8U Yankees Storm Through Playoffs, Beat Phillies In Championship

By Colin Murphy

The 8U Yankees followed two dramatic playoff victories over the Rays and Red Sox with an 11-9 defeat of the Phillies at Cypress Creek on June 8 to win the Green Hornets 8U Club Baseball Championship. Having suffered losses during the season to each of the Rays, Red Sox, and Phillies, the 8U Yankees’ remarkable playoff run comes as sweet revenge against their regular-season foes.

In winning the championship, Head Coach Bob Fairweather saw his team get hot at exactly the right time. “We knew it was not going to be easy,” said Fairweather of his Yankees (4-6-1 entering the playoffs), “but the kids really put it all together in the playoffs.”

Central to the Yankees’ championship playoff run was the age-old recipe of good starting pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting. The entire lineup of Connor Eaton, Tyler Liberto, Zachary Plummer, Daniel Key, Kane Fairweather, Walker Sherrill, Alec Foxen, Peyton Tanner, Will McCue, Malcolm Rogers, William Mann, and Sam Pyle caught fire at the plate, pounding out a whopping 40 runs over the three playoff victories. Key and Plumber combined to form an unhittable pitching duo, giving up no runs over six total innings of work. In the field, big defensive plays at important moments came from Foxen, Sherrill, and Kane Fairweather.

“Everybody hit and everybody fielded,” said Coach Fairweather. “The league was so evenly matched and competitive. All six of our losses during the season came against these three teams. So to beat these teams on three straight nights was pretty exciting.”

The #4-seeded Yankees’ first game against the Rays on June 6 proved an offensive bellwether for the remainder of the playoffs, as the boys jumped out to a big lead and never let go, winning 16-6. The next night’s contest came against the #1-seeded Red Sox, who, as the league’s best regular-season team, were coming off a first-round bye. No matter for the Yankees, who vanquished the Red Sox in thrilling fashion by beating them in extra innings, 13-11.

In the championship game, the Yankees continued their offensive surge, taking an 11-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Not going down without a fight, the plucky Phillies scored four runs in their half to narrow the lead to 11-9. With the Phillies threatening to complete what would have been a momentous comeback, two big defensive plays by the Yankees preserved the lead and secured the victory. Catcher Walker Sherrill scooped up a slow dribbler in front of home plate and threw out the Phillies’ runner at first, and a difficult 4-3 putout by Kane Fairweather on another slow-rolling ground ball snuffed out the Phillies’ rally and gave the Yankees the championship.

Coach Fairweather was sure to give credit to everyone involved for a fantastic season and playoffs. “The other teams were a lot of fun to play against. Josh Merrill and Josh Vance did a great job selecting the teams and making for a very competitive league. [Assistant Coach] Rob Tanner was very helpful every game. All of our parents were so supportive and helpful during practices and games. And the kids were so committed. They showed up in full for every game, and they played hard all year,” concluded a proud Coach Fairweather.