2008 13U Battle In The South Results

Despite blustery and less than desirable conditions in Rockwood, Tennessee Sunday afternoon, the 13U Battle In The South wrapped up with Team Anderson (ranked 3rd by Travel Ball Select) winning the tournament even without their coach, Charles Chatman, who stayed home to run the California based organization. During pool play, they defeated South Forsyth War Eagles (GA), the Indiana Pony Express, and the South Carolina Hurricanes in pool play to win their bracket. In their first round game Sunday, they defeated the Tidewater Drillers (Travel Ball Select Honorable Mention team from VA) before defeating a tough NC Cleveland Indians (TBS 13th ranked squad) to win their semi-final game. In the finals, they defeated the sixth ranked East Cobb Astros to win the tournament.

In pool play, Team Anderson defeated South Carolina and South Forsyth by a 9-1 margin on Saturday and beat the Indiana Pony Express 9-2 on Friday. Sunday afternoon, they disposed of the Tidewater Drillers by a 9-2 margin and headed to the semifinals against a tough NC Cleveland Indians squad. Despite trailing at one time by a 4-1 margin, Team Anderson came from behind for a 6-5 win to advance to the finals. In what was a back and forth affair with the East Cobb Astros (GA), Team Anderson twice had to come from behind to eventually edge out the Astros in a hard-fought 12-11 contest.
Coach Chatman said: “I didn’t make it out this weekend, but I couldn’t be prouder of the boys and the coaches for their accomplishment over the weekend. Art Vidro, Zach Wiese, Nick Osuna, and Many Segura pitched great. Timmy Lopes, Seve Romo, and Eric Hutting swung it great all weekend”.

Team Anderson traveled with only 10 players and was without regulars - Rio Ruiz, Justin Cana, and Marcus Greene.  All of whom are on Travel Ball Select’s Players to Watch List and were playing on the 14U team this past weekend. To make matters even more exciting, Timmy Lopes had to leave in the 4th inning of the Championship Game so that he didn’t miss his flight;  thus, leaving Team Anderson with only nine players to finish the game.  The California boys rallied together and got it done, very impressive!

Saturday Results

The temperature was warm and the baseball action even hotter in Rockwood, Tennessee Saturday afternoon. The day’s results saw the Chicago North Shore Stars, the Mount Juliet Bearcats (TN), Team Anderson and the RBI Red Wings (PA) all sweep their brackets to enter into Sunday's championship tournament. Also winning their bracket were the East Cobb Astros (GA) and punching a ticket to Sunday's tournament were the NC Cleveland Indians. In the play-in games, the Texas Stampede defeated the South Carolina Hurricanes squad by an 8-5 tally and the Tidewater Drillers (VA) drilled the 5280 Baseball (CO) team by an 8-6 score to make it to Sunday's championship tournament.
 
Some note-worthy occurrences on the day included a walk-off game-winning grand-slam home run by Curtiss Irving for the Indiana Bandits in their 7-6 win over the Cincy Flames and the NC Cleveland Indians had Andrew Toney throw a five-inning one-hitter in their 8-0 win over Brooklawn Baseball in pool play. Another story of interest in the level of dedication of these players is the Elite Red Sox have a player on their team who drives 4 hours just to practice with the team on a regular basis and had to travel 4 more hours to Rockwood, Tennessee. Weather permitting, the championship and consolation tournaments will start at 8:45 AM tomorrow morning.

Friday Results

Under threatening skies, the first day of pool play managed to get in the books in "The Battle in the South" at Rockwood, TN with winners on the day including the Texas Stampede (photo below) by a 9-0 margin over the Knox Impact with the Stampede's Sam Odom throwing a no-hitter with 4 strikeouts. In other games, 5280 Baseball (CO) defeated South Oakland (MI) by a 4-1 tally, Team Anderson (CA) disposed of the Indiana Pony Express by a 9-2 margin, NC Cleveland Indians defeated Legends Baseball (TN) by a 3-0 margin with Blake Mitchell pitching the complete game shut-out with 6 strikeouts. Also in a somewhat shocking upset, the Cincy Flames pummeled the #5 East Cobb Astros (GA) by an 18-7 margin. Other winners included Chicago North Shore, Tidewater Drillers (VA), South Carolina Hurricanes, Mount Juliet Bearcats (13U), and the fifth ranked RBI Redwings (PA).  With travel baseball, there are a lot of sacrifices to be made. Teams had to have fund-raisers to pay for expenses such as team meals, coaches, and the parent’s expenses. Teams from Colorado and California flew in thousands of miles away to come play in this tournament. The sleepy little town of Rockwood, nestled in the hills of Tennessee, has become quite the bustling place with this tournament. Also, some of these kids play overseas baseball as well. Some travel to locales as far away as Belgium, China, and the Dominican Republic to play baseball. In the case of 5280 Baseball, with the Colorado weather as it is, they are forced to practice indoors for six months of the year.

1st Place:  Team Anderson (CA)

2nd Place: East Cobb Astros (GA)

3rd Place: NC Cleveland Indians (NC)

4th Place: Texas Stampede (TX)

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