Jul 19, 2018 | Steve McGrail | 1569 views
Wranglers Participate in Gatorade Nationals in Cincinatti
The Wyoming Wrangler Peewees participated in the Gatorade National Championships in Cincinatti July 12-15th. The Wranglers played 6 games in the tournament eventually losing out in the semi finals against the tournament winner Cincinatti Allstars by a score of 9-1. Cincinatti would go on to defeat Kentucky in the final 15-0.
In Game 1, Wyoming Squared off against the Kentucky Riverdogs and outslugged them 11-9 in the opener. Will Hull started the game going 4 innings and gave way to Tristan Nemcek who pitched the final 2 innings for the Wranglers. Hull, Jace McGrail, Brody McRae, Reid King, Adam Maitland, Zach Wilson and Tyler Kerby provided the hits for the Wranglers. Wilson scored 3 runs, McGrail and Hull 2 runs, Kerby, King, Nate Perry and Noel Sanderson all plated single runs.
In Game 2, Wyoming faced off against the Grand Haven Young Bucs and received their first loss of the season to a good gap hitting squad by the score of 11-3. McGrail started the game and went 3innings before giving way to Reid King to pitch the final 2 innings. Providing offense for the Wranglers was, Reed Douglas, Perry, McGrail, Maitland and Miller Mailloux.
In Game 3 Wyoming met the Michigan Strategy Allstars and the Wranglers exploded in the 5th inning scoring 6 runs to come from behind to defeat them 7-2. Pitching for Wyoming was Zach Wilson and Brody McRae. Offensive stars were, Douglas with 2 hits, Hull with a double and Wilson, McGrail, with singles.
In game 4 Wyoming faced off against a strong squad from the Illinois Valley and could not do anything right in the second game of the day in the hot Ohio sun. The boys took it on the chin 9-0. Douglas, Hull and McRae had hits for the Wranglers. Jack Helps, Miller Mailloux, Tyler Kerby pitched for Wyoming.
After Pool Play, the Wranglers finished with a 2 and 2 record and nabbed the 3rd seed in the 1/4 Finals. The Peewee Wranglers matched up against the Michigan Strategy for another battle. Will Hull started pitching before giving way to McGrail and Douglas. The trio combined to shut down the big Michigan Squad 11- 5. Offensively, Wilson and McGrail scored twice, Hull, Douglas, Kerby, Maitland,Sanderson, Nemcek and Mailloux all scored single runs in the victory. Kerby, Hull, McGrail, Maitland, all had triples and singles went to Nemcek, Sanderson, and Wilson.
The 1/4 win set up a match against the heavy favourite Cincinatti Allstars (which had kids from Tennesee on roster). The game was 1-1 after one inning but Cincinatti quickly started rolling and continued to pound the ball as they put 9 runs on the board. The Wranglers couldn't muster much offense against strong pitching and defense on the other side of the diamond. Wilson started the game and gave way to Reid King and Brody McRae. Reed Douglas had 2 hits to lead the offense and McGrail and McRae had the other 2 Wrangler hits.
The Wranglers went 3 and 3 in the tournament against state tournament teams with players older than most of the Peewee Wranglers. Many players were heading into grade 9 and the rest in grade 8.....where the Wranglers are heading into Grade 7 and Grade 8. The Pitching distance was 4 feet further back and the bases were at 80ft which took some getting used to. Regardless, it was a great experience for the kids to face stronger, older, tougher competition and know the next level they will strive to get to.
The Wranglers played some solid defense and pitchers threw strikes all weekend. They all learned about balks...lol and how they are called in the USA.
In the skills competition, the Wranglers all got to participate in one event. Zach Wilson and Will Hull were in the Homerun Derby and were the only players to hit a HR in the rounds, and had to have two rounds of tie breaking hitoffs. Eventually, Will prevailed by 1 HR over Zach. It was an exciting competition. Good job boys.
In the Around the Horn contest, the team of Kerby, King, McGrail and Perry were the fastest and claimed the gold medal. Great team work fellas.
Golden Arm (Accuracy) and Roadrunner (fastest around bases) were close events with Wranglers performing well but just shy of the medals.
The Wranglers Resume action this week with games vs Ilderton and Sarnia.
Keep up the great work Wranglers.