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coachdoug
50 Posts |
 Posted - 06/22/2011 : 12:44:10
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I thought I would share the highlights of our team's battle for the 10U "A" USSSA State West Championship and berth to the Final Four this weekend.
It was a great Father's Day weekend!
Doug
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10U Sprayberry Jr Jackets battle for State Championship and win Final Four Championship Berth!
by admin on June 21, 2011
After walking away with a fifth place showing in USSSA 10U “A” State East tournament last weekend, the Jr Jackets took time to reflect on what they’d accomplished this season. The plan was simple – motivate the team by remembering where they were only a few weeks back, what they’d accomplished and what could still be achieved with a strong finish to the season. Their stats spoke for themselves over their first 48 games as a team together progressing from not being ranked to 18th of 54 in the state and 48th of 1,145 in the country for all USSSA 10U “A” teams.
You see, these boys are truly “diamonds in the rough”. Many times over the past few years they’d been written off by their peers, other coaches and maybe even by themselves over their short baseball history. This group of boys has learned how to lose, learned how to win, and learned how to fight on the baseball diamond to successfully transition from recreational baseball to more competitive travel baseball. They’ve taken their punches, they’ve learned from their losses and they’ve come together as a team that has demonstrated that they have what it takes to win! Fifth place wasn’t something the Jackets were happy with. They knew they could do better. They knew they were champions!
The USSSA State Championship format is no laughing matter. With strict pitching rules in place, going the distance meant first qualifying in the top 50% of the teams during three pool play games just to get to the single elimination bracket. The Jackets started out their journey with Friday night play versus the Dublin Drive where Jacob McClure had a one hit, three inning shutout appearance followed by Shane Bowles and Matthew Nay closing out the 6-3 victory. Saturday pool play continued against local rival Kennesaw Generals. Starting pitcher Nick Popham dished up three innings of one hit, one run baseball followed by Shane Bowles closing out the 9-3 victory. The third pool play game of the tournament pitted the Jackets versus the Cobb Vipers and was the toughest test of the Jackets pitching depth in the tournament to that point. Starting pitcher Ethan Rezendes who had been battling a sore arm all week gave us two thirds of an inning before being relieved by Nate Sullivan. Nate, the crafty lefty, pitched two innings giving up only two earned runs allowing Matthew Starker to close out the 8-6 victory.
The Jackets went 3-0 in pool play successfully advancing to the single elimination bracket and one step closer to the State Championship series. The semi-final bracket brought the top two teams from each pool together to square off on Sunday. The Jackets matched up against pool A’s second seed Forsyth Titans. Jacob McClure took the mound for the Jackets and pitched a complete 5 inning game backed up by error free defense resulting in a 4-3 victory moving the Jackets to the State Championship series!
The State Championship best 2 out of 3 series was now set with the Jr Jackets ready to battle the Diamond Kings for the USSSA State West title. The Jackets came out strong in game one with their disciplined and hot bats resulting in big numbers on the board early providing plenty of run support for starting pitcher Nick Popham. Nick pitched three innings giving up only one earned run. Shane Bowles came in as the closer and pitched three up/three down to secure the 15-3 victory. Game two in the series brought the two tiring teams together again in the hot, Locust Grove sun. The Jackets bats stayed hot with 11 hits compared to the Diamond Kings 3 hits but the previous error free defense began to crack. Matthew Nay had the mound giving up one earned run in four innings of work followed by Shane Bowles closing effort giving up one earned run in the 8-6 loss.
The series now tied 1-1, game three would present the most significant challenge for both teams. With a game time temperature in the upper 90#8242;s, each team had to dig down to find the mental toughness and pitching to win the championship. The Jackets bats didn’t stay hot and only produced 3 runs on 2 hits compared to the Diamond Kings 4 runs on 4 hits. Ethan Rezendes took the mound and was able to battle through two innings giving up only one earned run. Nick Popham (aka “Incredible Hulk”) came back to the mound as the middle reliever and pitched two innings holding the Diamond Kings to 2 unearned runs. The ultimate championship scenario was now set with a 3-3 tie going into the 5th and final inning. Justin Yarish reached in the top of the 5th with a clutch single but was caught stealing 2B in a bang bang play by the Diamond Kings catcher. Shane Bowles wanted to close things out to move to a tie breaker but allowed the winning run to get on base and score in the 4-3 loss.
While the hard fought battle for the State West championship resulted in runners up trophies for the Jackets, Georgia USSSA directors extended an invitation for our team to participate in the inaugural Georgia USSSA 10U “A” Final Four Championship Series to be held next weekend. This unique final four championship format brings together the top four teams from the 10U “A” USSSA State tournaments to battle it out in the tough 2 out of 3 series format to establish the ultimate 10U “A” champion in the state of Georgia! The Sprayberry Jr Jackets are ready for the challenge and opportunity to be the Final Four Champions!
http://www.shawparkbaseball.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/USSSA-State-West-Runner-Up-Team-1a.jpg |
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Enine
66 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2011 : 15:13:40
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| Congratz to you, your coaches and your boys. Good luck at the Final Four. |
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Lets Play 2
1 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2011 : 17:30:57
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| Congratulations to you and the boys for their hard work. Best of luck in the Final Four! |
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coachdoug
50 Posts |
Posted - 06/27/2011 : 09:47:13
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| Thanks Enine and Lets Play 2! We won the play in 2 out of 3 series versus the Diamond Kings and battled the tough Lanier Longhorns in the championship series but came up short in the second game. Our boys are thrilled with their second place finish and their finalist rings ending the season on a high note! |
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OPRaptors
26 Posts |
Posted - 06/27/2011 : 11:44:06
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| Congrats Doug, good first season. |
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