East is a beast at 14u Select Fest

Jeff Dahn

Photo: Cade Arrambide, Jansen Kenty (Perfect Game)

OKLAHOMA CITY – The first inning should have served as a harbinger of what was to come at Saturday afternoon’s Perfect Game 14u Select Baseball Festival All-Star game, only because both the East and West’s squads managed to push across a couple of runs apiece in the frame.

These 14u Select Fest games have gotten crazy in the past, after all, and four runs in the first seemed to indicate a similar pattern was developing.

Then, both the second and third innings were scoreless, the game was moving along at a rather brisk pace and fans could be excused for being lulled into a false sense of a fireworks-free affair. But as the fourth inning got underway, the East hitters came up with their best impression of ESPN College Football GameDay analyst Lee Corso by flatly stating, in their own way of course, “Not so fast, my friend.”

The East cut loose for five runs in the top of the fourth, added five more in the fifth and, for good measure, pushed across another six in the eighth, and buried the West, 18-5, in the 5th annual rendition of the PG 14u Select Baseball Festival played at the downtown Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

“It’s fun; this is a really great experience,” the East’s Antonio Anderson told PG in the moments after he had been named the game’s Most Valuable Player. “If you can get (invited to) this, it’s going to be really fun for you. There’s a lot of great players out here and I just feel blessed to be out here with them and show my skillset.”

The young prospects – the best in the land from the classes of 2023 and 2024 – played their hearts out for the entire nine innings, which made for a great show. Twenty-one of these high school freshmen and sophomores had already committed to powerhouse D-I programs before playing in this game and a 22^nd– the East’s Jeff Lougee from Mechanicsburg, Pa. – announced his commitment to Duke while the game was being played.

It’s just that after those first three innings, things went south in a hurry for the boys from the West. The ten pitchers manager Junior Spivey used over the course of the nine-inning game combined to give up 18 runs on 12 hits and 14 walks while striking out seven.

Chris Newstrom, a primary catcher and an Arizona State commit from Scottsdale, provided the lone bright spot for the staff, pitching a ninth inning in which he walked one but otherwise struck-out the side.

On the East Team side of things, pitchers Jansen Kenty, Noah Lafine, Jackson Sanders and Christian Rodriguez threw four hitless innings at the outset, although Kenty allowed the two runs in the first on two walks and an error. Two of the next three pitchers, Anderson and Bryce Clavon, also threw hitless frames in the sixth and seventh, although Clavon gave up an unearned run during his outing.

Taken as a group, the 10 East hurlers gave up the five runs on six hits and 11 walks while striking out 12 West batters.

Anderson struck out one and walked one in his one hitless inning of work and really helped his MVP chances by smacking a pair of singles in three trips and driving in two runs while scoring another. The fact that the game was a blowout didn’t affect the Atlanta resident’s mindset in the least.

“I can just maintain my focus; it’s pretty easy,” said Anderson, who learned during the game that he was the first recipient of the 14u Augusta Impact Award. “I just stay calm and do what I do.”

Hitting stars in the West’s dugout were not hard to find with Cade Arrambide collecting a triple and three RBI and both Andre' Modugno and Campbell Smithwick a double and two RBI apiece. PJ Morlando singled and drove in a pair and catcher Zion Rose – this year’s 5-Tool Award winner – singled, drove in a run and scored a run.

Rose, a Louisville commit from Chicago, was at last year’s inaugural PG 13u Select Baseball Festival in nearby Norman and he wasn’t the least bit surprised by the East team’s offensive output.

“When you see one person get a hit, another person is going to get a hit; it’s contagious, you know?” he said. “There was energy at the (hotel) before we even came out. We were hyped, we were ready for this game, we wanted it and we got it – 18-5, East side.”

As noted, the West’s bats were mostly in hibernation throughout most of the contest but showed some sign of life in what turned-out to be a two-run bottom of the ninth.

After Landon Victorian walked to lead-off the frame, Raffaele Velazquez delivered a ground-rule double into the right-field bullpen to put runners on second and third. Brennon Seigler chased Victorian home with a sac fly and George Wolkow singled to do the same thing for Velazquez; after two more walks the bases were loaded with still only one out.

East right-hander Anthony Tralongo, a primary third baseman and the 2019 13u Player of the Year, entered and promptly recorded a strikeout and induced a groundout to end both the threat and the game.

Yes, the game got out of hand in the fourth, but all-in-all it was a pretty good run for everyone involved.

“It wasn’t only today, it was the whole (three days),” Rose said. “Being with all the best players in the nation, being at the (hotel) playing ping-pong, being at practice; getting to know each other better. And then, of course, today was the best part, winning the game for the East squad and getting Coach (Flash) Gordon the win. It’s a dream to be out here.”

DURING PREGAME ACTIVITIES ON FRIDAY IT WAS ANNOUNCED that the players from both teams had combined to raise $81,585 to benefit the PG Cares Rise campaign for underprivileged children and its continued support for pediatric cancer research. PG Cares partnered with Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral in fund-raising efforts this year.

Jack Frankel from Plano, Texas, was the top fund-raiser, bringing in an impressive $11,175. Andre' Modugno (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) raised $9,400 and Anthony Tralongo (Wellington, Fla.) collected $6,450.

IT TOOK ONLY AROUND FIVE MINUTES FOR THREE of the top prospects at this week’s PG 14u Select Fest to use their Rawlings Velo BBCOR bats to belt 17 balls beyond the left field wall at Chickasaw Bricktown park during the finals of the PG Home Run Challenge.

Miles Ghossein, a 2024 infielder from West Hills, Calif., proved to be the most difficult to keep within the park’s confines, using his final swing to drop the seventh bomb of his 1 minute, 30-second session. That blast proved to be the money-maker as he finished with one more round-tripper than the six hit by 2024 shortstop/catcher Chris Newstrom, an Arizona State commit from Scottsdale.

“I always look at this as a fun thing to do at an event,” Ghossein said. “I’m competing against my friends so I’m just trying to have fun with them but it’s a competitive thing so I’m trying to do my best and keep my heart rate down.”

Jarren Purify, a 2023 infielder and Michigan recruit from Detroit, finished with four home runs. All three of those prospects played at last year’s inaugural PG 13u Select Baseball Festival.

THIS YEAR’S PG 14U SELECT BASEBALL FESTIVAL award winners were announced during each inning of the game’s live stream on PerfectGame.TV and outfielder Derek Curiel from West Covina, Calif., was named the Player of the Year.

Curiel, a 6-foot, 160 pound lefthanded hitter who plays his travel ball with USA Prime National, has been described as having one of the most consistent bats in the country while using a “balanced and refined” lefthanded swing. He is also considered one of the best centerfield prospects in the class of 2024 and came into the 14u Select Fest as the No. 8-ranked overall prospect in the class.

Jansen Kenty, a 6-0, 175 pound lefthander and Alabama commit from the class of 2023 out of Newnan, Ga., was named the 2020 Pitcher of the Year. Kenty enjoyed an outstanding summer playing with the Georgia Jackets, showing an 88 mph fastball with a very good changeup and curveball.

What follows is the complete list of the PG 14u national award winners for 2020 (home state in parentheses):

Player of the Year: Derek Curiel (California)

Pitcher of the Year: Jansen Kenty (Georgia)

Diamond Kinetics Offensive Player of the Year: Brennon Seigler (Tennessee)

Rawlings Defensive Player of the Year: Cade Arrambide (Texas)

G-Form Unstoppable Award: Theodore Gillen (Texas)

5-Tool Award: Zion Rose (Illinois)

2-Way Player of the Year: Ryan Gold (Georgia)

K-Motion Award: Manuelle Marin (Florida)

Augusta Impact Award: Antonio Anderson (Georgia

PERFECTGAME.TV