40% OFF
40% OFF
Our Best Offer Of the Year Is Here!
40% off an annual subscription for Diamondkast/DK+ and Cross-checker subscribers. Loading...
Our Best Offer Of the Year Is Here!
40% off an annual subscription for Diamondkast/DK+ and Cross-checker subscribers.
Loading...
2,031 MLB PLAYERS | 14,466 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Tournaments  | Story  | 5/27/2019

Iowa Select wins 14u Midwest

Annika Wall     
Photo: Iowa Select (Perfect Game)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – It might have been Iowa Select 2023’s first championship game of the spring, but they played like season pros against Arkansas Sticks Elite, winning the Midwest Memorial Day Classic 6-5 in nailbiter fashion with a Danny Gavin walkoff single.

“It feels incredible,” Todd Oberthien, Iowa Select head coach, said. “It’s exhilarating because it’s so much fun. Battling through the rain all day, just hoping we could get it in because we wanted the opportunity to win a tournament. We’re finally getting everything put together and we finally earned our way in. It’s been a long spring, and finally, the pieces are starting to click.”

Ashton Greenlee of Sticks Elite was named the MV-Pitcher for his stellar performance on the mound in the semifinal round Sunday evening. Iowa Select’s Pierce Anderson was named the tournament MVP for his semifinal performance as well.

Greenlee’s fastball-curveball combination was found to be too much for the Gamers in the semifinal round. The pitcher racked up a tournament-high 11 strikeouts while allowing a meager one run off of three hits. Sticks Elite won the game 3-1.

Anderson and Iowa Select upset top-seeded CBT Wolfpack in the semis. In five innings of work, Anderson struck out eight batters while allowing three hits and two runs. Throughout the course of the tournament, Anderson drove in six runs off of seven hits.

"I just think I have to throw strikes and if I throw a ball I have to step back, take a deep breath and go back at it,” Anderson said. “Before I hit, it’s kind of a confidence thing. I just feel like I know I’m going to hit the ball, and I did.”

The championship game, though, was a whole team effort. Sticks Elite was first on the board, displaying patient intensity in the batter’s box while refusing to swing at the first nine pitches of the game, resulting in a pair of walks. Pitcher Jake Jones’s powerful swing drove the ball into deep center field, resulting in a two-RBI triple. Jones ended the game with three RBIs.

That hit set the tone for the rest of the tournament. Sticks Elite’s Malachi Henry and Tyler Ridley had a pair of over-the-shoulder catches in the bottom of the first, but Iowa Select adapted. Jones walked the first two batters of the inning before Select’s Danny Gavin laid down a suicide squeeze, scoring Will Ward. Kaden Marso followed suit with a ground ball to the right side of the field to drive in a run.

While rain started pouring in the fourth inning, the game continued as the teams entered the seventh tied 3-3. Relief pitcher Cade Reisner couldn’t find the strike zone, walking the first two batters of the inning. With runners on second and third, Reisner fielded a Kaleb Kellar hit but failed to tag Landon Cambron, who scored. After another run, it looked like Sticks Elite was going to go back to Arkansas with a championship under their belt.

What Iowa Select needed was a whole team effort. They got that in addition to some struggles on the pitcher’s mound. Malachi Henry gave up a walk before hitting Blake Timmons. Then he walked the next batter, giving MVP Anderson the bases loaded.

Anderson capitalized with a sacrifice fly to center field to score one. Ward followed with a single to create another loaded situation, putting even more pressure on the pitcher. Henry crumbled, making his total three walks in one inning of work. All it would take was one more run, and Danny Gavin delivered with a ground ball to the right side.

There it was. A whole team effort, just like Oberthien wanted.

“Everyone had a job to do today,” Oberthien said. “Even if they didn’t see the field today, they had a role and they’ve had a role all tournament. They battled their way through it and when the going got tough, the tough got going. We fought back just like I said we would.”
PG Special Events
Travel, Lodging, Entertainment
PG Partners
Recommended
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2024 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.