Alabama Tigers 15U

The Tigers rolled into Franklin for the BPA Fall Championship knowing it would be our toughest test yet. That's why we came! Starting Saturday with pool play, we knew it was for seeding but came to win. We started out slowly and never did get on track in a game one loss to the Memphis Force. Leaving a ton of base runners stranded cost us a game. In our 3rd game of the day, basically in a row, our worn out Tigers playing a good Smyrna Strom team playing their first game of the day could not get it done, BUT game two is what we really came here for.
 The absolute class of the area, the Tennesse Blast who combined from the Tennessee Thunder and Cavaliers, squared off against our Tigers. Logan pitched a great game and Johnny came in for the save in an 8-4 win capped off by a huge 3 run homer by Logan that had everyone talking. The whole team played like they could and it was on to Sunday.
 With their ace on the mound the Tigers once again met the Blast in the semifinals. We countered with Chris and the war was on. This bunch fought like crazy, going back and forth and eventually knocked out their hoss in a fourth inning rally. But even with some outstanding plays along the way, and a great job all game by Chris,  in the end a couple of  base running mistakes combined with a couple of mental errors cost us the game in a 7-5 loss. The Blast coaches came to our guys and told them they were as good as any team they had played this year. We were even invited to an Elite team tournament for next Summer! Not bad for a 1 and 3 team. We are close, real close, to being where we want to be. We are still young as a team and have to LEARN how to win, know mentally what it takes. We will go anywhere to GET THERE.

In the Tigers 2nd tournament, the BPA fall championship, all looked well after pool play. Playing on the short field was playing havik with our balls & strikes and probably was not too good for us, but our pitchers were fighting through it. In the EARLY game 1 vs. the Decatur River Rats Brandon sailed through the first inning with 2 strikeouts, but runs were hard to come by as we left several runners on base. Uncharacteristic sloppy defense and a walk or two later the Tigers had themselves in a 6-1 hole. Brandon battled without his best stuff and kept us in the game. Then the big rally, coming up with 6 runs in the 5th inning, capped by a huge 3 run homer by Chris. Johnny came on and nailed things down for the save, giving Brandon and the Tigers the win, 7-6. A bunch of guys hit the ball well, led by Chris's 3 for 3 and Justin's 2 while Travis, Brandon, Cameron, Todd and Colby added 1 hit each.

On to G2 vs. the Birmingham Storm. Chris got the start and was throwing BBs from pitch one! The defense seemed to solidify in game 2 and the Tigers came up with some big hits at the right time, as Travis, Logan and Justin all had multi-hit games. Chris, Johnny, Brandon, Cameron and Colby all jumped in with hits.  The Storm never did catch up with Chris, who got the complete game victory, and the Tigers took the 7-2 win and the number one seed into Sunday's semi-finals.

In the semis the Tigers faced the Storm for the second time in a row. One of those "it doesn't pay to get out of bed" games struck. Not a lot went right. The defense played their worst game, 3 different pitchers couldn't find the plate, and when they did the Storm hit it. The Tigers dug a huge hole early and could not recover. On the bright side, Chris parked homer number two for the tournament, a towering monster shot in the bushes way back, as the Tigers showed real guts in a late 5 run rally that came up short. Cameron, Todd, Chris and Logan had multi-hit games while Travis, Brandon, Johnny and Colby added to the hit totals. The loss sent the boys to the AAA championship game, which all knows is really the 3rd place game, and gut check time.

After a 4 1/2 hour wait, the Tigers took on the Stingers behind Justin on the mound. The Tigers seemed to have the bounce back and looked much better all around. Justin pitched great but the Tigers were a bit slow to get the sticks going. Things stayed low scoring and close through 2 innings but the Tigers broke out after that and pulled away, winning the AAA Championship . Justin got the win a little help from Chris who closed things out with the final scoreless inning. 3-1 in the 12-4 win to take the Hardware, not what we came for but we'll take it! Some guys really tore it up at the plate, with Logan going 4 for 4, Chris 3 for 3, Travis 3 for 4 and Colby 2 for 3.  Brandon and Johnny also had hits in the game. I was very proud to see the boys jump into the AAA game and play as hard as they would have in the Major, shows a lot of pride and desire. Well done.

These big cats started things off in style, taking First Place in their first tournament, the Knoxville Thunder Fall Clash in Oak Ridge, TN. The Tigers avenged their only loss of the tournament and season with a 6-4 victory over Macon GA's tough Ocmulgee Reds in the championship game behind a great pitching effort by Johnny and a fine job of relief by Todd. The sticks did their job, led by Travis, Logan and Chris, and a great team effort top to bottom made the victory sweet.
Along the way the Tigers handed the Fountain City Cats their only loss of the tournament 8-1 behind solid hittting and an outstanding 3 hitter pitching performance by Brandon, giving up no earned runs in the complete game win.
The Tigers also defeated the current AAA Tennessee State Champion Jefferson City Silver Eagles 5-4 giving Chris the victory with a great closing job by Johnny, who appeared in 3 games and pitched 6 2/3 innings, also allowing no earned runs and only 3 hits.
For the tournament, several had good days at the plate, let by Travis's 6 hits, a walk and 2 stolen bases. Several guys hit the ball well when it was there and coaxed a walk when it wasn't for some great on base averages including Logan, Chris and Brandon who reached base 6 times each.
Travis was named Tournament MVP while Logan, Chris, Johnny and Brandon were all selected for the All-Tournament Team. Congratulations Boys, you got 'em talking. GO TIGERS.