New York Nine Wins Independence Day Championships

New York Nine Win Independence Day Championships

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Milo Kaminsky

The New York Nine Scout Team won the 18u Independence Day Tournament Championship at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, New York. The Nine secured a championship day bye by finishing second overall with a 4-0 record through pool play, saving them a potential seventh game in four days.

The opening round saw two outstanding mound efforts as recent Bayside HS alumni Dimitri Papazoglou and Anthony Costa each hurled a no hitter in their respective complete game victories. Papazoglou fanned an incredible 48% of the hitters he faced in a twelve strikeout performance over the previously undefeated Frozen Ropes Rockies while Costa punched out nine in his dominant tournament opening outing versus Motus Academy.

In the semi-final, starter Bryant Gomez threw four shutout innings against the FAA Phoenix from New Jersey. The Phoenix, who were 20-0-1 in their previous 21 Baseball Heaven tournament games mounted a furious rally against the Nine bullpen but fell up short in a 9-5 contest.

The championship game against the top seeded Bayside Yankees lived up to its billing. Nick Vella started things off with a long home run in the top half of the first inning. After the Nine tacked on a run in the top of the second, Bayside’s bats came alive as they plated three runs to take a 3-2 lead. The score remained the same until the top of the 6th inning when Danny Perez doubled home Nick Vella to tie the game followed by a two RBI double by Jonell Perez to give the Nine the lead. In the top of the seventh, Jesse Spellman was brought home by an Angel Presinal single to center ending the scoring at 7-3. Chris Pichardo threw five shutout innings for the win in relief. The Nine lifted the trophy after finishing 6-0 in the tournament.

Tournament Notes:

Carlos De La Cruz hit .500 with three singles, four doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, scored eight runs and slugged .938
Oliver Fernandez also hit .500 with a .556 OBP
Danny Alfonzo‘s .550 OBP was helped by a tournament high four hbp, while homering and scoring seven runs
Nick Vella and Francisco Soriano each launched two home runs while scoring five and six runs respectively
Braulio Melo swiped three bags and scored two runs

As a staff, the Nine fanned 41 batters in 35 innings, while only giving up 19 hits
Dimitri Papazoglou‘s struck out 12 and Anthony Costa struck out 9
DJ Flug picked up two victories in relief
Chris Pichardo and Bryant Gomez each threw 5 scoreless innings and had a victory apiece.

Category: News, Scout Blog | Tags: baseball heaven, champions, tournament

New York Nine Testimonials

When I first arrived with the New York Nine it was the late summer of 2006 following my son’s Junior year of High School. That Spring my son had an uneventful season for his High School team garnering no post season awards. After a summer of camps, tournaments and showcases which pulled in a small amount of interest, we were introduced to the front office of the New York Nine and they invited him to play with them in their fall program. At the end of this brief stint with New York Nine, my son was listed in four nationally syndicated High School/Collegiate Baseball newspapers and, depending on which journal you read both online and in print, was one of the top 25, 10 or 5 Senior left handed pitchers in the Northeast. He finished his High School career winning All-League, All Northeast, was undefeated and led his team to the State Championship. He later went on to Wake Forest University where he played baseball for all four years, graduating in 2011.
I subsequently started a business called ‘Advantage Video’ in 2007 based on my experience videoing and promoting my son via (at that time) DVDs. Having witnessed the New York Nine work with my son and the experience I had with them I have whole heartedly recommended them to my baseball clients for the past seven years and they have always provided the best instruction, exposure and promotion that is available in the arena of Summer Travel League baseball. I have clients from time to time who are already established with other organizations so I have a close perspective from which to compare the New York Nine to those other organizations. What sets the New York Nine apart from the others is their complete dedication to every player, not just the top prospects. Some highly regarded organizations use the model of heavily promoting their top prospects and usually overlooking the ‘side’ players. This is not how New York Nine conducts their business.
The New York Nine, besides being excellent evaluators of young baseball talent, are experienced teachers. They communicate with the players and the parents; they are especially adept at assessing a player’s ability. They encourage, instruct and promote but are careful not to allow unachievable expectations to derail a player’s confidence.
I have in the past and will continue to recommend New York Nine to all of my baseball clients, they have always come through.

Bob Burke Founder Advantage Video
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