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S.I. Sun Devils 10U finishes third at World Series

Posted July 22, 2015 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler The Herald Tribune

After a 56-game season, the Southern Illinois Sun Devils 10-and-under baseball team came home with some hardware from one of its biggest tournaments of the summer campaign.

The Baseball Players Association (BPA) World Series was held in Ellisville and Chesterfield, both in Missouri, July 17 to 22 and featured a combined 53 teams from across the Midwest in 10U, 11U, 12U, 13U, 14U and 8U Machine Pitch divisions.

"If you play in (BPA's) tournaments and place somewhere in the top three, you pretty much get an invitation," said Sun Devils coach Jeff Mott. "A lot of it is based on a point system and they have a couple of different World Series sites."

Mott said the opportunity for the Sun Devils came when a team dropped out of the tournament.

"(BPA officials) called us and said they liked what they saw," Mott said. "They asked us to be a part of it."

A team with nine players from Chester and two, Zach Meveret and Chase Newby, from Steeleville was about to compete with teams that draw from much larger areas.

"I was talking with the coach from Southern Indiana Legends, which is out of the Indianapolis area, and they try out hundreds of kids," Mott said.

Opening Ceremonies took place at Busch Stadium on July 17, where the teams were paraded out in front of their fans prior to a contest between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets.

"Any time kids can get down to a major league field and walk around the field, that's special," Mott said. "They were putting the dirt from the warning track in their pockets. That's what's great about the (BPA) World Series is they put the extra stuff in there to make it an event for the kids."

The World Series also included a Skills Challenge on July 19, an event in which teams designated players to compete in each event. The Sun Devils took first place in the "Around the Horn" competition, which involved the fastest time throwing the ball to each position in the infield.

After finishing 1-1 in pool play, the Sun Devils went into the double-elimination bracket as the No. 4 seed. The team advanced to the semifinals, where it faced the No. 1 seed Legends.

A 7-3 loss sent the Sun Devils to the loser's bracket, where it was defeated, 4-1, by Easton Elite Kentucky on Wednesday. The Sun Devils finished with the third place trophy, while Easton Elite went on to fall to the Legends, 3-2, in the World Series championship.

"It was the most competitive tournament we've ever played in," Mott said. "They only host so many throughout the Midwest and it's good competition across the board."

The Sun Devils finished their summer campaign 39-17 overall with four tournament championships. Next year, Mott will take the same 11 players into 11U competition.

"We try to make the experience fun," he said. "You want to play well, you want to have good sportsmanship and have fun while doing it.

"I want (the players) to take from this stage that they can compete with anyone from any level. It's a confidence-builder for next year."

Sun Devils 10, Missouri Bandits 9:

Hayden Roth went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and the S.I. Sun Devils opened pool play with a win over the Missouri Bandits.

Trailing 9-7 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Sun Devils scored three runs to take the victory. Hayden Roth (2-3, 2BI) and Matt James (2-3) led Southern Illinois at the plate.

Gage Hasemeyer picked up the win, allowing three earned runs on five hits with three walks in two innings of relief. Sun Devils starter Chase Newby allowed three earned runs on three hits while striking out eight in a no-decision.

So. Indiana Legends 11, Sun Devils 1:

Southern Indiana scored seven runs in the first two innings and tacked on four more in the bottom of the fourth to take the victory to finish pool play.

Hayden Roth led the Sun Devils with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate with an RBI and also had two stolen bases.

Sun Devils 14, Missouri Bandits 4:

Hayden Roth, Zach Meveret and Clayton Andrews combined to go 8-for-9 with a double (Meveret) triple (Andrews) and seven RBIs, leading the Sun Devils to a rout of the Bandits on the first day of bracket play on July 19.

Matt James (2-3, RBI) and Chance Mott (2-3) also had multiple hits for Southern Illinois.

Sun Devils 7, Easton Elite 6:

The Sun Devils scored three runs in the top of the sixth to erase a 5-4 deficit and held off a rally by Kentucky Easton Elite to advance to the World Series semifinals.

Chase Newby went 2-for-2 with a go-ahead, two-run home run for Southern Illinois, which had seven players record at least a hit. Gage Hasemeyer picked up the win, his second of the tournament, in relief.

So. Indiana Legends 7, Sun Devils 3:

Southern Indiana scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to break open a close game, sending the Sun Devils to the loser's bracket.

Gage Hasemeyer (2-3) and Koby Jany (1-1) each had RBIs for the Sun Devils, while Hasemeyer and Clayton Andrews each had doubles in the loss.

Easton Elite 4, Sun Devils 1:

The Sun Devils' season ended with a loss to Kentucky Easton Elite in the championship game of the loser's bracket.

Easton Elite scored all its runs in the first and third innings and held the Sun Devils to just two hits overall. Zach Meveret (1-2) and Clayton Andrews (1-2) had the hits for Southern Illinois, which scored an unearned run in the second inning.

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