Collins Hill Eagles 12u: 2009 Spring Game Recaps

The game times for the Eagles' next tournament have been posted.

The Eagles play the Macon Bulldogs Saturday (6/20/09) at 9:00 a.m.  Their next game is against the  Georgia Academy Red at 11:00 a.m. (Saturday, 6/20/09.)

Both games are at Hidden Valley Park.  The park has been added to the "Locations" section on the menu to the left.

The tournament website is here.  The bracket will be updated there throughout the weekend.

The Collins Hill 11U Eagles came up just short of their goal to repeat as Gwinnett County Champions, as they lost in game 3 of the Championship Series to the Dacula Falcons, 8-4. 

The Eagles were unable to get anything going offensively early in the game, whereas the Falcons jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 3innings.  The Eagles’ bats were held silent through the first 3 innings of the game, not recording their first hit until the top of the fourth when Trevor Powers lined a 2-out double to the left-centerfield gap to score Jeremy Lewis, who had led off the inning with a walk.  The Powers double moved Ian Jenkins to third, who had reached base after getting hit by a pitch.  However, the Eagles were unable to push across any more runs in the fourth, leaving the score 7-1.

The Eagles would be held scoreless in the 5^th, but would surrender one more run to the Falcons, to make the score 8-1 after 5 innings.  Coming up for their final at-bat, the Eagles were determined to go down swinging.  Caleb Watson started off the rally with a ground-rule double to center field. Jeremy Lewis would move Watson to third with a single to right field.  Lewis would steal second as Riley King stood in the batter’s box to put 2 runners in scoring position for the Eagles.  King would hit a grounder to short driving in Watson, but the Falcons’ shortstop would make an errant throw to first, allowing King to reach safely, and Lewis to race home from second to make the score 8-3, with no outs.  The next 2 batters, Ian Jenkins and Alec Cargin, would each draw a walk to load the bases with no outs.  Trevor Powers stepped up to the plate and delivered a single down the left field line to drive in King from 3^rd to make the score 8-4, with the bases still loaded and no outs.  Due up next for the Eagles was Casey Marksberry.  Unfortunately for the Eagles, Marksberry would pop out to the Falcons’ second baseman, who would turn quickly and double Powers off of first. 

The Eagles were down to their final out, with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd.  Al Del Villar would draw another walk to re-load the bases for the Eagles, and bring Reed Egan to the plate.  Egan would take the count to 2-1 and hit a sharp ground ball to third. However, the Falcons’ third baseman was able to field the ball and step on third to force the Eagles’ runner for the third out of the inning, and secure the victory for Dacula.

It was a very hard fought series, and both teams should be proud of the way they played.  The two teams were the top two teams in the tournament, with the Eagles finishing the regular season in first place, and the Falcons in second.  It was the Eagles’ trademark during the 3 game championship series to stage late inning rallies.  Their final rally came up just a bit short.  Regardless, the team should feel proud of the way they played, and their determination to not give in when things looked bleak. 

Congratulations to the Dacula Falcons on a well-played series.

This was the third consecutive season that the Eagles advanced to the GGBL championship series – the only team in the league (in their age group) to accomplish that feat.  This was also the second season the Eagles finished as regular season champions.

Congratulations to the Collins Hill Eagles.  2009 GGBL Regular Season Champions and Tournament Runners-Up.  Thanks for another season of making us proud.

After winning their respective brackets on Saturday, the Eagles and Falcons began the best-of-3 championship series on Sunday by splitting the first two games. The split just further illustrates how evenly matched the two teams are: they tied in their only regular season meeting, and split the first two games of the championship series with each game being decided by one run.

Battling bright sun and hot temperatures, the Eagles found themselves trailing 7-5 going into the bottom of the 6th inning in the first game.  But Casey Marksberry drilled a 3-1 pitch over the centerfield fence to bring the Eagles to within one run, and energized the team.   Reed Egan would follow with a single, and would be moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Watson.  The hit parade would continue, as Spencer Douches would follow with another single to move Egan to third.  Chandler Boles would then step up to the plate, and attempting to catch the Falcons off-guard, looked to lay down a squeeze bunt to score Egan from third.  But thanks to some nifty base running from Egan, the attempted squeeze turned into an infield hit for Boles, as Egan avoided being tagged coming down the line, and made it back to third to load the bases. Jeremy Lewis was next up for the Eagles, and he would beat out a wild throw to first from the Falcons’ shortstop to score Egan from third with the tying run, and keep the bases loaded. The next batter, Alec Cargin, would draw a 4-pitch walk to win game 1 for the Eagles 8-7.

After a short break, the two teams took the field again – the Falcons looking for revenge, and the Eagles looking for one more victory to secure the county championship.  In a series of events that was very reminiscent of the first game, the Eagles came to the plate in their last at-bat finding themselves trailing again – this time by 3 runs, 7-4.  Reed Egan would start things off with a leadoff single and would steal second with Caleb Watson at the plate.  However, the Falcons would record two quick outs after that, and the Eagles were looking at leaving Egan stranded at second.  Chandler Boles would draw a 4-pitch walk to put two-on with two outs. Jeremy Lewis would then follow with another 2-out walk to load the bases.  Alec Cargin would then deliver a single up the middle to score Egan and Boles to bring the Eagles to within 7-6.  With 2 on and 2 outs, Ian Jenkins stepped up to the plate having already hit 2 homeruns during the course of the day.  Not wanting to put the game in Jenkins’ hands, the Falcons issued an intentional walk to Jenkins to re-load the bases for Riley King.  King would then drill a sinking line-drive to right-center field on a 2-1 count which would have tied the game, and most likely given the Eagles the lead.  However, the Falcons’ centerfielder had other plans as he made a diving catch of the King hit, holding on to the ball as he hit the ground and rolled over, the ball nearly coming out of his glove as all spectators let out a collective gasp.  Unfortunately for the Eagles he did hold on to the ball, and the Falcons held on to win 7-6.

The two teams face-off one last time tonight, with the winner being crowned the 2009 GGBL 11U champions.

As the temperatures rose over the last weekend of May, the Eagles also heated up, as they began their defense of the County Championship with wins in their first two games in the GGBL Championship Tournament.  

On Saturday, the Eagles faced off against the Hebron Angels, and survived a tough 10-7 game against a determined Angels team.

On Sunday, the Eagles decdied to not take it as easy on their opponent, as they delivered a convincing 9-3 win over the Dacula (Blue) Falcons.  

With the first 2 games in the books, the Eagles look ahead to their next game - the Parkview Panthers.  Parkview was one of only 2 teams to defeat the Eagles during the regular season, and the Eagles will be looking to avenge the earlier defeat.  The two teams square off Thursday June 4 at 6:00 at Rhodes Jordan Park.

The 11U Collins Hill Eagles were crowned champions of the 3rd annual Worth Memorial Day Classic in Lawrenceville on Sunday, May 24th, defeating the Suwanee Stix 3-2 in a 7-inning nail biter championship game that featured great pitching, timely hitting, and aggressive baserunning to seal the victory.

The Eagles went undefeated in the tournament and relied heavily on a formula that's served them well over the past several seasons: strong pitching and defense to lead them to their victories.  The Eagles pitching and defense surrendered only 6 runs for the entire tournament.  

The Eagles offense contributed at key times throughout the tournament.  4 different Eagles, Trevor Powers, Alec Cargin, Spencer Douches, and Ian Jenkins, hit homeruns during the tournament, while a fifth, Al Del Villar, just missed as he hit the top of the fence.

The Championship game was a rematch for the Eagles, as they took on the Suwanee Stix, a team they had defeated 2-0 in the first game of the tournament.  As was the case in the first game, the rematch was a low-scoring, hard-fought game.  Trevor Powers started the game on the mound for the Eagles and held the Stix scoreless for 4 innings.  In the bottom of the 4^th, the Eagles would break through for the first run of the game, as Riley King got a one-out single, and would steal second on the next pitch.  Alec Cargin would then single in King to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

The 1-0 lead appeared as if it would hold, as King would replace Powers on the mound in the 5^th inning and retire the Stix in order.  The Eagles, however, were unable to add to their lead in the bottom of the 5^th. The Stix would then scratch out 2 runs in the top of the 6^th causing the Eagles to have to rally from a run down in the bottom of the 6^th.  With one out, Jeremy Lewis would walk, and then steal 2^nd, and eventually steal 3^rd.  With 2 outs, and Lewis on 3^rd, Ian Jenkins came to the plate looking to end the game in dramatic fashion.   But it would be Lewis providing the drama, as he would score the tying run – racing home from 3^rd on a wild pitch with 2 outs.  The Eagles would not be able to score again in the 6^th, and the game went to an extra inning.

Chandler Boles took the mound for the Eagles in the 7^th, and in a very cool and efficient manner, retired the Stix in order, allowing the Eagles to come to the plate in the bottom of the 7^th knowing they only needed to score once to secure the championship.  Riley King led off the Eagles half of the 7^th inning with a walk.  Alec Cargin would then line a double to the fence in right-center field to move King to 3^rd base.  Reed Egan came to the plate and bunted – but the safety squeeze did not work, as King was thrown out at home, with Cargin moving to third on the play.  With one out, and runners on 1^st and 3^rd, Trevor Powers came to the plate and put an end to the game that he had started so strongly on the mound, as he drilled a single to the fence in left-center field to score Cargin from third and give the Eagles the Championship.

Coach Billy Egan has announced the roster for the 2009 Spring 11U Eagles.  Congratulations to all, and here's to a great season!

Chandler Boles

Caleb Watson 

Coach Billy will be contacting all families in the near future to arrange a meeting to discuss his plans for the spring season.  Again, congratulations to all the boys.