though they got down early, they still looked sharp. The
Warriors and Baseball Northwest were both able to each put runners in
scoring position, but the Warriors capitalized on more RBI
opportunities, pulling out a 5-3 win.
Baseball
Northwest had eight hits compared to the six hits that the Warriors
had, but Baseball Northwest stranded seven on base. The Warriors
would not relinquish the lead, as Baseball Northwest was unable to
weather a three-run third inning deficit. Baseball Northwest scored
two runs in the third on an RBI double by Torey Anderson and a
sacrifice fly by Jack Smith. Still, Baseball Northwest would not be
able to catch the Team California Warriors.
Bryan
Reyes had a monster game and racked up two RBI on two hits for Team
California. He doubled in the third inning and singled in the fifth.
The Team California Warriors stayed on top until the final out after
taking the lead in the third, scoring four runs on three doubles.
After
that win, the Warriors immediately refocused and amped up for their
semifinal matchup against the big, bad Houston Banditos. The Banditos
and the Warriors met up earlier this tournament in pool play, but the
game ended in a come-from-behind tie. In fact, the Banditos were up
7-0 in that game, but the Warriors still clawed their way back to
even.
With
that in mind, this semifinal was sure to provide some exhilarating
entertainment. Coming into this game, Coach Spiers wanted his team to
keep it simple and have his players not try to do too much.
“The
mindset is to try to win this game one inning and one pitch at a
time, and just compete at a high level,” Spiers said. “We just
have to make the routine plays.”
Pitching
did not play much of a role in this semifinal bout between the
Warriors and the Banditos, considering the two teams put up 17 runs
combined in a 9-8 Warrior victory. The teams combined for 20 hits,
including seven extra-base knocks.
Right
off the bat, it looked like things were not going to go well for the
Warriors, as the Banditos came out in the first inning and were able
to score in the blink of an eye thanks to a double off the bat of
Alerick Soularie, and the Banditos added three more runs in the
bottom of the second.
However,
Team California responded with a seven-run third inning, the
highlights being a solo home run by Reyes and a three-run triple by
Maxwell Foxcroft. The Warriors did have to stave off the Banditos
when they attempted to make a comeback later in the game, as Jordan
Groshans hit an RBI triple and Soularie followed with a sacrific fly
in the Banditos' two-run fourth. A two-run double by Leonel Perez in
the seventh pulled the Banditos to within one, but that's all they
would score as Team California banged out 11 hits in the win.
Bryan
Reyes has been red-hot at the plate for Team California Warriors, and
went 2-for-4, drove in one and scored one run in their win over the
Banditos. While he's come up huge for Team California time and time
again during this tournament, his huge performances in both the
quarterfinals and semifinals solidified himself as a true playoff
warrior.
“As
a kid I was always a good hitter, but my performance today has a lot
to do with team energy,” Reyes said of his clutch hits at the
plate. “You have to have team energy to have faith in the at bat
and also have faith in the guy behind you. I just go up there, try to
hit it hard, and remember my training. Honestly my approach, and most
coaches won’t like this, is to hit it hard and swing for the
fences. You have to go big to live big. It puts pressure on the
defense.”
However,
with the win the Warriors were not guaranteed a spot in the
championship. Due to double-elimination format, and coming back from
the lower bracket, Team California had to beat the Banditos one more
time to earn their spot in the title game.
Unfortunately
for the Team California Warriors they would not secure that second
win, as the Banditos would claim the second game by a score of 9-3 to
advance to play the Central Florida Gators for the 15u Perfect Game
World Series championship on Thursday.
Reyes finished the tournament hitting .409 (9-for-22) with six of his nine hits going for extra bases (five doubles, one home run) as well as five runs driven in and five runs scored in nine games played. Despite
the loss Reyes and his Team California Warriors teammates will return to the West Coast
with their heads hanging high.
“Our
coach, Mitch Spiers, and the other coaches keep us up when we are
down,” Reyes said. “They are like the spark and help us to have
faith in ourselves.”