By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Supervisor – Illinois/Wisconsin

The PTA Legends won the third annual Labor Day Challenge with a perfect 4-0 record, beating their competition by a total score of 28-9.

PTA Legends 6, Reds Scout Team 3
PTA Legends 8, GRB Rays 3
PTA Legends 10, Top Tier 0
PTA Legends 4, Southern Illinois 3

The PTA Legends had it working on all cylinders this weekend, swinging hot bats as well as getting efficient pitching. Nolan Rebernick (2017), Alex Williams (2017), Christian McKelvey (2017) and Michael Stupinski (2017) picked up the wins while Brett Smerz (Pius XI, 2016) and Rebernick picked up saves.

All 10 games of the Labor Day Challenge were streamed live via the High School Cube and you can watch all of the rebroadcasts and highlights HERE. Along with our video stream, our scouting staff recapped every game with game stories and scout notes which can be found HERE.

Final Standings

PTA Legends: 4-0
GRB Rays: 2-2
Reds Scout Team: 2-2
Top Tier: 1-3
Southern Illinois: 1-3

MVP

The Labor Day Challenge was loaded with ranked players from multiple states across our PBR coverage area, but it was PTA Legends’ John Carpinelli (Buffalo Grove, 2017) who earned this year’s tournament MVP honors. Carpinelli hit three-hole for the tournament champs all weekend and put up contributing numbers in every game. Carpinelli finished the weekend going 5-for-13 with eight RBI, two runs scored, three triples and a double.

Honorable Mentions

Position Players

Alex Tricoli-Walkanoff, INF, Tremper, 2017 (PTA Legends)
4-11, 2B, 3 RBI, 5 runs
Dylan Burris, OF, Edwardsville, 2017 (Southern Illinois)
3-8, 2-3B, 2 RBI, 3 runs, 2 stolen bases
Matt McCormick, C, St. Laurence, 2019 (Top Tier)
5-7, 2-2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Ben Carew, OF, Kimberly, 2016 (GRB Rays)
4-9, HR, 3B, 4 RBI, 4 runs
Trent Bauer, C, Green Bay East, 2016 (GRB Rays)
5-8, 2 runs
Brad Czerniejewski, OF, Lake Forest, 2017 (Reds Scout Team)
4-10, 3 RBI, 2 runs, 3 stolen bases

Pitchers

Alec Marsh, RHP, Reagan, 2016 (Reds Scout Team)
4 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K, W
Houston Cowan, RHP, Burlington, 2016 (Top Tier)
4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Ryan Schmitt, RHP, Arrowhead, 2016 (Reds Scout Team)
3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K, W
Tyler Garrity, LHP, Plainfield North, 2016 (Top Tier)
4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 BB, 3 K, W
Christian McKelvey, RHP, Germantown, 2017 (PTA Legends)
4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 4 K, W
Jack Eagan, LHP, Wautoma, 2016 (Reds Scout Team)
4 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K, W
Connor Manous, RHP, Munster, 2016 (Reds Scout Team)
3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Keaton Knueppel, LHP, Verona, 2016 (GRB Rays)
4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 BB, 6 K, W
Taylor Borchers, RHP, Appleton North, 2016 (GRB Rays)
3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Noah Thaggard, RHP, Waterloo, 2016 (Southern Illinois)
7 IP, 3 R, 9 H, 1 BB, 4 K, CG, W
Austin Marozas, RHP, Plainfield South, 2017 (Top Tier)
4 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K

Related Content

• IL Q&A With Louisville Commit Reid Detmers9.08.15
  Detmers commits coming off a huge performacne at the Future Games... >>
• PBRPlus Summer Swing: Standout Underclassmen9.08.15
  Highlighting juniors and sophomores from Nathan Rode's baseball tour... >>
• PBRPlus Labor Day Challenge: Game Recaps and Scout Blog9.06.15
• IL In Case You Missed It: Illinois Week In Review9.06.15
  Wrapping up the week that was in Illinois, Aug 31-Sep 6... >>
• PBRPlus Unsigned Senior Games: Top Overall Prospects9.04.15
  Catcher Brendan Krob leads the way at the unsigned senior games...... >>
• IL Labor Day Challenge: Top Tier Preview9.04.15
  2017 class stands out - Seymour, Marozas, Frieling, Gunartt and more... >>