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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/14/2022

Florida Select Trophies Claimed in Fort Myers

Riley Sheppard     
Photo: Scorpions 2023 Purple (Perfect Game)
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Some late-game heroics from Nicholas Upperman capped off an undefeated title run for Scorpions 2023 Purple at the Florida Select Championship in Fort Myers on Monday.

“Once we got that first run, we started saying, ‘Okay now we got it, we’re settling in,'” Scorpions Coach Cody Crouse said postgame. “Upperman with a double to clear the bases was huge, all of those things, the dots, started connecting.”



That double to clear the bases in the seventh inning proved to be the go-ahead runs in the Scorpions' 4-2 win over Gamblers Elite.

The starting pitchers from both teams came with their best stuff and dueled throughout their times on the mound.

The Scorpions' Carter Oglageo went on to throw 78 pitches over his five innings, giving up just one run while striking out three. He was paired against the Gamblers' Elite Matt Misiti, who struck out six and gave up just two hits over his four shutout innings.

Oglageo’s lone earned run came during the bottom of the third. After Francesco Ciprianni singled out to center field and advanced to second off a wild pitch, all Andy Fernandez needed was a single to help the Gamblers strike first.

In the top of the fifth, a long six-pitch at-bat by Lyonel Barthelemy capped off by a single began a two-run inning and momentum swing for the Scorpions.

Oglageo continued his dominance on the mound throughout the fifth inning, retiring the side in 13 pitches.

“Once [Oglageo] kind of got settled in and slowed the game down a little bit, I think he got in the groove and just kept at it,” Crouse said about his pitcher.

However, the Gamblers did not give up and tied things up in the bottom of the sixth.

Florida State commit Hayden Gustavson needed just one pitch to double out to right field and drive in Jaxon Inouye from first.

The Scorpion defense came up big from there, though, and limited the damage to just one run to keep the game tied at 2-2.

After two consecutive outs to begin the top of the seventh, it appeared the Scorpions were not going to score the go-ahead run. But down two strikes, Mason Boice singled out to center, and the very next pitch Benjamin Jurenko also reached base to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Three pitches later and down 0-2 in the count, Upperman sent a hard-hit grounder that stayed fair down the third base line to drive in Boise and Jurenko.

Lucas Oliver closed things out on the mound from there for the Scorpions, and the celebration was on.

A 5-0 record capped off with a championship win is not a bad way to start the summer for this Scorpions 2023 Purple team.

“Based on this first tournament, we could end up shocking a lot of people,” Oliver said of his team.

Jurenko was named the MVP of the tournament, as he hit .400 and knocked in eight runs. Corey Peters took home MV-Pitcher honors, tossing 9 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out 10.



15U Florida Select Championship

The Scorpions 17U team was not the only one walking away with a championship trophy this weekend, as their 15U squad were also crowned champions.

The title run was capped off with a 4-0 shutout victory over Next Level Baseball NC 2025.

Devon Crown was dominant on the mound for the Scorpions, throwing a complete game, one-hit shutout.

A Sebastian Hurtado RBI double to drive in Tyler Boyesen started things off for the Scorpions' offense in the top of the first.

Boyesen was not done there in contributing to the score column. After he singled in his next at-bat in the bottom of the third and making his way to third, he went on to steal home with two outs to extend the lead to 2-0.

Hurtado picked up his second hit of the ball game in the bottom of the fourth, and made his way home after a RBI double from Jayden Vasquez.

The final three innings is really where Crown showed off his pitching arsenal, striking out five of the seven batters he faced, including the seventh inning, where he struck out all three batters with his 70 mph curveball.

The team went 6-0 over the four-day tournament, with five of their wins over the past two days.



16U Florida Select Championship

Four innings was all that was needed to crown a champion in the 16U division, as Hit Factory 2024 National came away with a dominant 12-0 win over CTG in the championship game.

The two teams, who had faced off just 24 hours earlier, did not replicate the close 1-0 score from the previous matchup.

Hit Factory started things off with a three-run first inning, followed it up with a six-run second, and reached the run-rule limit with three runs in the third inning.

Eight different Hit Factory players recorded at least one hit, including three players who had multi-hit games.

The runs for Hit Factory came from six different players: William Burke (2), Alexander Sotiropoulos (3), Ethan Frame (2), Dean Spoto (2), Parker Gallant (2), and Jariel Garriga (2).

Roman Corinti started on the mound for Hit Factory and did not disappoint, giving up just two hits and striking out five over his three innings.

Hit Factory 2024 went 5-0 over the long weekend, while outscoring their opponents 31-1 throughout the tournament.



18U Florida Select Championship

Next Level Baseball NC Upperclass refused to travel back to North Carolina empty-handed, defeating Siege 18u Scout Team 8-2 in the championship game of the 18u Florida Select Championship.

Montreat College commit Chase Lee got the start for NLB, allowing just one run and striking out four over his 5 1/3 on the mound.

Neither team would get on the scoreboard until the fourth inning, where they went into the fifth inning tied at 1-1, but that was the final time it would be close.

A Riley Hefner RBI triple sparked a five-run fifth inning for NLB, where Tyler Ritchie also drove in a run, capped off by a two-run RBI double from Johnny Dibenedetto who will be joining Lee at Montreat College.

Garrett Stackhouse relieved Lee in the bottom of the sixth, and closed things out over the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and one run while working a high-70s fastball and mid-60s curveball.

NLB went 5-1 over the Florida Select Championship tournament, including two Monday morning victories just to play in the championship game that they came out victorious in.
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