The Suwannee Bulldogs 11-under travel ball team played in a huge 20 team Triple Crown tournament recently in Jacksonville and came away with the title. Here is a recap of their tournament.  

Game 1: Bulldogs 5, Crossfire 4

A strong pitching performance by Timmy Choe who went three scoreless innings. Suwannee also got great relief pitching performance from Drew Wilkerson and Austin Harris. Defensively, the outfield ran down some balls and made some great plays. Cody and Troy Myers as well as Dalton Croft really stepped up and prevented several scoring threats, said coach Josh Wiglesworth. Timely hitting carried Suwannee to a 5-4 victory over a very good Jacksonville Crossfire team.

Game 2: Bulldogs 12, TPX Hitmen 11

This was a slugfest from the beginning. Suwannee hit from top to bottom led by their leadoff guy Wilkerson who was on base early and often. In the first the TPX Hitmen set the tone with three runs from the top of their lineup. Then in the bottom, Suwannee scored two with Wilkerson reaching on an error then was driven in by TJ Olivera tying the game at three. TPX scored three more runs in the top of the second putting Suwannee down 6-3. In the bottom half of the inning Suwannee plated 11 batters and scored seven runs. Timmy Choe and Blake Tedder drove in three runs and then Cole Frier had a two run single to bring the score to 10-6. The game kept going back and forth that ultimately ended in a tie, which forced a Texas tie breaker. In top half of the inning TPX Hitmen had runners on second and third with no outs but, Austin Harris struck out the next three batters in a row to end the threat. Suwannee then had Dalton Croft moved from second to third on a bunt and the game ended on a balk to force home the winning run to win the game 12-11

Game 3: Bulldogs 6, Crossfire 5

Suwannee got down early going in the top of the third trailing 4-0. However, the bats came alive scoring five in the third. The Bulldogs were led offensively by Austin Harris who hit a home run and a double. The real key to the game was the production from the bottom of the order. They really stepped up and delivered said coach Wiglesworth. Dalton Croft came up huge with a base clearing two out three run double that really set the tone for the game. Defensively, the Dogs were solid with Cole Frier making some tough plays at second base. The MVP of the game was no doubt Braxton Furry who threw all six innings for Suwannee leading them to the 6-5 victory.

Game 4: Bulldogs 17, Blue Claws 2

Suwannee came into this game carrying momentum from the previous game after beating a really good Crossfire team. Timmy Choe threw two scoreless innings for the Bulldogs. The offense came early and often as the Bulldogs hit from top to bottom. Wilkerson, Olivera, Choe, Harris, Tedder, Frier, Croft, and both Myers brothers all made major contributions at the plate.

“It was very impressive to see our guys get up there and take great approaches at the plate,” said coach Wiglesworth. The Bulldogs rolled to a 17-2 victory and advanced to the championship game

Game 5: Bulldogs 6, Atlanta Monarchs 3

The key to this game was pitching and defense. Austin Harris started the championship game for Suwannee and held a tough Monarch team to three runs in four innings pitched. Austin threw great and kept a good hitting team off balance and really set the tone for a great game. Harris got a lot of help from his catcher TJ Olivera who threw out two runners that attempted to steal and was a wall behind the plate.

“It makes a coaches job easy when you can call whatever you want knowing you have a great catcher behind the plate” said coach Wiglesworth.

Offensively, once again timely hits carried the Bulldogs with the Dogs leading 4-3 in the fourth inning, Blake Tedder steps up and delivered a two out double off the wall that scored two for Suwannee putting the game out of reach. Braxton Furry closed out the game for the Dogs leading them to a 6-3 victory to win the championship.

Outlook

“Overall, I was really proud of the kids. Each one stepped up and did their part to lead us to our second championship this year,” coach Wiglesworth said.

“We have a new addition to the staff with Bryce Lay joining. He did a great job all weekend of calling pitches and really allowing our pitchers to really get comfortable with their stuff.  Phillip Hurst who runs this whole thing does a great job of letting us coach the boys and overseeing the whole operation. He is really doing a great job with both the 11 and 12 year olds. We are fortunate to coach this special group of young men. We are very excited of the things to come.”