Perfect Game Fall Nationals Runner Up
TB SoCal Gold Runner Up in Upperclass Fall Championships
GOODYEAR, Ariz. –
The Chandler-based and No. 5-seeded Sandlot 2018 were steady and sure from the first-pitch, and shutdown the No. 3 TB SoCal Gold from Los Angeles by a 4-0 count in the championship game at the PG WWBA Upperclass Fall National Championship Protected by G-Form played at Goodyear Ballpark.
“The field in this weekend’s tournament was as good as it comes,” Sandlot 2018 head coach Kurt Vesecky said while his players were being fitted for their PG national championship tournament rings. “(TB SoCal Gold) is loaded – they’ve got guys going to UCLA and Michigan and Cal and all that kind of stuff – but we just battled all weekend.
The championship game was shaping up to be a pitchers’ duel until the Sandlot 2018 found the firepower to score two runs in the top of the fourth, which, as it turned out, was more than enough to send them on their way to the title. Bobby Meza Jr. singled and drove in a pair of runs, Colton Cassinelli – a No. 392-ranked 2018 who has committed to the U. of Washington and was the Most Valuable Player at the previous two PG tournaments this summer – delivered an RBI double; Tyler Cranston singled and drove in a run, with those performances pacing the ‘Lot 2018’s six-hit attack.
2018 right-hander Hayden Baker threw five innings of three-hit, shutout ball with two strikeouts and two walks to pick up the win; the TB SoCal Gold finished with four hits, all singles. Those came off the bats of Shawn Goosenberg, Chris Neveau, Keaton Carattini and Cary Arboliola who hit third, fourth, fifth and seventh in the batting order, but they could never bunch enough of them together to push a run across the plate.
The Wilson Sandlot 2018 moved into the championship game posting a 5-2 victory over the No. 1 Aggies Baseball Upperclass (5-1-0) from Watsonville, Calif., in Monday morning semifinals. TB SoCal Gold got there by blanking No. 7 Chaminade College Prep (5-1-0) from Moorpark, Calif., in its semifinal contest.
The SoCal Gold earned the No. 3 seed by winning its three pool-play games by a combined 15-2. They then topped No. 19 All-Star Baseball Academy, 3-1, in the second-round of the playoffs before topping No. 11 CBA Marucci, 4-3, in the quarterfinals, both played Sunday afternoon. The Sandlot 2018 came in at No. 5 by coasting past their pool partners by a combined 18-4 and then topping the Quakes Baseball Academy, 10-2, and No. 4 GBG, 11-8 in 12 innings in 2nd-round and quarterfinal-round play, respectively.
TB SOCAL BASEBALL
(16 PLAYERS ON FALL NATIONALS ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM)
HITTERS:
- Cary Abolida, 2019
- Mac Bingham, 2019
- Ketch Gannon, 2019
- Shawn Goosenberg, 2018
- Grant Holman, 2018
- Jake Moberg, 2018
- Austin Mowrey, 2018
- Diego Ramirez, 2018
- Anthony Tulimero, 2019
PITCHERS:
- Keaton Carattini, 2018
- Jack Dolak, 2018
- Brayden Englert, 2018
- Jimmy Galicia, 2018
- Brian King, 2019
- Peyton Maple, 2018
- Andrew Mosiello, 2019