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Tournaments  | Championship  | 7/7/2020

Central Elite Belongs to Houston Kyle Chapman

Jerry Miller     
Photo: Houston Kyle Chapman (Perfect Game)
Two teams similar in roster composition, coaching philosophy, and playing style met in the championship contest of the Perfect Game 2020 Central Elite Championship at Premier Baseball of Texas. Houston Kyle Chapman and Dulins Dodgers-McGarrh, clubs built around quality pitching, fundamentally sound defense, and opportunistic offense squared off in an exciting, old-school, ball game. Both teams have young men on their squads who obviously love to play and appreciate the opportunity to be at the ballpark. The result was a game that had all in attendance on the edge of their seat until the final out was secured.

In a tournament marked by numerous feats of offensive prowess, the championship final was one dominated by pitching and defense and limited opportunities to score. Houston Kyle Chapman was able to push across a run in the top of the sixth to break a 1-1 tie and the KC nine made that one run lead hold up as they claimed the initial 16U Central Elite Championship.



Kyle Chapman dented the board first in the top of the third when they took advantage of a walk to lead-off hitter, Josh Endo (2022, Houston, TX) and a single by Matt Chotiner (2022, Bellaire, TX). Two Dulins Dodgers passed balls saw Endo scamper home giving KC a 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers answered back in a more traditional manner in the bottom of the fourth when Brenner Cox (2022, Prosper, TX) hit a 1-2 fastball over the right field fence to knot the game at one apiece. 

Pitching and defense would then dominate the game until top of the sixth when Josh Endo, with one out, once again, would reach first via a walk. The speedy and opportunistic Endo would then swipe second base. With two outs, Maikol Estacholi (2022, Houston, TX) would drive a 1-1 fastball to the base of the left centerfield fence to plate Endo with the game winner.

Three KC pitchers combined to hold down the very potent Dulins Dodgers-McGarrh line-up. Tres Organ (2022, Houston, TX) started and pitched quite ably into the fourth inning. He was replaced by Ryan Hogan (2022, Houston, TX) who continued to lock down the Dodgers for two and a third innings. Fireballer Garrett Stratton (2022, Houston, TX), the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, would then garner the save with a three-up and three-down seventh inning. The trio would strike out eight and allow only four base runners.

The Dodgers pitching staff also deserves accolades as 2019 PG 14U Select Festival participant, Matthew Ossenfort (2023, Sioux Falls, SD) and Brenner Cox shut down a Kyle Chapman offense that had been, arguably, the best hitting and scoring team in the tournament. Both pitchers routinely threw their fastballs in the mid 80’s, combining to strike out 13.

When the dust had settled, there were quality performances aplenty this week in Tomball. The KC club, by just a slim margin, made the most of their opportunities to capture the crown. Congratulations to the 2020 16U Perfect Game Central Elite Tournament champions, Houston Kyle Chapman.

MVPitcher – Garrett Stratton – Houston Kyle Chapman
MVP – Blake Hansen – Houston Kyle Chapman
 
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