AnJo Bombers place 2nd at national tourney

Contributed Photo – Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, front row center, meets here with Anjo Bombers players and coaches after the team earned second place honors at the Cal Ripken Experience Tidal Wave National Tournament at Myrtle Beach.

The AnJo Bombers 13u travel baseball team recently finished second place overall at the Ripken Experience Tidal Wave Tournament played in Myrtle Beach South Carolina.

Coached by Jake Baes, Phil Schrader and Jason Boyle, the Bombers finished the five-day tournament with a 6-3 overall record, winning 3 consecutive single-elimination playoff games before losing in the tournament championship game.

“Despite the high heat and humidity, the Bombers played terrific baseball all week long to finish as runners-up in the eighteen team tournament,” said team spokesman Todd Fragale.

AnJo finished pool play games as the No. 7 seed with a 3-2 record, but then defeated the No. 10, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds on the road to the championship game.  The Bombers represented Western New York in scoring victories over teams from Missouri, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio and Florida.

In pool play the Bombers defeated the St. Louis, Mo. Prospects 8-2, API Select from Maryland 8-4 and Jet Box from Michigan 14-2 but lost to the Indiana Bandits 7-6 and the South Florida Young Guns 17-1.

The No. 7 seed Bombers then ousted No. 10 Pickerington Big Kats from Ohio 11-10 in a qualifying game.

The championship round then saw the Bombers defeat the Young Guns 5-3 in 9 innings in the quarterfinals and API Select 15-4 in the semis before dropping an 11-3 decision to HCYP Riders from Maryland in the title contest.

Gabe Schrader led the Bombers with a .435 batting average over all 9 games (10 for 23) including 2 doubles and a triple. He also led the team with 12 runs scored.

Gavyn Boyle batted .429, hit 2 home runs and led the team with 10 RBI. He also led the team with a .571 on base percentage.

Noah Hardy batted .412 in the tournament with 7 singles and pitched 4 strong innings in the semi-finals.

Nathan Lee’s speed led him to 6 base hits, a double and an in-the-park home run.

Tyler Baker led the Bombers with 5 stolen bases.

Josh Seyse led the pitching staff with 17 strikeouts and earned the win in the quarterfinals with a 9-inning complete game effort.

Joe Blackley knocked in 8 runs, scored 11 times and played amazing defense.

Michael Jarosz collected 3 hits and 3 RBI while playing perfect outfield defense.

Tyler Baes batted 2 for 3 in a big semifinals win.

Nick Martin pitched in 4 games with a team-leading 1.97 ERA.

Tim Obringer batted 3 for 3 in a one-run victory in first playoff game.

Trevor Heschke batted 2 for 3 in the semifinal game and did a terrific job playing catcher in heat and humidity.