Top Teams Begin To Emerge at 18U Baseball Championships

ST. CHARLES—The action has been fast and furious over the first two days of Diamond Sports Promotions' St. Louis 18U Championship Tournament.

The competition features many area players and Parkway Central is hosting many of the games over this weekend.

The tourney began with early morning contests on Thursday and Friday, and a combined 25 games have been played at Blanchette Park, St. Charles Community College, Parkway Central High, and Lindenwood University, with another 25 ball games on the slate for Saturday and Sunday.

After Friday’s play, six teams found themselves still unbeaten, and in prime position to grab one of the six available championship bracket slots.

The top two seeds after Saturday’s action will earn byes into Sunday’s semifinals, while seeds 3 and 6, and 4 and 5, will play games on Sunday against one another for the right to advance to the semifinals.

The one team that’s assured itself a spot in the top six is the St. Louis Sting, who has already won its three pool play games, and sit atop the standings with a perfect mark and a plus-21 run differential.

On Friday, the Sting took apart the Knights of Under Armour with an 8-0 win at Blanchette Park.

In that contest, 2011 Hazelwood West grad Trevor Jones put on a show, going 4-4 at the plate, with a double, a triple, two singles, two stolen bases, two runs scored, and three RBI.

Jones, a center fielder who is headed to Central Missouri in the fall, clearly proved himself to be one of the best players in the entire event.

“Trevor is probably the heart and soul of our team,” Sting head coach Earl Green said. “He is good as gold in that one-hole. Even when we had (St. Louis Cardinals 2011 MLB Draft pick) Lance Jeffries, Trevor was the guy leading us. He’s having a great summer.”

De Smet grad Zak Larkin and Triad (IL) grad Rich Dimock also stood out for the Sting, both posting two hits and an RBI against the Meramec Valley-based Knights.

The other morning game at Blanchette Park featured St. Charles county-based tournament favorite, Team Mizuno Midwest, taking on the South County-based St. Louis Cougars, in what proved to be one of the most thrilling games of the day.

The Cougars plated two runs in the bottom of the first without the help of a hit to put some early pressure on Team Mizuno.

Whitfield High grad Christian Cizek and Parkway Central High senior-to-be Zach Carel each worked one-out walks, and then pulled off a double-steal to reach second and third, with SLUH senior-to-be Sam Knesel standing at the plate.

Knesel then drove in Cizek with a sacrifice fly, which also advanced Carel to third and he then scored on a fielding error by Francis Howell Central graduate Dean Ballenger.

After stranding multiple runners on in the second and third innings, Team Mizuno finally plated three runs in the fourth, when Francis Howell North senior-to-be Braxton Martinez doubled and scored on a hit by Howell Central’s Austin Boden.

Boden took second on a wild pitch, and came all the way around to score from second on a fielding error by the Cougars’ Carel.

Team Mizuno made that misplay really sting, when Fort Zumwalt West senior-to-be Josh Parker singled home Boden to give his team a 3-2 lead.

The game stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth, when Parkway Central senior-to-be Ethan Lay delivered a two-out single, then scored on Lafayette senior-to-be Blake Hoover’s second home run of the summer, a deep smash over the left-center field wall, that gave the Cougars a 4-3 lead.

The Cougars got through the sixth inning unscathed, and only needed three more outs to secure what surely would’ve been the upset of the tournament over the nationally-renowned Team Mizuno club.

But it just wasn’t meant to be, as Team Mizuno’s Ben Snarr from Wentzvilel Holt, who had four hits in the game, scored the tying run on an RBI double by SLUH senior-to-be Willie Floros, who then scored the game-winning run on a throwing error by Hazelwood West senior-to-be Matt Leinberger.

The Cougars loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Cizek popped out to end the game.

“You have to make the right plays every time out,” Cougars coach Steve Johnson said. “We’d won six in a row before today, and we we’re doing that. But we have to know how to not compound an error, and make it a double error.”

Despite the loss, the Cougars are still 1-1 in pool play, and with a little help on Saturday, could land one of the top six slots.

First though, the Cougars have to win their Saturday afternoon game against the Trailblazers Baseball Club at C&H Park in St. Peters if they’re going to have any shot at advancing past pool play.

Team Mizuno, which had Thursday off, will play two games on Saturday, and depending on how things break in the other games, might need to win both to make the top six.

Team Mizuno will play the Trailblazers at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Parkway Central High. The winner of that contest will almost certainly advance to the top six.

Two other one-loss teams heading into the final day of pool play, are the Meramec Valley Travelers and the Easton St. Louis Tigers, both based in South County.

The Travelers beat the Missouri Outlaws, 6-5, on Friday after splitting two games on Thursday, a 12-3 win over the Knights of Under Armour, and a 5-0 loss to the St. Louis Sting.

With no games on Saturday, the Travelers can only watch and wait to see where they land for Sunday’s action.

The Tigers also won on Friday, knocking off the St. Louis Gamers Blue team, 5-2, at Parkway Central, which was a nice rebound after suffering a 13-4 loss to the St. Louis Browns on Thursday.

On Saturday, in what might be the game of the day, the Tigers will take on program mates and rivals the Easton Kirkwood Tigers, at 4:30 p.m. at Blanchette Park.

That, too, could be a contest where the winner advances to the top six, while the loser will almost certainly miss out.

The formal schedule for Sunday will be set following Saturday’s action.

Here’s a look at what games are on tap for Saturday:

Saturday, July 2

At Parkway Central

9:00 a.m. – St. Louis Recruits 16U (1-1) vs. Southern Illinois Bullets (1-1)

11:30 a.m. – Missouri Bucks (1-1) vs. St. Louis Gamers Gray (1-1)

2:00 p.m. – St. Louis Games Blue (1-1) vs. St. Louis Browns (1-1)

4:30 p.m. – Trailblazers Baseball (1-0) vs. Team Mizuno Midwest (1-0)

At C&H Park

9:00 a.m. – Team Mizuno Midwest (1-0) vs. Rawlings Tigers (0-2)

11:30 a.m. – St. Louis Cougars (1-1) vs. Trailblazers Baseball (1-0)

2:00 p.m. – St. Louis Sox (2-0) vs. KC Wildcats (1-1)

4:30 p.m. – Hitmen (1-1) vs. Southside Baseball Club (0-2)

7:00 p.m. – Missouri Outlaws (0-2) vs. Knights of Under Armour (0-2)

At Blanchette Park

2:00 p.m. – St. Louis Recruits 18U (1-1) vs. BNBA Gold (2-0)

4:30 p.m. – Easton Kirkwood Tigers (2-0) vs. Easton St. Louis Tigers (1-1)