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Tournaments  | Story  | 5/28/2018

4 champs emerge from storm

Bryan Cooney     
Photo: (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – With Tropical Storm Alberto floating off the coast of Southwest Florida over Memorial Day weekend, the status of the WWBA Memorial Day East Classic was put on hold far too often for its contesting teams across 13u through 18u.

After torrential rain that began even before the first games of the tournaments were supposed to begin on Friday the fields were left in poor condition, and continuous rain over the weekend left many teams to drop out of the event. However, for the teams that remained, Monday created an opportunity for championships to still be contested with the exception of the 13u event, which was cancelled.

In the 14u championship game, Gulf Coast Fury outscored its two opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals 21-3 and continued their offensive prowess with a 9-1 victory over Florida Burn Platinum in the title game at JetBlue Park.

In that game, Austin Douglas (2021, Fort Myers, Fla.) worked five innings, scattering seven hits and striking out four to earn the victory on the mound. Douglas was staked to an early four-run lead in the first inning, and helped himself out with a two-run single. The Fury added four more runs in the fourth inning, with Austin Black (2022, Bonita Springs, Fla.) dropping in a two-run single to left, the key hit in the inning, to add on to the lead.

For the Fury, Michael Perazza (2023, Lake Orion, Mich.) had the strongest showing out of anyone as he earned MVP honors after collecting six hits in seven at-bats, with three doubles and nine RBI for the three games.

The MV-Pitcher of the event went to Matthew Geller (2022, Naples, Fla.) as the righthander had a strong performance against Team MVP 305 with six strikeouts over four scoreless innings for Florida Burn Platinum 2022.

For the 15u event, it was a matchup of two Elite Squad programs and it was Elite Squad National who prevailed in the championship game with a 9-2 victory.

For the four games that Elite Squad National played, the pitching staff was excellent as they surrendered just three runs total. In the championship game, Irving Carter (2021, Boynton Beach, Fla.) tossed five innings, allowed three hits and one earned run while striking out seven. Carter was named MV-Pitcher for his efforts.

Offensively in the championship game, Giovanny Cueto (2021, Miami, Fla.), Alex Ulloa (2021, Cutler Bay, Fla.) and Jorge De Goti (2021, Miami, Fla.) all had two hits and a double, with Ulloa collecting three RBI and Cueto and De Goti each plating two runs.

Also collecting two hits in the title game was Justin Quintana (2021, Miramar, Fla.), who would garner MVP honors after going 6-for-12 with a home run and five RBI in the four games.

The 16u championship game featured another pair of Elite Squad programs battling for the championship and it would be a separate Elite Squad National squad that picked up a 3-0 victory over Elite Squad Prospects in the final.

With an offense that posted double-digit hits in their first three games, the championship only featured a combined five hits between the two teams. Instead a strong pitching performance from two National arms in Jordan Carrion, (2020, Miami, Fla.), who struck out five in three innings, and Coby Mayo (2020, Coral Springs, Fla.), who worked the final two innings and also racked up five strikeouts, combined for the shutout.

For the four games, Lucas Nido (2020, Miami, Fla.) produced eight runs at the plate, going 4-for-9 with a double and a home run and was named MVP for the event.

The MV-Pitcher for the event went to Ronaldo Gallo (2019, Miami, Fla.) for Elite Squad Prime, as the righthander threw a five-inning shutout against Elite Squad Rodriguez, striking out nine and allowing just three hits.

In the 18u final, another Elite Squad program rose above the rest as Elite Squad American defeated North East Baseball National 6-1 to take home the title.

Michael Cordova (2019, Parkland, Fla.) worked three scoreless frames with three strikeouts and was followed up by Jack Ronan (2019, Boca Raton, Fla.), who would close out the game with two innings, surrendering a lone earned run.

Andrew Jenner (2019, Coral Springs, Fla.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored a pair of runs in the win and finished the four games for Elite Squad American with five hits in seven at-bats and four RBI.

The MV-Pitcher came from the winning club as Kael Johnston-Royal (2019, Davie, Fla.) was brilliant in the semifinal against Elite Squad National, tossing a five-inning, complete game two-hit shutout with seven strikeouts.

For photos of all of the champions, runner-ups, MVPs and MV-Pitchers from the event please visit Perfect Game's official tournament Twitter account, @PG_Tourney.
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