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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/6/2018

Pitching carries Matrix to crown

Bryan Cooney     
Photo: ESP Matrix (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Pitching and defense are what often play out as key factors for any team to win a Perfect Game National Championship. At the lowest age levels, it is even more vital for teams not to make the mistakes that can separate quality teams by the margins that win ballgames.

For ESP Matrix out of North Miami, those two areas of the game were executed with the type of consistency that would be expected out of much older teams. Their march to Friday’s championship game of the 11u BCS National Championship was capped off by a strong effort on the mound from Tyler Smith (2024, Hollywood, Fla.) and the ability to use team speed to generate enough offense as the Matrix defeated Legit Baseball Club 4-0 at CenturyLink Sports Complex.

Entering the championship game with a 5-0-1 record, the Matrix pitching staff had only allowed eight runs in their games. Their opponent in the final was the last team remaining that had not been beaten in the field as Legit Baseball Club ran through their pool and the playoff rounds without much resistance. Each team did have to fight off a tough semifinal combatant as the Matrix needed a walk-off victory against the Ohio Nationals and Legit Baseball Club needed extra innings to defeat the Gulf Coast Monarchs, setting up a title matchup of two evenly matched clubs.

In the first inning, the Matrix picked up a one-out baserunner as Jordan Rich (2025, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) drew a walk and used his speed to steal second and third before Smith played down a perfect bunt to bring Rich in to put the Matrix ahead 1-0.

Smith was stingy on the mound for the Matrix, only allowing three baserunners through four innings, and in the fifth his team gave him more run of support. Cody Boggan (2025, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) lined a leadoff single to right and stole second before Jayce Townsley (2024, Miami, Fla.) laid down a bunt in front of the plate in an attempted sacrifice. As he was thrown out at first, Boggan did not break stride and slide in ahead of the throw to the plate to make it 2-0.

The Matrix kept the pressure on as Alexander Smith (2026, Miami, Fla.) lined a one-out single to center and was able to get in scoring position with a stolen base. Rich dropped another perfectly executed bunt down and with his speed, a hurried throw was off line to first and allowed Smith to race home with another run. After Rich stole second and third, the Matrix’s starting pitcher helped his cause by grounding out to short to bring in Rich and make it a three-run inning heading to the sixth.

Needing three outs, Smith ran into trouble as Legit Baseball Club immediately picked up two baserunners to start the sixth, and forced the Matrix to make a pitching change. Garvey Person (2024, Miami, Fla.) came on and didn’t have any trouble closing out the game as he retired all three batters to wrap up the title for the Matrix.

For Matrix coach Javon Person, he emphasized his team using their athleticism to their advantage throughout the tournament and priding themselves on playing mistake-free baseball against a deep field on teams from around the country.

“We averaged allowing around a run per game which was really impressive and we do pride ourselves on our defense and our speed,” Person said. “We have athletes at every position and you have to have it because it is so important. We used our athleticism on the bases all week, taking advantage of it when we could with taking extra bases. We’re characterized as a small-ball team and sometimes we don’t like to be called by that, but we make it work.”

For many of the Matrix players, it was their first venture into Perfect Game tournaments, and Person is hopeful that it will come a regular occurrence in the summer as the team grows together.

“This tournament brings in teams from all over the country and we really enjoyed coming out to the West Coast of Florida. It was a great atmosphere, the park was nice and the kids had a lot of fun this week.”

During the Matrix’s run to the championship, William Mencho (2024, West Palm Beach, Fla.) delivered the pitching performance of the tournament as he struck out 14 batters while walking just one in a no-hitter in the quarterfinals on Thursday against the MW Select Cardinals. For his efforts, Mencho was the easy selection as the MV-Pitcher for the tournament.

For the runner-ups, Louis D’Alessio (2024, Red Bank, N.J.) led the charge for Legit Baseball Club all week long as he batted .364 (8-for-22) with four extra-base hits, six stolen bases and collected seven RBI to earn MV-Player honors.


2018 11u BCS National Championship runner-up: Legit Baseball Club 11u



2018 11u BCS National Championship MVP: Louis D'Alessio



2018 11u BCS National Championship MV-Pitcher: William Mencho
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