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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/16/2018

643 Cougars start fast at 16u BCS

Bryan Cooney     
Photo: Chase Engelhard (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – In an era of baseball that features big power numbers and high strikeout totals, it can be refreshing to see at the amateur level that some programs instill the basics of playing the game at a level that fits their team’s strengths.

643 DP Cougars Sterling, part of the 643 DP Athletics organization, is based out of Marietta, Ga., and has been a contender in multiple Perfect Game championships this summer by using an offensive approach that has battered its opposition by piecing together long innings to wear down a pitching staff. Allowing their own pitching staff plenty of support in the run department, the Cougars have had a pitching staff headlined by PG’s No. 11-ranked overall prospect in the 2020 class in Jackson Phipps (2020, Dallas, Ga.) that has carried the team to being a mainstay among the crowd the 16u BCS National Championship.

On Monday, the Cougars kicked off their tournament with two victories that showed once more what they can present for all of the top contenders to potentially have to navigate as the tournament stretches on.

In their 8 a.m. contest at CenturyLink Sports Complex, the Cougars needed four innings before overcoming a 2-0 deficit with four-run innings in the fifth and sixth to score an 8-2 victory over Power Baseball 2020 Blue. In the afternoon, the Cougars took on USA Mavericks at Florida Gulf Coast University and turned a triple play in the first inning before putting up 10 first-inning runs on their way to a 12-0 win to all but secure a spot in the reseeding of pool play, which will take place upon the completion of tomorrow’s play.

For Cougars head coach Ryan Sterling, seeing how his club has been close to breaking through with a lengthy run into the deep playoff rounds while having played up an age group in some cases during the summer has him thinking that his group is one that has the potential to put it all together in Fort Myers.

“Some of these kids on this roster were down here in the fall for the Upperclass Showcase, but this group has been together since May after high school ball and they really play well together,” Sterling said. “This is only our third 16u tournament we have played in this summer, we typically play in 17u and 18u events to get the kids looked at more and give them more of a challenge. It’s a pretty talented group and they need to be challenged.”

Having reached the playoff bracket in the 16u WWBA Championship by outscoring its pool play opponents 66-14, the Cougars were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs just five days ago to cut their stay at LakePoint short. Despite the early exit, the Cougars have brought their good run of play down to Florida but even in their opening game Monday morning, they needed to mount a late charge to avoid opening the 16u BCS National Championship with a loss.

Trailing 2-0 going to the bottom of the fifth inning against Power Baseball, the Cougars had the first three hitters reach before David Julian (2020, Dunwoody, Ga.) tied the game with a two-run single. Ty Floyd (2020, Rockmart, Ga.) put the Cougars ahead for good with a single to right to make it 3-2 and would eventually swipe home with two outs to make it a four-run inning.

The Cougars tacked on four more in the sixth with run-scoring hits from Nate Shipley (2020, Marietta, Ga.) Brayden Broome (2020, Ringgold, Ga.) and Julian to provide the final tallies of the 8-2 victory.

The afternoon contest against the USA Mavericks featured Phipps getting the start on the mound, but the South Carolina commit found himself in trouble in the first as he allowed two straight singles to start his outing. Those baserunners would be quickly wiped off the board as left-hander got the next batter to sharply line a ball right to first baseman Parks Harber (2020, Atlanta, Ga.), who leaped high to snag it. His momentum took him right to the first base bag, which he stepped on and threw to second to complete a triple play to allow Phipps to escape without any damage being done.

The mojo of that defensive highlight directly led to a deluge of runs for the Cougars in the home half of the first as eight men came to the plate before an out was recorded, with five runs having already come across. Harber lined an RBI single to center to start the scoring, and Shipley drove in two more with another single to center before Henry Gies lined an RBI double down the right field line to make it 4-0.

Reid Robertson (2020, Marietta, Ga.) drove in two runs with another single to center and Chase Engelhard (2020, Atlanta, Ga.) brought in another run with yet another single to center. Harber came up for the second time in the inning and capped the scoring with the Cougars tenth run of the frame with a single to right.

Phipps struck out a pair in the second before Broome and Floyd added to the Cougar lead with run-scoring singles to make it a 12-0 game before both teams agreed to end the game with looming weather rolling in and the game already in a lightning delay.

With 20 runs being put up on 17 hits, the Cougars only had one extra-base hit for the day in their two victories, a staple of how Sterling sees his lineup having the most success.

“As a team, we have only hit four home runs all summer, compared to the team I had last year hitting 45,” Sterling said. “It’s been a topic of discussion all summer to get these kids to buy into a safe hitting approach that allows them to make some mistakes but still have a shot to hit.

“Today, they did a great job of hitting the ball the other way and up the middle and it’s been something that we’ve been trying to preach to them. When we can do that, these kids can score runs in the masses like they did in these two games.”

With the big names throughout the roster such as Phipps, a Georgia commit in Harber, a Tulane commit in Engelhard and Zach Turner (2019, Acworth, Ga.), who recently committed to Mercer, Sterling feels that many more of this batch of players will ultimately get to play at the next level as well.

“Guys like Jake Martin (2019, Newnan, Ga.), who has been exceptional this summer, Collin Caldwell (2020, Powder Springs, Ga.) is a big prospect who has been up to 89 from the left side. Brayden Broome will find a place to go soon and is a kid who will make any program better, Henry Gies has worked his tail off to get better and better. Ty Floyd has been up to 93 and has a ton of options, so I’ve got a ton of kids that are uncommitted that are extremely talented.”

For the remainder of the tournament, the Cougars will be without the services of Phipps, who was selected for the 17u USA Baseball National Team Development Roster and will head to Cary, North Carolina to begin training with the program this week. Even with their top arm not available, Sterling believes he has a roster that can compete for a long time in Fort Myers and contend for a national championship.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for Jackson to have USA across his chest and we will miss him, but I think even without him, arm-wise and defensively, I think we can stack up with anybody,” Sterling said. “This group we have down here clicks, they’re well equipped and I would not be surprised to see them make a run.”
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