FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Scorpions South 2021 Prime have had to face some adversity during their first six days of play at the 13u Perfect Game BCS Finals national championship, but as is often the case in a situation like that, everything always seems to come out in the wash.
Needing to win two games on Wednesday to reach Thursday’s final four, the 13u Scorpions Prime did just that. The victories came on another oppressively hot and humid summer morning in Lee County, Fla., and while the conditions left the kids’ uniforms smelling a lot less than sweet, the results left the players, coaches and parents feeling like they were wallowing in a sweet field of clover.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” Scorpions South 2021 Prime head coach Jamie Fawley said Wednesday. “Half of these guys I’ve had since they were 9 years old and this is probably our last year all together, and I just couldn’t be more proud. They battle for me every day and they’ve got more heart than any (group of) kids I’ve ever seen.”
Four first-round and four quarterfinal games at the 13u PG BCS Finals were played at Terry Park Wednesday morning, and the outcomes of those eight games left four teams still alive to play in Thursday’s semifinals at 8 a.m. at the jetBlue Park Player Development Complex. The championship game is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at jetBlue Park.
Each of the 36 teams in the field played five pool-play games and 12 advanced into the playoffs. The top-four seeds received byes into the quarterfinals with the other eight paired-off in the first-round contests.
The No. 6-seeded Scorpions South 2021 Prime from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., were one of the eight that played a first-round game, and they responded by beating No. 11 Banditos Houston out of Tomball, Texas, 7-4. They then knocked off the No. 3 6-4-3 Jaguars 13u 10-5 in the quarterfinals, and proved to be a spoiler as far as the seeding go.
The semifinal pairings feature the No. 1 South Texas Banditos (6-0-0) from Alamo, Texas, against the No. 4 East Cobb Astros (6-0-0) from Kennesaw, Ga., and the No. 2 Banditos Black (6-0-0) out of Tomball versus the No. 6 Scorpions South 2021 Prime (6-0-1).
The tie during pool-play cost the Scorpions Prime a top-four seed because they had only allowed four runs in their five pool-play games, the lowest number of any team at the tournament. That four runs allowed was something Fawley said his pitchers should be proud of.
“The biggest part of this game is throwing strikes,” he said. “I tell these kids every day that I’d rather take four home runs than one walk. Let (the opponent) hit the baseball and let your defense work for you. These guys are throwing strikes every day and I couldn’t be more proud of my pitching, my hitting and my defense.”
The Banditos Houston were a team the Scorpions Prime had beaten 8-0 on Tuesday in both teams’ final game of pool-play. The Scorpions Prime fell behind 3-0 after an inning of play but rallied for two in the fourth and five in the fifth and escaped with the 7-4 win. Their resiliency in the face of adversity was certainly shining through.
“We played three 8 a.m. games in a row, and that’s tough,” Fawley said. “It’s tough for these kids to play one game a day that early and then have the rest of the day for all the other stuff. And then for them to come out here every day at 8 a.m. and battle and not fold up, these guys are a tough team.
“I’m extremely proud of these guys,” he said. “There have been times when we struggled with the bats but when they light-up, they just light-up.”
That early victory led to the matchup with the third-seeded 6-4-3 Jaguars 13u from Marietta, Ga. The Jaguars went 5-0-0 in pool-play and came into the quarterfinal contest averaging just better than 10 runs per game, with a team batting average of .379. But they had also allowed just more than seven runs per game, meaning they had basically out-slugged each one of their opponents.
“These kids never give up at the plate. It doesn’t matter if we’re up by eight or down by eight, this team is just never out of it,” 6-4-3 Jaguars 13u head coach Kenny Strack said Wednesday morning. “Coming down here and pitching in the heat has been tough for a lot of the pitchers that we have, but our hitters just never gave up. It didn’t matter how many guys we walked or how many runs we gave up, we always felt like we were in it.”
The game was knotted at 1-1 after the first inning but 6-4-3 plated three in the bottom of the third to grab a short-lived 4-1 lead. The Scorpions Prime answered with seven in the top of the fourth for an 8-4 advantage, and they appeared to be sitting pretty. The Jags managed one in the bottom of the fifth to move within 8-5 but two more in the top of seventh from the Florida kids sealed the 10-5 decision.
The Scorpions South 2021 Prime scored their 10 runs on 16 hits, but because of four 6-4-3 errors, only five of the 10 runs were earned. Gavin Ragona tripled, singled and drove in three runs; Trevor Scott stroked a double, singled twice, had two RBI and two runs scored; Braden Calise and Cade Bush both singled twice and scored a run; and Ethan Wilder doubled and drove in two runs to lead the Scorpions Prime offensively.
The 6-4-3 Jaguars 13u scored their five runs on seven hits, and all of theirs were earned. Dominic Rutligliano was 3-for-4 with a doubles and three runs scored and Reid Jones had a pair of singles and an RBI. Their 13u PG BCS Finals experience had come to an end but Strack was proud of the effort his team put forth.
“It’s a long trip and it kind of is a beach vacation, but we really came in ready to play every morning, and we took care of business,” Strack said. “That’s really the only thing I can say: the kids just came out ready to play baseball every single morning.”
There are plenty of beaches in the extended Fort Myers neighborhood that could prove to be a distraction, but Strack said there are actually more distractions at home. There is family and friends and hanging out at the swimming pool – all great things for new teenagers to be involved with – but down here they can more easily concentrate on baseball.
“Now that we’re all here hanging out, it’s like they’re all best friends,” Strack said. “I think it’s just easier to perform when there’s no other outside things getting in the way. We’re here to play baseball, and it’s easier for them to realize that’s what we’re here for. … I think this is (beneficial). It’s cool to get down here and see some teams from Texas, (Monday) we played a team from Illinois, it’s just cool to see the competition from different areas.”
The Scorpions South 2021 Prime won a pair of hard-fought playoff games Wednesday morning and get rewarded by playing their fourth straight 8 a.m. game on Thursday. But, what the heck, it’s the semifinal round at a PG national championship tournament and these are 13-year-old kids enjoying a pretty cool life experience together, one they are likely to remember for quite some time.
“We travel a lot and we play in a lot of events and we get to spend a lot of time together,” Fawley said. “For these kids to hang out day-in and day-out, they love each other like brothers. It’s all fun and games – even on the field we’re having fun. When we get home they’re all together all the time and it’s really, really fun to watch and good to see.”