The fifth day of the 2020 USA Baseball 16U National Team Championships North Carolina was highlighted be four quarterfinal matchups. Canes National, East Cobb Astros, Elite Squad and Florida Burn all emerged victorious on the day to advance to the semifinals, which will be played at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday, August 16, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. View the full schedule and follow all the action on GameChanger.
Canes National 4, Tri-State Arsenal 0 (Quarterfinal)
Canes National grabbed an early lead and never looked back to secure a 4-0 quarterfinal victory over Tri-State Arsenal at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., on Saturday. With the win, Canes National advanced to the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina semifinals on Sunday.
A solo blast over the left field fence by Adam Jones Shepard opened the scoring in the contest and gave Canes National a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. That home run was all Canes National starter Jackson Ferris needed as he claimed the win with a scoreless outing, giving up just five hits and striking out four in 4.2 innings of work.
Three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and a perfect 2.1 innings of relief from Matthew Matthijs finished off the 4-0 win for Canes National. Shepard (2-for-2) led the team's offense with two runs scored and three RBI and Lamar King (2-for-3) also collected a multi-hit game and an RBI.
Tri-State Arsenal's Brock Porter was tagged with the loss in the contest despite a strong start. He allowed just one run on two hits, while striking out seven and walking one in five innings of work. Drew Lafferty (2-for-3) led Tri-State Arsenal at the plate, recording the team's only multi-hit game.
With the loss, Tri-State Arsenal finishes the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina with a 2-3-1 overall record. Canes National remains undefeated in the tournament with the win, improving to 6-0 and advancing to play Elite Squad in the semifinals at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday, August 16, at the National Training Complex. Canes National's semifinal game will be streamed live by PlaySight Interactive. To access the live stream, click here, or visit web.playsight.com and search for "USA Baseball."
Elite Squad 9, Team Elite 5 (Quarterfinal)
Elite Squad withstood two late rallies by Team Elite in the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina quarterfinals on Saturday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, to secure a 9-5 victory and a spot in Sunday's semifinals.
After grabbing a quick 2-1 lead in the first inning, Elite Squad added a run in the third to head into the fourth inning with a 3-1 advantage. Team Elite got its first rally going in the bottom of the fourth though when it strung together a one-out single, a Henry Godbout RBI triple and a sacrifice fly by Simmi Whitehill.
The two teams traded runs in the fifth with Elite Squad jumping out to another two-run lead before Team Elite tied it up once again with two more runs of its own in the bottom half to make it a 5-5 game heading into the sixth inning.
Elite Squad took control for good in the final two innings, pushing two across in the sixth to break the tie and adding two more insurances runs in the seventh to finish off the 9-5 victory and secure its spot in the event's semifinals.
The win was attributed to Hunter Pankey after his three innings of work in which he allowed just two runs on three hits and three walks, while tallying two strikeouts. The loss went to Shane Thorson of Team Elite, who gave up two runs on one hit in his 1.1 innings of relief.
Jason Torres (4-for-5) was a force for Elite Squad at the plate, collecting two runs and two RBIs in addition to his four hits in the game. Derek Bermudez (2-for-4) and Hector Manguel (2-for-4) also had multi-hit games for Elite Squad, while Manguel led the team in RBIs with three. Seven different players combined for Team Elite's seven hits in the contest and Logan Poteet (1-for-3) led the team with two RBIs.
With Saturday's win, Elite Squad improves to 3-0-3 and will face off against Canes National in the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina semifinals on Sunday, August 16, at the National Training Complex at 8 a.m. ET. Elite Squad's semifinal game will be streamed live by PlaySight Interactive. To access the live stream, click here, or visit web.playsight.com and search for "USA Baseball."
East Cobb Astros 8, CBA Northeast Pride 0 (Quarterfinal)
The East Cobb Astros used a four-run first inning and a one-hit shutout from Dylan Lesko to secure a dominant 8-0 victory over CBA Northeast Pride in the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina quarterfinals on Saturday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
Lesko put together a stellar five-inning complete game to earn the win for the East Cobb Astros, allowing just three runners to reach base on one hit, a walk and an error while striking out three in the shutout performance.
A leadoff single by Jett Williams in the bottom of the first got East Cobb's offense rolling before four consecutive one-out walks brought in two runs. With the bases still loaded, Jackson Gaspard lined a two-out, two-RBI single to make it a 4-0 game early.
The East Cobb Astros continued to keep their foot on the gas, collecting two runs in the bottom of the third and one each in the fourth and fifth to finish off the 8-0 victory and secure its spot in Sunday's semifinals.
Harry Ford (2-for-2) and Gaspard (2-for-3) backed Lesko's start with multiple hits, while Gaspard also recorded three RBIs and Ben Hamacher (1-for-2) collected two in the win. CBA Northeast's Ty Federici suffered the loss after giving up four runs on one hit and four walks in 0.1 innings of work. Jake Kelleher (1-for-2) tallied CBA Northeast's lone hit.
With the win, the East Cobb Astros advances to play Florida Burn at 8 a.m. ET in Sunday's 16U National Team Championships North Carolina semifinals. The team remains one of two undefeated teams in the tournament, along with Canes National, while CBA Northeast finishes the event with a 2-3-1 overall record. The semifinal game will be streamed live using a single camera and broadcasted on the USA Baseball YouTube channel, @USABaseballTV. Saturday's loss marked Canes National's first of the 2020 15U National Team Championships North Carolina as the team dropped to 5-1 for the week.
Florida Burn 2, Richmond Braves Platinum 1 (Quarterfinal)
A 2-1 walkoff victory over Richmond Braves Platinum on Saturday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina, clinched Florida Burn's spot in the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina semifinals.
Florida Burn wasted no time in the game, striking first as a one-out Marek Houston RBI-single brings a leadoff walk around to score in the bottom of the first for an early 1-0 advantage.
That lead would last until the seventh inning behind a scoreless five-inning start by Florida Burn's Jason LePage who earned the win after shutting down Richmond Braves Platinum's offense early, allowing just two hits and one walk, while collecting three punchouts. After the first inning, Levi Huesman settled in and put together a strong start on the mound for Richmond Braves Platinum. He gave up just one run on four hits, and tallied four strikeouts and three walks in the no-decision.
Richmond Braves Platinum finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game. The team strung together two walks and a single to load the bases with one out before L Manning stole home to make it a 1-1 game heading to the bottom half.
Down to its final two outs, Florida Burn took advantage of back-to-back Richmond Braves Platinum errors and a groundout to bring the winning run 90 feet away for E Kapkowski, who came up clutch. Kapkowski's walkoff single secured Florida Burn's 2-1 victory and the team's spot in tournament's semifinals.
Kapkowski (2-for-3) led both offenses with the contest's only multi-hit game and also recorded a run and an RBI in the win. Michael Joyce (1-for-2), Xavier Martin (1-for-2) and Kenneth Schaedel (1-for-3) collected Richmond Braves Platinum's three hits, while Joyce suffered the loss after giving up the game-winning run in his 0.2 innings of work.
Richmond Braves Platinum falls to 2-2-2 in the event with the loss. Florida Burn's record at the tournament improved to 5-1 following the victory and the team advances to play the East Cobb Astros in the semifinals of the 16U National Team Championships North Carolina at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday, August 16, at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The semifinal game will be streamed live using a single camera and broadcasted on the USA Baseball YouTube channel, @USABaseballTV.
