FORT MYERS,Fla. – The Florida heat wasn’t going to stop PA Playmakers-Kelley from running the gauntlet on their way to a Super25 national championship.
Behind a strong effort from Jack Haveson on the mound and two big RBIs from Riley Davis, the Playmakers completed a near perfect week by defeating the Missouri Gators 5-4 to take home the 15u crown.
With a roster consisting of players from outside Philadelphia and into Delaware, the Playmakers do not come down into Florida often, but after clinching their berth in the tournament thanks to their victory in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, they earned the right to duke it out against the country’s best.
“We had a very tough region to get through to even get here, which gave us a lot of confidence heading into this event,” Playmakers head coach Scott Kelley said.
After going 3-0-1 in pool play, the Playmakers run-ruled both playoff opponents on their way to the championship. Having met and defeated the Gators in pool play 7-5, after falling behind 4-0 after the first inning, the Playmakers again would find themselves in an early hole.
Trevor Austin (2020, Jefferson City, Mo.) lined a single to left with one out, stole second and moved up to third on a wild pitch before coming into score on a two-out error to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
In the third, the depth of the Playmakers lineup came to the forefront as the bottom three in the order sparked a rally. Ethan Sarosi lined a single into center to lead off the frame, and on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Will Rhodunda, the Gators’ Kenny Bond had trouble coming off the mound and everybody was safe.
Michael Eze laid down another bunt, and Sarosi beat the throw to third to load the bases for the top of the Playmakers’ order. Davis dropped a soft line drive into right for what appeared to be an RBI single, but the Gators would force the runner out at second wiping the hit off the board, but not before Sarosi came into score to tie the game.
A double steal plated another run for the Playmakers, and Davis would make it a three-run inning as he scored on a wild pitch.
The Gators would get a run back in the fourth as Briar Stinson (2020, Rushville, Ill.) came into score on a wild pitch, but the Playmakers answered with two runs in the fifth, all coming with two outs with Davis again coming through with an RBI double.
In the sixth, the Gators drew to within 5-4 after an RBI triple from Coulton Doyle and a RBI groundout from Stinson, plating Doyle.
Haveson (2020, Garnet Valley, Pa.) fired a 1-2-3 seventh, getting a flyout to center to cap off a tremendous week for the righthander as he took home Most Valuable Pitcher honors after working 13 innings and surrendering only seven hits.
“We turned some double plays early and that kept my pitch count down which was huge,” Haveson said. “We were trying to work fastballs away against those guys and I knew I just needed to throw strikes and let my defense work.”
Davis (2019, West Grove, Pa.) took home MVP honors, batting at a .450 clip (9-for-20) with four doubles, a triple and seven runs batted in.
“We had some tough games down here, but we had a bunch of fun and winning it all is great,” Davis said. “We don’t get to come down here much, and we had a great time getting to hang at the beaches, playing at these nice fields. It was awesome all the way around.”
Kelley touted his bunch as the best team he has ever coached, and lauded the fact that anytime his team found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard they found a way to respond.
“Anytime we had to, we would battle back when we got down,” Kelley said. “When they would feel it, they didn’t think there was a team that stop them.”
The depth of the lineup played a vital role in the Playmakers putting up 55 runs in their seven games.
“Making our lineup is probably the easiest thing I get to do,” Kelley added. “Anybody is a threat, and we have a lot of guys with plus speed through the order. We got production from everybody.”
Stinson finished the tournament as the leader in hits (10) and RBI (9) for the Gators.
2017 15u PG Super25 National Championship runner-up: Missouri Gators
2017 15u PG Super25 National Championship MVP: Riley Davis
2017 15u PG Super25 National Championship MV-Pitcher: Jack Haveson
