September 28, 2008 – MCDONOUGH, GA – After nearly two months off, the Elite Red Sox emerge on to the fall baseball scene with some significant changes.  First, the head coaching duties were taken over by Derrick Carlisle.  Derrick took a year off after the 12U season to just be a parent after coaching for six or seven years straight.  As in the past, he brings experience, knowledge and passion to the game.  His goal is to prepare these kids for the next level.  The second big change was that the Red Sox will assume the name Big Stix Gamers and are recognized as the inaugural 14U team under the Big Stix Baseball program.  This change produced new uniforms and web site; but the majority of the players and assistant coaches are the same; ready to accept the next challenge!

After two outdoor practices and a batting cage session, the 14U Big Stix Gamers entered the 14U Hardcore Fall Fling in Conyers for their first challenge.  Since the Red Sox played two 14U tournaments as a 13U team, it did not require much of an adjustment when moving up to the 60/90 field dimensions.

The Gamers earned the number one seed by winning both pool games against the always-tenacious Shiloh Heat and the Georgia-lina Raptors.  They easily took care of the Newnan Legends in the semi-final and were destined for the Heat once again.  The lack of practice caught up with the Gamers and they ended the tournament with a runner-up finish.

Back (left to right): Ryan Peurifoy, Garrick Rucker, Dustin Boggs, DJ Carlisle, Cameron Ragsdale

Middle (left to right): John Goodman, Matt Anderson, Eric Smith, Davis Townsend, Patrick Busscher

Front: Zack Woods

For their second tournament, Triple Crown was hosting a “Last Chance” tournament for teams to qualify for the fall nationals in their Spring/Summer ’08 age group.  Because the Gamers did not want to play on the 54/80 field dimensions, they ended up “playing–up”.  Most of the teams that played in the 14U division were actually 15U.  The Gamers started strong, handily beating a 15U Warriors team out of Lawrenceville.  That was the extent of their success, as they dropped the next two to a 15U Wills Park team and a Freshman feeder team from a high school in Alpharetta.  It was very obvious that these young men will mature a lot in the next year.

Trying to finish the fall before October, the Gamers scheduled their next tournament in Monroe, Georgia on September 13-14.  The Monroe Summer Blast was not very competitive until the championship game when the Gamers had a fall rematch with the Shiloh Heat.  This game ended differently than before and after some key hits and solid defensive play, the Gamers finished on top with the championship win.

Back (left to right): DJ Carlisle, Austin Smith, Jeried Woods, Dustin Boggs, Garrick Rucker, Ryan Peurifoy

Front (left to right): Patrick Busscher, Zack Woods, Matt Anderson, Davis Townsend, Eric Smith, John Goodman, Not Pictured - Cameron Ragsdale

The Gamers final tournament was certainly the highlight of their fall season.  For the second year in a row, this team brought home the championship from the Triple Crown Fall Classic.  Unlike most tournaments, three pool games would be played and only the top six of twelve would make it to bracket play. 

The Gamers first game was against a new team with some old faces.  After the Titans issued two walks to John Goodman and Matt Anderson, Patrick Busscher and Ryan Peurifoy got back to back hits in the second to put one on the board.  This was the Gamers only run through five innings.  The East Cobb Titans had a left hander on the mound through five innings and he was able to keep the Gamers at bay.  Matt Anderson, Dustin Boggs and John Goodman took care of the pitching duties for the Gamers only allowing four hits in six innings.  With a three run lead going into the bottom of the sixth, the Titans decided to bring in another pitcher and before the Titans could record three outs, the Gamers had tied the game and took the lead by two.  That’s how it ended with the Gamers coming from behind to spoil another team’s victory 6-4.

The second game was against a familiar team (Windward Rangers) with some faces we normally associate with South Forsyth.  Anyway, this game resulted in a formal complaint to the umpires association.  We normally give the umpires the benefit of a doubt because no one really wants their job; but these two had to be the most blatantly bias umpires that we have ever experienced.  With one of the comments that were made during the game, I would be surprised if they would even deny it!  The loss can’t be blamed entirely on the officiating because the Gamers didn’t hit consistently; but the umpires made too many questionable calls that killed the Gamers momentum on numerous occasions.  Anyway, after the Gamers had scored two in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Davis Townsend and Zack Woods to get to within one; the Rangers turned a very good double play to end the game with the score of 4-3.  Eric Smith and DJ Carlisle both did well on the mound; but again there just wasn’t much run support.

With a record of one and one, the Gamers knew that they would need to throw up a zero in their final pool game to have a chance to get to Sunday.  This game was against the Excel Baseball Academy out of Alabama.  Through four innings, the game was an absolute pitching duel.  With some excellent defense behind him, Zack Woods pitched six innings only facing two more than the minimum.  John Goodman closed out the game in the seventh striking out the side.  With some patience, the Gamers were able to put four on the board in the 5^th and 6^th inning while holding the Excel Academy.  The Gamers did all they could do and had to wait to find out if they would play on Sunday.

As suspected it came down to runs allowed and the Gamers earned the second seed in their pool allowing eight runs in three games compared to the ten that the Rangers allowed.  So it was back to East Cobb Baseball Complex for an 8:00 am game Sunday morning.

The first bracket game was against the Franklin Falcons out of Tennessee.  Davis Townsend and Jeried Woods pitched great only allowing one earned run on five hits.  Jeried also had a great game at the plate going 2-3 (2B, BB) and scoring three times.  John Goodman (2-3, R) and Cameron Ragsdale (2-2, BB, 2R) both had a two hit game adding to the Gamer offense.  Matt Anderson stepped up big in the third with a solid double to left plating two runs to add to the total.  The Gamers jumped on a sleepy group of Falcons and sent them packing 11-2.

As the second seed in the pool, the Gamers drew Team Alabama (TA) for their next bracket game.  TA had scored 44 runs and only allowed 4 runs in their three pool games so the Gamers knew this would be a tough game.  You would hope that you would not have to face this team until the championship; but guards were in place to ensure an East Cobb team would make it to the final.  The Gamers accepted the challenge and sent Matt Anderson to the mound and Garrick Rucker behind the plate.  Many times the catcher does not get much credit; but this fall, the Big Stix coaches have allowed the catchers (Garrick Rucker, Cameron Ragsdale and Dustin Boggs) to call pitches.  This is rather unheard of for most teams, but these players have shown a great deal of baseball maturity and have done better than the coaches even imagined.  Of course some credit would have to be given the last years coach, Steve Bullington, because one of his strengths is calling pitches.  The Anderson/Rucker team did a fantastic job through five innings allowing four runs on seven hits. 

With three walks and a few hits, the Gamers took a four run lead into the third inning.  TA scored their first run in the bottom of the third on some miscommunication by the Gamer center & right fielder which would have been the third out of the inning.  Both players have since recovered from the collision.  TA put up another run in the fourth with two solid doubles cutting the lead to two.  After a couple of miscues by TA, with the bases loaded, Davis Townsend hit a line drive down the left field line to drive in three runs with a stand-up double.  John Goodman then drove a ball in to the alley in right field to bring in the fourth run of the inning.  The Gamers had extended the lead by six.  It was difficult to keep the strong bats of TA tamed and they put up two in the bottom of the fifth to get within four.  John Goodman teamed up with Garrick in the last two innings to maintain the four run lead and close out the game.  The Gamers had executed to a tee, upset the tournament favorite and were headed to the championship game!  The Gamers enjoyed the win; but they were not finished yet…

The East Cobb Titans had defeated the East Cobb Braves and thought they were ready to get the Gamers back after the first game Friday night.  Pitching was a little thin for the Gamers; but they had Cameron Ragsdale, who pitched well in the previous fall tournaments after not taking the mound once in the spring.  Coach Derrick always tells the pitchers that you better be able to throw at least two pitches for strikes consistently or you will not be successful at this level.  Well Cameron struggled from the beginning, and did not make it through the first before giving up three runs.  Before the Gamers could right the ship, the Titans scored another three more to take a 6-0 lead in the second.  The Gamer coach issued a challenge to the players urging them to stay loose and stay focused.  Achieve one goal at a time.  The Titans certainly had one of their best pitchers on the mound and the first challenge was to get a hit.  Considering how the Gamers hit in their previous two games, it was surprising that the first hit did not come until the fourth inning when John Goodman mashed a double in the gap.  Eric Smith got the second hit of the inning; but the Titans were able to get the third out before the Gamers could score.  Regardless, the first challenge was COMPLETE.  The second challenge was to get a run and in the fifth on back-to-back-to-back hits by Cameron, Dustin and Garrick, the Gamers put their first two runs on the board.  Second challenge COMPLETE.  The third challenge was to take the win from the starting pitcher (or tie the game) and in the sixth, the Gamers bats exploded.  Patience at the plate, some big hits by Eric and Cameron and a key sacrifice bunt by Ryan Peurifoy put the game within reach and with one big swing of the bat… Zack Woods had not only tied the game; but put the Gamers ahead by one.  The third and fourth challenge COMPLETE!  The fourth challenge was to win the game and that’s what the Gamers did 8-7.  The Gamers sent five pitchers to the mound during the game and they were supported with a defense that we just come to expect.  Handling the routine and giving 100%.  It may not be perfect; but it’s solid!

What an absolute fantastic game.  The Gamers showed tremendous heart, determination and a never give up attitude to win the Triple Crown Classic for the second year in a row.

Great job Gamers!  The coaches and parents cannot express how proud they are of you.  Taking care of business when the odds are against you should give you the confidence that no mountain is too high or valley too deep that you can’t conquer it if you put your mind to it and never give up. 

The coach’s goal or challenge is to prepare these players for the next level of baseball and life and you would be hard pressed not to say… challenge COMPLETE!  Before long, it will be time to identify the next challenge for these young men, and this group is ready.

Box Scores can be found on the Game Results page.

Back (left to right): Jeff Anderson, Derrick Carlisle, Todd Smith, Russell Ragsdale

Middle (left to right): Ryan Peurifoy, DJ Carlisle, Jeried Woods, Garrick Rucker, Dustin Boggs, Cameron Ragsdale

Front (left to right): Davis Townsend, John Goodman, Zack Woods, Eric Smith, Matt Anderson, Not Pictured - Patrick Busscher