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Tournaments | Story | 10/5/2020

PG WWBA Under dances in the rain

Jeff Dahn

Photo: Nolan Wilson (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A Sunday Scramble was served-up early during the first day of bracket-play at the Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championship yesterday, and that’s not a reference to a breakfast special at your local Denny’s restaurant.

Rain showers interrupted action throughout most of the day Sunday, and while the weather created headaches, some anxious moments and had players, coaches and PG tournament officials alike in scramble mode, it did little to diminish the excitement a full day of playoff baseball at a PG national championship tournament always brings to the table.

The schedule was in a constant state of flux – pencils with erasers were used, not pens – but everyone, for the most part anyway, remained calm and ready to embrace whatever inevitable changes came their way. It’s the nature of the beast in Southwest Florida, even if in this case the beast insisted that play be halted just before 11 p.m. (EDT) Sunday.

“We actually have a group text and we finish a lot of the messages ‘hash-tag perspective’,” Stars Baseball 17u Wrighte head coach Mark Wrighte told PG after his team found a window of opportunity and was able to wrap up a first round victory early Sunday afternoon.

“We try to one-up one another on how things could be, for lack of a better word, worse and all things considered we joke that these are first-world problems we’re dealing with. I give them that (phrase) and they’ll joke back at me and say, ‘Yeah, these are first-world problems, Coach, first-world problems – rain delays and whatnot.”

It’s important to keep a sense of humor when nerves start getting frayed but the most important thing is that the crackerjack team of PG tournament officials kept things on track and kept all interested parties informed about what was taking place. And at the end of what was a very long day there was unquestioned optimism that baseball would be played on Monday.

Bracket-play is scheduled to continue on the fields at the Terry Park Sports Complex and the Lee County Player Development 5-Plex in the morning. It can probably be said that the Sunday Scramble has set up what promises to be Monday Madness, or something along that line.

As it stands, seven five-inning second round games and eight five-inning third round games will be played at Terry Park and the 5-Plex to kick things off in the morning and both venues will host quarterfinal and semifinal contests. Play will continue through the semis at which time the two winners will be named co-champs. So let's go ahead and call it “Big Monday”.

“It is what it is” was a common refrain Sunday and it was uplifting to witness first-hand how everyone was staying positive and taking things in stride as the events unfolded.

“I think this is a great experience for them,” Texas Twelve Maroon 2022 head coach Zach Dillon told PG when asked about any adversity his young players may have experienced from the delays. “Rain and weather is part of the game and if they aspire to play at the next level there’s going to be rain delays and there’s going to be high stakes when the rain delay is over.

“You’ve got to be able to stay with it mentally,” he said. “The guys that can just check-out and get away from it and then check back in when it’s time, those guys seem to have a lot of success. The guys that are really antsy and want to play and they’re frustrated by the moment, those are the guys that struggle with it.”

Dillon’s crew handled the circumstances very well, posting both first and second round victories late Sunday afternoon at Terry Park Stadium. The Texas Twelve Maroon 2022s, seeded No. 24 in the 48-team playoff field, started out with a 6-5, comeback win over the No. 41 CBA Bulldogs National out of Southern California.

The Twelves were down 4-1 after 4½ but put a 5-spot on the board in the bottom of the fifth and held on for the one-run victory. Nolan Wilson (more on him in a bit) had an RBI double, singled and scored a run, Jack Little delivered a two-run double and scored and Gray Nooe chipped-in with an RBI single to lead the way.

That win led to a second round contest against No. 9 Power Baseball 2023, one of the younger teams in the WWBA Under World field. Power Baseball put three teams in the playoffs here this weekend, with Power Baseball 2022 earning the No. 16 seed and Power Baseball 2022 Blue the No. 23 seed.

The 2022s earned a bye into the second round, matching the 2023s effort, but bowed out after a 4-1 loss to No. 17 5 Star 16u White; the 2022 Blue lost to the No. 42 Elite Squad 17u, 13-4, in first-round play.

“It was huge for us; it just once again shows the depth of our program,” Power Baseball 2023 head coach Jesse Marlo said of three playoff entrants. “We pride ourselves on being strong from the top-to-bottom in the program, and we’ve got a lot of great players, a lot of great families and everyone’s kind of bought into what we’re trying to do.

“It’s exciting to have three teams in the playoffs in what we consider one of the premier events for Perfect Game; it’s always great to do well in Perfect Game events.”

The Texas Twelve Maroon 2022 had the upper-hand in this one thanks to the efforts of the aforementioned Nolan Wilson, a 2022 right-hander who often resorts to a deceptive sidearm delivery.

Wilson took a no-hitter and 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth (games were shortened to five innings on Sunday) and ultimately settled for a two-hitter in a 3-2 Texas Twelve win. He also singled, stole a base and scored two runs to complement Marshall Hale who delivered two-run and one-run singles.

“At this point in the year a lot of our guys are playing football and a lot of our guys are doing other things,” Dillon said. “What I think it speaks to is the depth of our program and the number of solid players we have that can show up to a national event at any time with whoever we’ve got and be competitive. …

“We’ve just got to find that balance of, here’s what it is and when the pitch is thrown it’s time to play,” he continued. “We’ve just got to keep playing one pitch at a time and try to play good defense, try to throw the ball over the plate with multiple pitches and have quality at-bats.”

There is rain in Monday’s forecast and just about every other day this week, which is unfortunate because the PG WWBA World Championship is scheduled to begin its six-day run on Wednesday. No one seems to doubt for a minute that things won’t go off as planned, even if there is an interruption or two along the way.

As for Monday, Dillon’s message will be the same one he delivered to his team on Sunday:

“Stay ready, because we don’t know anything (about the weather),” he told them. “Perfect Game doesn’t know anything but they’re going to do the best they can to get the thing in; I know that about Perfect Game. So the message to the kids is stay ready and when we show up at the field be ready to play and be ready mentally more than anything else.”

PERFECTGAME.TV