Our weekend will be spent at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Illinois watching some of the best 15U and 16U teams in Illinois compete in the inaugural PBR Limited Series. The eight team tournament provides PBR with the opportunity to see high-level talent under a much smaller scope. Our Illinois staff will be on-hand throughout the weekend to keep tabs on some of the elite talent in the state.

At the end of each day, Day 1 | Day 2, we have touched on some of the highlights from each day. Today, the third and final day, we recapped all of the games that took place, including the Championship and two semi-final matchups. 

DAY 3 QUICK HITS

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Pro Player Canes 9, Top Tier 16U 5

The Top Tier Americans were their own worst enemy, walking nine and hitting one batter, and the Pro Player Canes took advantage — winning a rain-shortened championship game, 9-5, in five innings. Top Tier starting pitcher Vytas Valincius didn’t have his best stuff on the mound to open the game, and Pro Player capitalized -- jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. Valincius would pick himself up in the top of the third — crushing a three-run home run to left field to tie the game up at five. From there, it was Pro Player’s game the rest of the way, as the Canes went on to score four unanswered runs on three walks and two base hits in the bottom of the fourth. The score was 9-5 heading to the top of the sixth when inclement weather would force the postponement of the remainder of the game. Pro Player had a dominant showing, going 5-0 en route to winning the PBR Limited Series at Duffy Bass Field. The top four hitters; Tyler Castro (Huntley, 2021), Ryan Weaver (Cary-Grove, 2021), Camden Janik (Wauconda, 2021) and Joshua Notriano (Johnsburg, 2021) set the table for the Canes, combining for six hits and eight walks. The Top Tier offense collected four hits in the game. Brian Rapanan (Warren, 2021) and Ethan Bowers (Vernon Hills, 2021) both doubled.

SEMI-FINAL GAMES

Semifinal Game 1: Top Tier Americans (15U) vs Pro Player Canes

The Pro Player Canes came out on top with a tight 5-3 victory over the Top Tier Americans to reach the championship game of the PBR Limited Series. The Canes jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after two innings — but Top Tier came storming back to eventually pull within one and make it 4-3 after five innings. Pro Player added a much needed insurance run in the bottom of the sixth via a sac-fly from DH Ryan Weaver. The Americans put up a fight in the top of the seventh, but Marcus Sperling came on with two-on and one-out and got the final two batters of the game to fly-out — sealing the victory for Pro Player. Illinois commit Camden Janik went 1-2 with a double and an RBI for the Canes. Joshua Notriano also added two hits and an RBI for Pro Player. Brendan Som and Jack Scheri combined for four of Top Tier’s six hits on the afternoon. 

Semifinal Game 2: Top Tier Americans (15U) vs Decatur Commodores

The Top Tier Americans (16U) made easy work of the Decatur Commodores over four innings en route to a mercy-rule shortened 11-0 game. The Americans wasted no time with the bats — jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first behind a bases clearing double from Frank Magnelli. Top Tier added five more in the third, putting the game out of reach for good. The Commodore offense could only muster one hit on the afternoon, leading to a quiet exit for a Decatur team that finished 2-2 on the weekend. Lucas Spence, Rance Bryant, and Ryan Orput all picked up two hits and led the way for the Americans. Vytas Valincius reached base three times and drove in a pair for Top Tier. Nathan Brinker manned the rubber for the Americans — striking out two and allowing only one base runner over four innings of work. 

CONSOLATION GAMES

Game 1: The White Sox ACE cruised to a 9-2 win over Chicago Elite. ACE jumped out to an early 9-2 lead after four innings and the score held true the rest of the way. In a seven run second inning for the ACE, freshman outfielder Ramon Jimerson (Sacred Heart-Griffin) delivered the big hit, a bases-clearing double down the left-field line. Left-handed hitter Sean Moore, delivered an inside-the-park home run in the third inning and 2022 SS Shai Robinson (Mount Carmel) played a steady shortstop throughout. 

Game 2: The Central Illinois Outlaws handled the Whitesox Elite Academy, 10-2, to finish 3-1 on the weekend. Holt Geltmaker went 3-4 with a RBI and also flashed the leather with a nice diving play in centerfield. Parker Kuhn helped pace the Outlaw offense as well — reaching base four times and scoring every time he got on. Cain Headrick started the day on the mound for the Whitesox Elite and sat 78-81 while topping at 82 over his 3.1 innings of work.

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