LIVE: From the USA 16U Baseball Championships - Recap

Dave Lax: We're There

We had a good run, but ultimately the Baseball Factory team lost and was eliminated from the tournament Friday morning, losing to the Orlando Scorpions 8-7. The game started on Thursday at 5 PM. After four scoreless innings on both sides, the rain finally came and postponed the game for the day. We resumed play Friday at 8 AM. After a rough fifth inning, Baseball Factory was down 6-0.

But we wouldn’t give up without a fight. Baseball Factory would come back with three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Michael Bradshaw (Crestwood, NY) led the charge with a 2-RBI double to right field. The Scorpions would score another run in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 7-3 as both teams entered the seventh inning. With no outs and runners on first and second (walk and hit by a pitch), Joseph McCrary (Stone Mountain, GA) doubled to right to score one, leaving runners on first and third with no outs. The very next batter, Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, NJ) hit a 2-RBI triple to right field to cut the deficit to one, 7-6. Mike Ford (Belle Mead, NJ) then singled to left to tie the game, 7-7. After such a dramatic comeback, we unfortunately couldn’t hold on in the end. The Scorpions scored the winning run in the bottom of the 7th to defeat Baseball Factory, 8-7.

While it was a heartbreaking loss, these boys should be very proud. The Orlando Scorpions went on to win the USA Baseball 16U Championship title. The Baseball Factory finished in the top 16 out of a 72-team tournament. A special thanks goes out to Rick Sofield and Reggie Harris for coaching and motivating the boys throughout our championship run, and the parents for being so flexible and patient through this crazy week of rain. And finally to the players, who played their hearts out this week, thank you so much for such a fun and entertaining week of baseball!!!

LIVE: From the USA 16U Baseball Championships part 2

Dave Lax: We're There

A winning trend has started for the Baseball Factory team! Baseball Factory took out the 2006 USA 16U Baseball Champion All-American Prospects Red. The Baseball Factory came away with their third victory in a row at the USA 16U Baseball Championships East. As the visiting team, the offense wasted no time as they loaded the bases in the 1st inning. With two outs, Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, NJ) came through with a 2-RBI single to left. Two batters later, Mike Ford (Belle Meade, NJ) scored the 3rd run on a passed ball.

After shutting down the Prospects in the bottom of the inning, Baseball Factory's offense got back to work in the 2nd. Patrick Martin (Bassett, VA) started things off with a double. He eventually would score after an overthrown pick-off attempt and a fielder's choice. With a runner on 1st, Denzel Campbell (College Park, GA) hit an RBI double down the left field line, putting the Factory up 5-0.

For the rest of the game, Baseball Factory continued to get on base, but were unable to get anyone across the plate. However, the story continues to be Baseball Factory’s pitching. Mark Williams (Vienna, VA) and Harrison Musgrave (Notter Fort, WV) pitched four innings and three innings respectively. Both shut down the Prospects throughout the game, scattering hits while striking out seven batters (Williams 2, Harrison 5). Our defense was also solid behind them, with only one error throughout the entire game. There were also two outstanding plays made in the field - a diving catch in left field by Campbell and a heads up double play by Sean Hagen (Reading, PA) behind the dish. The Factory won the game by a final score of 5-1.

Baseball Factory will take on the 7th overall seeded Virginia Mavericks at 8 AM on Thursday.

THIS JUST IN: Baseball Factory upended the #7 Mavericks 8-2 in the first game of the day. A full recap will come in later today. Our next game is at 5 PM.

Update: (3:00PM)
Same Old Story

Once again, the bats came alive and the pitching stayed strong as Baseball Factory beat the 7th seeded Virginia Mavericks, 8-2. Michael Bradshaw (Crestwood, NY) pitched a solid 3 innings, giving up just one run and recording two strikeouts.

The offense got going in the 4th, when Joseph McCrary (Stone Mountain, GA) led off the inning with a double to right. The next batter, Mike Ford (Belle Mead, NJ) reached first base on a throwing error by the second baseman, which would also score McCrary. After a single by Denzel Campbell (College Park, GA), Anthony Bowman (Damascus, MD) hit a sacrifice fly to score Ford and Baseball Factory went up 2-1.

Andrew Chin (Newton, MA) came into pitch in the top of the 4th inning. The Mavericks came up with a tying run, but stranded two to keep the game tied at 2-2.

Andrew Green (Mt. Juliet, TN) terrorized the base paths to start off the 5th inning. He reached 1st and advanced to second on a throwing error and would later take 3rd on a passed ball. After a walk by Chad Miller (Angleton, TX), McCrary beat out an infield hit and scored Green from 3rd. Miller would later score from 3rd when Mike Ford hit into a double play. After the 5th inning, Baseball Factory had a 4-2 lead.

Chin came back with two more great innings. He ended his day pitching three innings, giving up one run and striking out three.

Still leading 4-2 at the top of the 7th inning, the Baseball Factory team took advantage of some Mavericks errors and had some timely hitting. Baseball Factory added 4 runs in part by McCrary's RBI single to center, Ford's RBI triple to the right center gap and Trevor Larson's (Northbridge, MA) RBI single to left.

With the score 8-2 going into the bottom of the 7th, Mike Ford came in to close the game. After a couple harmless hits, Ford shut out the Mavericks to give Baseball Factory its 4th victory in a row, 8-2.

Baseball Factory is now 1 out of 16 teams still fighting for the championship. Remember this tournament started with 72 teams! Wish us luck as we play again today at 5pm!

LIVE: From the USA 16U Baseball Championships

Dave Lax: We're There

Greetings from Florida!

The Baseball Factory has brought together 16 top players from 11 different states to compete in the USA Baseball 16U Championships in Jupiter, Florida. After our Friday afternoon practice was rained out (a reoccurring theme as you will see), our first game began the following morning versus South Florida Baseball Blue. After spending only a few hours together, the Baseball Factory was down 6-0 after 5 innings. After persistent rain, our game was officially called and we took our first loss of the tournament.

Game 2 versus the Southwest Florida Underclassmen began Sunday afternoon after a brief lightening delay. With the game tied 2-2 at the top of the 5th inning, a lightening bolt struck VERY close to our field and was followed by another heavy downpour. Our game was suspended for the day and we resumed play early Monday morning. Losing some of the momentum we had from the day before, Baseball Factory took its second loss of the tournament, giving up a winning run in the bottom of the 7th inning.

But it was evident that this team was starting to gel. Later that day, the bats came alive versus the Proway Colt 45’s. Along with strong pitching performances, the team earned its first victory, 8-2. They kept the offense going Tuesday morning, as they beat the Florida Bombers 8-6.

The Baseball Factory team is now at .500 and looking to win their third straight. With more time together on the field this team is only getting better. Timely hitting and overpowering pitching has kept us in every game.

Check back for more updates from Jupiter and the USA 16U Baseball Championships.