From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
Two teams from Texas and one from New York secured first-place finishes in pool-play Friday in the Premier Baseball Incoming Freshman Championship tournament, hosted by the Joplin Sports Authority and Bordertown Casino.
The Bayside Yankees, from New York, and Houston Heat posted 5-0 records to win Pool 2 and Pool 3, respectively.
The Yankees won twice on Friday — 8-4 over the Arlington A’s Blue and 16-1 over Rawlings Prospects Mach in game rescheduled from Friday.
The Heat blanked Austin Wings Black 12-0 in its final pool game.
In a tightly contested Pool 1, Columbia Angels Gray placed first with a 4-1 record but lost on Friday to the Rawlings Prospects Dunavant 14-4. Rawlings Prospects, from St. Louis, and the Austin Slam both finished 3-1-1 after playing to an 8-8 tie on Friday.
The three local teams dropped their final pool games.
The Southwest Longhorns had the closest game but lost 11-10 to the Austin Slam in Pool 1.
An eight-run third inning gave the Slam an 11-3 lead, but the Longhorns battled back with seven runs in the top of the fifth, capped by a bases-loaded double from Johnathan Klingaman (Nevada High School).
Ace Whitesell (El Dorado Springs), Brendan Fast (El Dorado Springs), Cory Kerbs (Nevada), Kyle Banes (Nevada) and Richie Peoples (Webb City) hit singles earlier in the inning.
On Thursday the Longhorns notched their first victory of the tournament, a 4-3 decision over the South Texas Sliders Navy.
The Longhorns scored all four runs in the fifth inning. Grant Davis (Northeast Vernon County High School) pitched the first 41/3 innings, and Kerbs registered six strikeouts in the final 22/3 innings.
Earlier Thursday the Longhorns were locked in a 3-3 battle before the Arlington A’s Red tallied eight runs in the sixth inning for an 11-3 victory.
The Dugout Dawgs also finished 1-4 after an 11-3 loss to the Fort Worth Cats in Pool 3, and the Southwest Missouri Miners (0-5) lost to South Texas Sliders White 11-1 in Pool 2.
Based on pool results, the 18-team field has been placed in three six-team brackets. The top two teams from each pool are in the Gold Bracket at Joe Becker Stadium, the third- and fourth-place teams are in the Silver Bracket at Seneca High School, and the fifth- and sixth-place teams are in the Bronze Bracket at Joplin High School.
Using runs allowed as the tiebreaker, the Houston Heat is the top seed in the Gold Bracket, and the Yankees are seeded second. The Heat outscored its opponents 46-11 while the Yankees outscored their foes 65-15.
The three local teams are in the Bronze Bracket. The Dugout Dawgs face South Texas sliders Navy at 10:30 a.m. today, the Southwest Missouri Miners meet Rawlings Prospects Mach at 1 p.m., and the Southwest Longhorns play the 1 p.m. winner at 6.
