SANFORD, Fla. – With their first pool-play game at this week’s Perfect Game 14U World Series already in the books by early Tuesday afternoon, the Banditos Scout Team 14U are certainly looking the part of a realistic championship contender. Just like they did during pool-play a little over a week ago in Hoover, AL, although that one didn’t end so well.
The Hoover Met Sports Complex was the site of the PG WWBA 14U National Championship held July 10-16, The Banditos ST 14U frolicked through pool-play at 7-0-0 and outscored their opponents by a combined 62-7 to earn the No. 1 seed, only to lose their first playoff game to the No. 17 Cincy Flames by a score of 9-1.
“This is going to be a crazy week,” Banditos Baseball founder and Scout Team 14U head coach Ray DeLeon told PG on Tuesday at the BOOMBAH Sports Complex. “We’re just trying to win one game at a time because you can’t try safe pitching here; that’s what happened last week. We tried to gamble a little bit … and we got beat by a Cincy Flames team that nobody was giving any credit, and they’re good.
“That team hit the ball and they did well and they beat us. They out-played us with their hitting, pitching, throwing, the whole works. Great team, the Cincy Flames; good program.”
The Banditos ST 14U, based in Tomball, Texas, is also a great team from a great program, and their players and coaches know a lot about winning ballgames at PG national championships. Their 7-0 victory over the Motor City Hit Dogs 14U Scout Team to open play here was their 20th of the summer (5 loses, 1 tie) in PG tournament play.
It’s a team led by Cade Arrambide, a 2024 catcher/corner-infielder and a Florida commit out of Tomball, who came into this event as the No. 1-ranked overall national prospect in his class. Arrambide, whose dad Steven is the team’s general manager, was stung by the early playoff exit in Hoover, but also feels like the Banditos are well-positioned to turn it into a positive.
“It was a tough loss because we had a good pool run, and we went into the game a little too confident, I would say,” Cade Arrambide told PG Tuesday. “That loss kind of set us back but it motivated us to come out in this tournament and play harder and play better.”
Plenty of other firepower joins Arrambide on this roster, and that includes the addition of Bryce Clavon, a 2024 middle-infielder from Hampton, GA, who is an Oklahoma commit ranked No. 4 nationally. Arrambide and Clavon both played in last year’s inaugural PG 13U Select Baseball Festival in Norman, Okla.
Arrambide, for his part, is humbled by the No. 1 ranking with which he’s been bestowed: “I’m thankful that I’ve been recognized, but since we’re so young I know as we move on there’s going to be guys that show up and throw 99 (mph) or 100 and I know I’ll be passed by eventually,” he said. “But being ranked No. 1 now has motivated me to work even harder than I ever have before just so I keep my ranking.”
The PG 14U World Series is the first tournament of the summer for Clavon in a Banditos uniform. He missed the WWBA 14U National Championship with a broken nose suffered three weeks ago after being hit by a pitch.
“I’m really not supposed to be playing right now; the doctor said I’d be taking a risk, but I’m fine, so here I am,” Clavon told PG with a grin. “We all have a group text so we’ve all been communicating well. They’ve been letting me know what’s going on and keeping me informed. It should be fun playing with these guys.”
2023 righthander/infielder Andrew Daniels from Forney, TX, is ranked No. 25 nationally in his class and 2023 lefthander/first baseman Jansen Kenty out of Newnan, GA, an Alabama commit, is ranked No. 275.
DeLeon knows he has some talented players on this team but he also offers a quick caveat:
“They’re 14 years old so it’s up and down,” he said referring their performances. “These kids are starting to understand how the wood bat works and the adjustments they have to make but at the end of the day they’re 14. Anybody can beat anybody out here; there’s a lot of great talent.”
Speaking of getting use to swinging wood, DeLeon pointed out that the game of baseball has always been about making the proper adjustments and trying to get better. Wood bats are, after all, the ultimate equalizer, forcing the hitter to square-up pitches and make solid contact.
He joked that his young players are finally beginning to fully understand why today’s big league ballplayers are paid millions of dollars-it’s hard to hit with a wood bat.
“These kids are learning how to handle it; it’s hard to string three or four hits together in one game,” he said. “It’s just tough, so they’re learning how to adjust, for sure.”
With only 28 teams invited to compete, the 14U PG WS is much more exclusive than the PG WWBA and PG BCS 14U national championships. They’re 28 of the very best, of course, and DeLeon, who has been doing this for 27 years, is absolutely floored by how talented this age group is. He sees 14-year-old pitchers approaching 90 mph with their fastballs and calls it “unreal.”
One of those is Jansen Kenty, the 6-0, 175 pound lefthanded Alabama commit from Georgia. His fastball averaged 85 mph and topped-out at 87 during a superb outing on Tuesday when he threw a complete game, four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and no walks; he also contributed a double and a single to the Banditos’ seven hit effort.
Arrambide, Andre Wood, Landon Victorian, David Hogg II and Cage McCloud each drove in one run apiece in the 7-0 win over the MC Hit Dogs. The Banditos were being shutout through the first four innings, then found their rhythm and scored all seven of their runs in the final three innings, including four in the top of the seventh.
“Every game, you can learn something new. You learn something about the other team, learn something about your own team,” Arrambide said of the experience. “If you do something wrong you fix it, you learn about it and you try to do your best to not let it happen again.”
It was just the first game at a PG national championship tournament with many more to be played over the next five days, but it did set the right tone for the Banditos Scout Team 14U. DeLeon has guided his share of championship teams through the years, and he fully understands what needs to be done to avoid another letdown like the one that surfaced in Hoover a week ago.
“We’ve got to go out and get one game at a time and see where we lay,” DeLeon said. “You’ve got to try to throw your number1, 2, 3, and 4 (pitchers) right away and then try to survive at the end; that’s the way you do it. If you try to sluff and wait you’ll be home eating Whataburger if you keep trying to save pitchers.”
And then the veteran skipper offered a little perspective to a circumstance that might be lost on his 14-year-old players:
“With the COVID-19 (pandemic), you never know what’s going to happen; we could get shutdown today, you just don’t know,” DeLeon concluded. “We’re just happy we’re playing and we’ll trust in God that we all stay healthy, and it’s been good so far. We’re looking forward to a good week, for sure.”