By: Cody Smith
Top Tier Reporter
Week #5 in Top Tier Baseball
Top Tier Tournament Recaps: From 15u-18u
15u Americans, Music City Classic Showcase
The 15u Americans traveled down to Nashville, Tennessee this past weekend. They went down South to compete in an elite round-robin showcase event to display their talent in front of many college scouts. The team played hard nosed Top Tier baseball against some of the best travel baseball programs across the country. Except it wasn’t enough as they weren’t able to come out on top in their respective pool. Still, The team kept it’s strong overall record in tact as they are still 24-8 on the summer season.
15u Nationals, Great Lakes Wood Bat Classic
The 15u Nationals had a strong showing at Northwestern University this past weekend. After starting the tournament with an impressive 3-0 record, the team looked to battle Outsiders Baseball for the No. 1 seed. The 15u Nationals came back from down 6-0 in the sixth inning to cut it within one run before the umpires decided to call the game due to time limit. Following that game, the team was seeded No. 5 headed into the playoffs where they defeated the Illinois Patriots, 10-3. Outfielder Demarius Mackerl help boost the Nationals offense by going 9-14 on the weekend with 5 RBI’s and 4 runs scored. The team then made it to the semi finals where they were inches away from making it to the championship round before losing in a walk-off to the Pro Players, 3-2. Pitcher Alec Mallinder had himself a strong weekend on the mound, throwing 10.1 IP while only allowing nine hits and three earned runs while also striking out 13.
15u Nationals-Navy, National Championships Tournament
The 15u Nationals-Navy followed suit with the 15u Nationals making it all the way to the semi finals this past weekend in Crown Point, Indiana. In pool play, the team went 2-1 with the help from third basemen Frank Magnelli. He went 7-11 (.636) with two doubles and three RBI’s to lift the 15u Nationals-Navy into the playoffs. In bracket play the squad took down the No. 1 seed, ISA Stars in a late inning surge. The 15u Nationals-Navy were trailing 2-0 in the 5thinning before tying the game up in the sixth. Then in the seventh, Magnelli hit the go ahead RBI single to give the Nationals-Navy the lead. Jason Kusibab then followed that up with a monster three run bomb to give the team a 7-2 victory. Riding a high team win, the 15u Nationals-Navy then fell in the semi final round of the tournament.
15u Nationals-White,National Championships Tournament
The 15u Nationals-White had an impressive weekend as well in Crown Point, Indiana. The team exploded on offense for 25 runs in pool play compared to only giving up 14. In Game 1 of pool play starting pitcher Matt Rosenberger got the weekend started by throwing a complete game while only allowing one earned run and eight strikeouts in a 15-7 win over the Prospects Xposure. After starting 3-0 in pool play the 15u Nationals-White were seeded as the No. 4 seed for bracket play. They ended up facing Sparta Baseball Club, a team they already beat, 7-5 in pool play. However, the 15u Nationals-White didn’t have the same luck this time around as they fell to team Sparta in the first round of the playoffs. Coach Marik was stil impressed with the way Dan Baumgartner hit this past weekend, as he went 5-9 (.555) with three doubles and 4 RBI’s.
15u North, Music City Classic Showcase
The 15u North also traveled to Nashville, Tennessee with the 15u Americans this past weekend. They were playing against some of the best travel programs in the States. 15u North dug deep to get a nice victory over the Rawling Tigers-Black as they went on to win in a close one, 6-4. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to make it out of pool play. However, the team still will look to finish the season strong and build on their steady 19-10 record.
16u Americans, WWBA 16u National Championships
Currently the 16u Americans are competing against over 300 elite amateur travel baseball programs from all over the states. Playing in Atlanta, Georgia the team already started off to a great start with a 5-1 victory against Chandler World 2020’s in Game 1. Games are still going on throughout the week, so stay tuned for next weeks post to see how the team finishes on the weekend.
16u Nationals, WWBA 16uNational Championships
The 16u Nationals are also playing down South in Atlanta Georgia as we speak. Already the team has been faced with two ties in their pool. Sadly, due to their ties the team will not have a chance to make it to bracket play. They will look to regroup and get back at it in their next tournament when they play in BJES Tournament in Joliet, IL.
16u Nationals-Navy, Caba World Series
The 16u Nationals-Navy had an up and down weekend splitting dead even in their six total games. Playing in Cleveland, Ohio the team wanted to make a good impression in front of the scouts. The team ended up finishing 3-2 in pool play including a nice come-from-behind victory against the Cleveland Prospects, 6-5. Before time limit was reached, the 16u Nationals-Navy were down 5-3 before coming back to score 3 in the sixth inning right before time was called. Although, going 3-2 wasn’t good enough to get the 16u Nationals-Navy out of their pool as they were faced to play in a conciliation game in which they lost. Even though the team didn’t go as far as they hoped, coach Bunnell was impressed with how Carl Braxton and Josh Pawn played. Braxton did everything at the plate, hitting .312 with a double and three RBI’s while also stealing six bases and scoring four times. Pitcher Josh Pawn managed to get two wins on the mound while throwing a combined 8IP on 5H and 4ER and 2K’s.
17u Americans, WWBA 17u National Championships
Remember the 17u Americans were playing in Georgia last weekend? Well that tournament finally concluded last Friday. The 17u Americans had themselves a weekend down South as they went an Impressive 6-1 during pool play. Pitcher Ben Hernandez threw a six inning no-hitter against the MVP Royals in an 8-0 victory. Sadly, however, only one team was able to make it out of the pool and it wasn’t the 17u Americans. Their only loss ended up to bite them as that was the team that was able to make into bracket play. The 17u Americans finished second in their pool after scoring 50 runs in seven games compared to only giving up 14. Even though they didn’t make it out of their pool, many players had solid performances. Infielder Kevin Dowling hit .389 with three homeruns and a triple including 7 RBI’s. Additionally, Ian Moller hit .529 with two homeruns and three doubles while knocking in 6 RBI’s. Finally, Pitcher Grant Leader got a quality win as he tossed 5 innings, giving up zero runs on two hits and seven strikeouts. Overall, coach Plante was really pleased with how his team competed against some of the best talent in the country despite not being able to advance.
17u Nationals, WWBA 17u National Championships
The 17u Nationals also traveled to Georgia last weekend with the 17u Americans playing in a week long tournament. Unfortunately, the 17u Nationals didn’t have the same success as the Americans and were also forced to be sent home earlier than expected. Even so, the team got some nice wins against the Richmond Braves and Marucci Elite Texas. Alex Perez pitched a nice six inning gem against the Braves as he only gave up two runs on three hits and four strikeouts in a 5-2 victory. Logan Riley also had a nice outing in a tough loss against Canes Central. He threw a complete game while only surrendering three runs on five hits in a 3-1 defeat.
17u Nationals-Navy, CABA World Series
The 17u Nationals-Navy went to Cleveland, Ohio along with the 16u Nationals-Navy. The team had an emotional weekend as they finished 2-3 in their pool. Due to their up and down weekend the team wasn’t able to advance to bracket play. Even though the team didn’t advance, they still had some highlights by some of their premiere players. Adam Gaydos had a nice weekend hitting .500 with 4 RBI’s and three doubles including a 4-4 performance against 5-Tool Baseball. Top Tier also beat the Cincinnati Rivercats in a close one, 2-1. Luke didn’t do too shabby either this past weekend at the plate as he hit .461 with two RBI’s.
18u Americans, Off This Weekend
