SHOCKWAVE Baseball

CONGRATULATIONS to the NATIONAL CHAMPION 15u SHOCKWAVE on WINNING the CABA WOOD BAT WORLD SERIES!!!   

(July 16 – 23, 2011)

College of Charleston - Charleston, SC

In one of the hottest weeks of the year, The SC Shockwave 15U team was even hotter. 

After trailing 1-0 in the first inning of the first game of the tournament, the Shockwave never trailed again, sailing through nine games without losing a game and outscoring their 9 opponents by a combined 68 to 21.  The final win came over a highly touted Arena Starz team from Belair, Maryland as starting pitcher Elliot Lance held off the Starz 7-1 to deliver the CABA Wood Bat National Championship trophy to the Shockwave trophy case.

Lance pitched into the seventh inning as the heat index climbed to 116 degrees at Patriots Point.  Pitcher Bubba Martin came in to close the deal in style by striking out the final two Starz batters.

The Shockwave concluded pool play with wins over Round Trip, Diamond Devils Blue, the Richmond Braves, the Tennessee Dores and the Niskayuna Indians.

In the single elimination bracket tournament the Shockwave followed up with wins over East Cobb Rawlings and the Diamond Devils Black to earn a berth into the championship game against the Arena Starz on Friday.

Catcher Tyler Romanik earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award for batting an incredible .529 including the tournament’s only home run, a massive shot over the center field fence against the Tennessee Dores.  Romanik would lead the team in RBI (7) and runs scored (11).

Other top hitters for the tournament included OF/P Austin Hoard (.375 ), P/3B Lance (.375), SS Cody Bowen (.348), P/2B Daniel Branham (.333), P/1B Brandon Hood (.304).

Will Porter and Chris Padgett did a great job covering the outfield all week, filling in for CF Deandre Heath, one of the team’s best players.  Heath was held out of the tournament for precautionary measures after suffering from heat exhaustion the previous tournament. 

Defensively, the Shockwave was as stifling all week to their opponents as the oppressive heat was.  The boys flashed some leather and made several key double plays to end rallies throughout the week. 

Pitchers Lance, Branham and Hood each picked up two wins on the week while pitchers Hoard and newcomer Cody Lewis got victories in each of their starts.  Lewis, a talented pitcher off of the Shockwave 14U team was called up to replace Heath on the roster.  Lance would earn the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher award for his performance.