June 1-3 PG 25 Regionals; Nashville and Lookout Blast
June 1-3 was NET Elite’s biggest tournament to date in terms in of teams, with 147 teams playing over the weekend from 9u-18u baseball! The event covered Chattanooga and the greater Nashville area. This was another weekend that we battled rain though out the entire weekend. The 9-12u games were played at the beautiful Summit facility in Ooltewah. 9u had little surprises as the Trojans cruised to the top spot. Crusaders 10u was the top seed and nationally ranked Big Stixx Gamers and Young Guns filled out the 11u. Western Kentucky Outlaws and Diamond White topped the 12u. Sunday had a different outcome in the divisions before the rain ended us in late afternoon. Gamers and Big Stixx battled it out in 11u with Big Stixx getting the win, and Diamond Gold was able to outlast Diamond White in 12u. All the teams this weekend showed great competition and played great baseball.
The 13u Division was made up of 24 teams and 16 major teams, but none of them could handle SWA Storm as they owned the weekend. One of the best match ups of the weekend was the Knights vs Storm in a 4-1 game. The Spikes also came to play this weekend and showed great poised and have a very strong team. NC Bombsquad had a couple come from behind victories that helped parachuted them into the semifinals. There was strong baseball all around in the 13u division.
14u was also a great division to watch this weekend, with 8 teams advancing. Team 615 Mizuno showed that timely hitting and making plays can carry you all way to the championship game. Crusaders 14u was the talk of the tournament winning their pool and taking three on Sunday to secure championship but it wasn’t easy, and did take some work to finally take down Team 615 Mizuno.
The 15u Division featured some of the tournaments stronger teams. Including Nitro winning the championship in a one-sided event against VBA Black. VBA and Nitro both swept the field all weekend long and were meant to meet in the finals. One of the most exciting games of weekend was twilight game Saturday night at Ootlewah between VBA Red and Diamond Academy. Hard fought battle that determined the last team in the playoffs, with Diamond Academy edging out VBA Red.
16u and 18u divisions were played in Nashville with a lot of talent players that will be going on to play at the next level. RBI Prime had a standout performance by pitcher Caylan Schoiem pitching 6 innings and striking out 13 batters in the game, while throwing a 2 hit 1 run baseball game as RBI Prime won their pool along with Cross Hit Grey, Legends, Pursuit, Diamond Simcox, and Cross Hit Red to top the field. In the 18u division Fury vs TN Twister played a Sunday morning game, that put Fury into the top of the division and on to the playoffs! Heat Baseball, Simcox, Georgia Stars, Franklin Elite, Showtime Prospects, Knox New Balance, and the eventual champions Diamond Elite Marucci filled out the 18u field. Diamond Elite Marucci was too hot for anyone to handle as they went 6-0 on the weekend. Franklin Elite also had an impressive weekend, with victories over Simcox and Georgia Stars to make it to Championship Sunday.
Standout Players (Showcase Only):
Post 173- A Dams
Simcox – Ron Mashburn, Cody Arbuthnot and Schafer
Longhorns – Michael Ryne
Diamond Elite Marucci- Drew B, J Selles, Pollo, Polence
Showtime Futures- Peace, Williams
Naturals – Hickey and Ayers
Orioles – Frunesser and Kusmer
Fury – Stone, lonell, and Cogh
Mudcats Alex Mase
BC – Jessee and Mackle
Riverdogs Moody
Home Field – Miller and Requeth
Red- Garner
Simcox 16u – Erickson Harbin and Payton Adkisson
Showtime – Nicholas
Blueprint Logan White
Newbalance – Braden Hickey and Will Jenkins
Senators Kyle Lewis and Jared Coffey,
Prime – Josh Stubblefield and Jake Wilhoit and Caylan Shoiem
