CARY, N.C. – Action continued Friday with another pair of games at the 2022 Prospect Development Pipeline League, held at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The day saw Team Light Blue collect a shutout victory over Team Red and Team Navy securing a comeback win over Team Gray.
TEAM RED VS. TEAM LIGHT BLUE
Strong pitching along with a 2-for-3 day from Campbell Smithwick propelled Team Light Blue to its first win of the 2022 PDP League to improve to 1-0-1 in the tournament. Five different pitchers combined for a shutout win while Smithwick was responsible for all three runs batted in in the contest.
Smithwick provided the first run of the day in the second inning, driving in Aidan Miller after he led off the side with an infield single and moved into scoring position on an error. He came up clutch again in the sixth with his second double of the day, a 2-RBI double to center after a pair of walks and fielder’s choice put runners at the corners.
With the result, Team Red suffered its first loss of the event and moves to 1-1.
Notables
- The Light Blue rotation of Cam Johnson, Gabe Gaeckle, Nathan Teague, Wil Libbert, and Boston Flannery combined for a shutout, yielding six hits while tallying 11 strikeouts.
- Campbell Smithwick led Team Light Blue with a 2-for-3 performance with two doubles and was responsible for all three runs batted in.
- Additionally, Aidan Miller and Zachary Wadas tallied a hit apiece, highlighted by Wadas’s triple in the seventh, to contribute to Team Light Blue’s four on the day.
- Team Red’s Andrew Lamb went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate, while four other players tallied a base hit.
- Casey Borba turned in Team Red’s lone extra-base hit – a double in the fifth inning.
TEAM GRAY VS. TEAM NAVY
Team Navy broke the ice in the third when Daniel Cuvet reached on a fielding error, moved to second on a passed ball, and scored on Kendall George’s base hit to center field.
In the sixth, Team Gray brought the game-tying run across thanks to a couple of miscues by the Team Navy defense. An error allowed leadoff batter Antonio Anderson to reach base, and then after Drew Burress laced a single through the right side to move him to second, another error brought him home.
Team Navy responded in the bottom frame though, taking its lead back when Jarren Purify reached on an outfield single to start the side and then Colt Emerson’s triple drove him home.
Emerson’s triple proved to be the game-winning run as Team Navy improved to 1-1 with its first win of the week. Meanwhile, Team Gray moves to 0-1-1 in the event.
Notables
- Team Navy’s pitching trio of Noble Meyer, Miller Green, and Bryce Eldridge all had shutout performances on the mound, while Hunter Dietz allowed just one earned run on one hit in two innings out of the pen. The staff combined to surrender six hits and fan 10 batters.
- At the plate, Team Navy’s Kendall George led the way with a 3-for-3 outing and one RBI, while Colt Emerson drove in the team’s other run of the day as he went 1-for-3.
- Additionally, Team Navy’s Jarren Purify and Andrew Wiggins tallied a hit each in the win.
- Team Gray’s batting order recorded five hits in the game, highlighted by doubles from Justin Best and Ariel Antigua.
- On the mound, Team Gray’s Thomas White fanned seven batters and did not surrender an earned run in three innings. Additionally, Parker Detmers tossed two scoreless innings and Garret Baumann tallied five strikeouts in the final two innings of the contest.
ON DECK
The teams will return to action on Saturday, July 2, in a pair of games at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Team Light Blue and Team Navy will match up at 10 a.m., while Team Gray and Team Red will face each other at 1 p.m.
ABOUT PDP LEAGUE SCORING
USA Baseball utilizes a modified scoring system for its development programs to achieve load management and mitigate potential injuries due to overuse for its youth athletes. Pitchers are subject to a maximum pitch count of 25 per inning during game play. In the event an inning is rolled because a pitcher has reached their maximum pitch count, runners on base may be contributed to the game score. As a result of this system, the final game score may not match the overall statistics.
