East Coast Baseball Academy team near perfect in Perfect Game tournament

The East Coast Baseball Academy’s 18U team got a good taste of wooden bat baseball in its first appearance in the recent Perfect Game tournament held in the Atlanta area.

East Coast was a perfect 7-0 in pool play to advance into the bracket division of the tournament where the team was eliminated, 2-0, by the Bluechip Bulls, a team from upstate South Carolina.

“This is our first summer with East Coast Baseball Academy and we wanted the guys to get a chance at the Perfect Game tournaments. We wanted our guys to go up there and get a taste of baseball at that level, the atmosphere with all the scouts and top-notch talent. Our guys did a heck of a job,” said head coach Randy Carlson.

East Coast (ecbaseballacademy.com) outscored its opponents, 49-9, in pool play and was the No. 2 overall seed when single elimination bracket play began. Carlson said the loss to the Bluechip Bulls was a great example of how things often work out when two good teams go at each other and the breaks seem to fall in one team’s favor.

He said the loss was tough for his players to take after battling hard throughout the week.

But the team also returned to Charleston with a lot more confidence as numerous players came through with clutch performances during the week.

Christian Dorothy of James Island, Chris Singleton of Goose Creek, Tradd Lowman of Bishop England and Chris Orlando of Carolina Forest were named to the all-tournament team.

Carlson said two pitchers in his planned starting rotation were unable to make the trip but others stepped up. Orlando threw a complete game shutout, a one-hitter, in the second game.

Dorothy, normally a shortstop, was asked to pitch the third game and went the distance.

Tradd Lowman took a perfect game into the fifth inning of the fourth game. Jamie Garrett of Bishop England pitched a no-hitter. Taylor Oden of Bishop England had three home runs in the tournament, and Carlson cited several other players who came through when called upon.

“Offensively, our guys were unbelievable all week,” he said. “Typically you’re not scoring a lot of runs (in wooden bat tournaments) but our guys were executing offensively.”