Trojans Finish in the Top Ten at Cooperstown Dreams Park Championship Tournament
7/12/2009


East Cobb Trojans Go Down In The Sweet Sixteen To A Strong Pleasant Hill Hawks (CA) Team, 8-4

Walking onto the field for Super-Coaches Gregory, Giles, McCleskey and Spratt, were the 7-1 Trojans playing at their best at the right time. Batting Coach Larry Stanley strolled into the dugout with a "boy-o-boy his head needs a tan" MOHAWK followed by superfan Dylan "Mini-J-Rod" McCleskey sporting his own sweet mohawk, promised to the team if they reached the final 16 teams.  If there was ever any doubt of an incentive to win, the boys had it now!

Sweet Sixteen lead off batter David Chabut ripped a long line drive to the wall for the first out, but showed the Trojans how to hit the hard throwing Hawk pitcher. Mark Ankerholz reached base with a hard hit up the middle to go 8 for 9 in first at bats in this tournament. Unfortunately, the Trojans were unable to pick up any runs in the top of the first and handed the ball to Devin McCleskey for the start against the power-hitting Hawks. The D-Train recorded a first batter strikeout but the hard hitting Hawks took four runs and led to Coach Gregory call in reliever Tanner Schneider who induced a pop out to Tyler Heinrichs in center field. Taylor "Hit Man" Giles ripped a single down the right side, Cameron Gregory drew another walk to get runners on first and hit Trojan basher Tyler Heinrichs on a brush back, loading the bases with no outs for Kyle Garrard. The big man launched a rocket to the left field wall and scored Taylor Giles for the Trojans first run. Despite a couple of hard hits, the boys left the inning with a 4-1 deficit. After a 201 foot slow fly ball just over the center field fence for a 5-1 lead, Tanner Schneider recorded an out and then caused a fly to right field.  David Chabut handled the catch and then burned the throw home where Kyle "Not On My Watch" Garrard laid down the muscle and the tag for a sweet double play.

David Chabut led off the third inning with another leadoff hit and stole to second base. With a walk by Devin McCleskey, there were men on first and second for Taylor Giles who accounted for another run, this time with a nice RBI hit, chipping away at the Hawks' lead and taking the deficit down to 5-2. But the bats of the Hawks knocked another homer to take a 7-2 lead. Bouncing back nicely, Tanner recorded the next three outs with a blistering throw out by catcher Kyle Garrard to shortstop Cameron Gregory and fly outs to Mark Ankerholz and David Chabut.

Leading off the fourth inning, a still hot Tyler Heinrichs roped another line drive to the center field fence and stole second. Kyle Garrard advanced Tyler to third on a sharp sacrifice grounder and Tyler was brought home with a deep sacrifice fly by Austin "You Should See My Father's Mohawk" Stanley (that was nearly his fourth homer), bringing the score to 7-3. Holding the Hawks to one hit (a homer), the boys took an 8-3 deficit into the top of the fifth. Cameron Gregory turned a nice double play on a snag of a line shot and throw out to stop the inning at 8-3.

In the fifth inning and with the first batters, David Chabut and Mark Ankerholz, characteristically on base, Tanner Schneider hit a nice run-scoring single to chip away at the lead and go to 8-4. Unfortunately, with runners on the corners the Hawks were able record a nice double play to end the inning.  Trojan shortstop Cameron Gregory turned his second double play of the game to send the Hawks back to their dugout in the fifth with a nice 6-4-3 with Mark Ankerholz and Taylor Giles, and Devin McCleskey picked up the third out.

Down 8-4 in the top of the final inning the Trojans were unable to ring up any runs, and went down in a hard fought game.  Great tournament Trojans!!!!!

GO TROJANS!!!!!


Taylor Giles and Austin Richards Pitch A Combined Two-Hitter (With No Earned Runs) As The East Cobb Trojans Beat The.Oakville A's And Advance To The Sweet Sixteen!!!!

As the visiting team, the Trojans came to bat on a mission and with hits by our 1-2-3 batters - David Chabut, Mark Ankerholz and Devin McCleskey. Our cleanup batter, Taylor Giles, continued his hot hitting and rang up the first RBI of the game. Cameron Gregory followed suit with an RBI single, keeping the bases loaded for Austin Stanley, who rocked a line drive to the wall and scored two more runs. With a 4-0 lead, the Trojans handed the ball to starting pitcher Taylor Giles. After Kyle Garrard, David Chabut and Mark Ankerholz loaded the bases with nice hits, Devin McCleskey sacrificed in a run and Tanner Schneider rocked a deep sacrifice fly to the wall to pick up another run and give the boys a 6-0 lead.

Again blanking the Oakville A's behind strong pitching and a masterful double play by Cameron Gregory on a diving stab and a throw back to Anand Pappu who made a mile long stretch and managed to keep his foot on the bag and the ball in the glove. Taylor Giles blanked the A's again in the third inning on a strikeout, a fine play by Cameron Gregory who almost turned another double play and a running catch by Tyler Heinrichs in center field. The Trojan bats were held silent for the inning and Taylor Giles again took the mound for the Trojans in the top of the fourth. And again Taylor blanked the A's with fine pitching and an another awesome play by Anand Pappu at first base for the final out. The Trojans began the fifth inning with a "T" party of hits by T-Bone Schneider and T-Man Giles. Austin Stanley stayed hot and bashed a shot to the wall, loading the bases, but the Trojans could not pick up any extra runs despite a very hard hit ball by Austin Richards.

At 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Austin Richards came in as the Trojans reliever.  Bringing the heat, and some stuff from the junkyard, Ozzy struck out the first batter, induced a weak pop up and a great play by Devin McCleskey at third took the Trojans into the final inning up 6-0. Austin Richards proceeded to strike out the first batter, but a couple of overthrows later the A's finally put up a run on an error. But that did not bother the "Oz Man" Richards who picked up the final out and led the Trojans to the Sweet Sixteen.

What an awesome run for the boys!!!!!!  We need Trojan fan mojo for the championship games so tune in to the webcam for Field 4 at 8:30am on Thursday, July 9.  


Behind A Complete Game Gem By David Chabut And Stinging Home Runs By David Chabut (1), Tanner Schneider (4), Tyler Heinrichs (4) And Anand Pappu (2), The East Cobb Trojans Swat The Music City Stingers

David Chabut took the mound and promptly recorded three outs on two strikeouts and a pop fly tracked down by Austin Richards. Leading off as the first batter, David "It Is About Time To Go Yard" Chabut shot a stinger over the scoreboard for his first homer of the Cooperstown Classic. Mark Ankerholz continued to get on base, this time with a sharp liner to left field and was brought to second by a Tanner Schneider single. With runners on second and third the Trojans were unable to add to David's solo blast and left the inning up 1-0.

After five pitches and nice plays by Cameron Gregory, Taylor Giles and Devin McCleskey, the Trojans recorded three efficient outs and went back to bat. With a leadoff hit by Cameron Gregory and a rocket blast by Trojan catcher Kyle Garrard, their were men on the corners for Austin Stanley, who recorded the RBI. Despite another nice hit by David Chabut, the Trojans were unable to pick up any more runs for the second inning in a row.  With the Trojans now up a scant 2-0, David Chabut took the mound in the third and again recorded the first out, but a couple of hits brought a run in for the Stingers. A great play by shortstop Cameron Gregory and tag by Devin McCleskey at third took a runner out of scoring position and gave David a stress-free opportunity to record the strikeout he needed to end the inning with a 2-1 lead.  The Trojans continued to add runs, one at a time, but this time the run came on another monster blast by slugger Tanner "I Have Four Baseballs Now" Schneider. With Tyler Heinrichs on second base, Cameron "I've Been Hit In 15 Different Ballparks" Gregory took a fast ball in the back. Unfortunately, the boys again only scored one run and took the lead to 3-1.

Another well-pitched and fielded inning held the heart of the Stinger order to one run and kept the Trojans up 3-2 and up to bat in the fourth inning. However, the Trojans loaded the bases on hits by Austin Stanley, Mark Ankerholz and Devin McCleskey, but could not pick up the runs and entered the fifth inning up 3-2. With nice pitching and good plays by Tyler Heinrichs in centerfield, Kyle Garrard at catcher and a great diving play and throw to a stretching Taylor Giles, the Trojans escaped a scare and went back to bat in the fifth inning.

Leading off with a rocket up the middle, Taylor Giles rocked a "body blow" to the Stingers pitcher and brought Tyler Heinrichs up to bat. Tyler delivered a knockout punch with a monster two run blast, parking his fourth home run of the tournament, causing the Stingers to pull their strong pitcher and giving the Trojans a 5-2 lead. Not comfortable with a three-run lead, Big Papi Pappu raked one over the left field wall and gave the Trojans a 6-2 lead (sources inside the Trojan organization say that Anand's lack of neatness should lead to his official nickname being "Big Sloppy").

Throwing on pure adrenaline, David Chabut recorded the final three outs in style with great fielding by Cameron "We've Got Your Back" Gregory and Taylor Giles and earned a six strikeout, complete game gem and leading the boys to the next round against the undefeated Oakville A's from Canada.




Tanner Schneider Brands The Ponderosa Mustangs (Colorado) With A No Walk, Six Strikeout NO HITTER As Taylor Giles Blasts A Walk-off Double To Take The East Cobb Trojans To 5-1 In Pool Play

Starting pitcher Tanner Schneider brought heat and took down the heart of the Ponderosa Mustangs order, ending the inning with a strikeout and setting the tone for the game. Leading off the Trojans offensively in the first inning, leadoff batter David Chabut zapped a single and stole second. Two hole batter, Mark "I Don't Swing At A Bad Pitch" Ankerholz, drew a walk on his first at bat for the fifth time in six games. With David stealing third, the corners were set for Devin McCleskey, who plunked an RBI single to center. Marky Mark was brought home by a hard shot by Taylor "Hit Man" Giles. Tyler Heinrichs continued his lava hot hitting, blasting a shot off the wall and getting runners at second and third. On a series of interesting calls, the Trojans went from two runners in scoring position to three outs. Despite the lack of help from the umpires, the Trojans went up 3-0 after one inning. Spraying fire from his fingertips, Tanner Schneider branded the first two Mustang batters with a big fat "K" and picked up the third out with a great play in the field.

In the second inning, Austin "The Oz Man" Richards ripped a leadoff single to left field and was joined on base by Austin Stanley. David Chabut cranked another long shot off the wall and easily scored fleet-footed Austin Richards and brought pinch runner Jonny Spratt to third. With two men on Mark Ankerholz hit a loooooong foul ball over the right field wall (drat!!) and then ripped an RBI single. Devin McCleskey blasted another run scoring shot, followed by Taylor Giles sacrifice RBI that gave the Trojans an 8-0 lead going into the third inning. Handing the ball to Tanner Schneider, Coach Gregory said "mow them down" and that he did by retiring the Mustangs in order. Pinch runner Jonny Spratt scored on a great slide home on a passed ball run-scoring steal, taking the Trojan lead to 9-0 going into the fourth inning and getting the ball back in Tanner's hands. Striking out two and inducing a pop-up gave Tanner a no hitter going into the bottom of the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the final inning with the bases loaded for Trojan star Taylor Giles, the T-Man delivered a bases clearing, walk-off double for the 12-0 run rule victory.

This author believes that the no-earned-runner outing by Tanner should be called a perfect game, but rule-makers say the no walk, six strikeout no hitter is all Tanner gets. That's good enough for Trojan fans, who went crazy for our T-Bone Tanner Schneider, who led the Trojans to a 5-1 pool play record and a high seed into the final rounds of the tournament.


Despite Three Home Runs By The Sultans Of Swat - Tanner Schneider, Austin Stanley And Tyler Heinrichs - The East Cobb Trojans Take A Tough Loss To The Milwaukee Angels (WI), 8-5

Taylor Giles took the mound for the highly-ranked Trojans and blanked the top of the strong Milwaukee Angels order with fine pitching and a great tag out at home by Kyle "You're Not Crossing My Plate" Garrard. Trojan slugger Tanner Schneider led off the second inning with a monster blast to the next field for his third home run of the tournament. Word on the street is that Cooperstown Park officials are sending the Schneider family a bill for all of the baseballs Tanner is losing. With Anand Pappu on second after a stolen base (yes, The Diesel barreled his way to second with smoke blowing out of his ears) and Kyle Garrard on first, up came Jonny "Grand Slam" Spratt who hit a deep blast that the Angels centerfielder snagged at the wall, for the end of the inning. The Angels managed a two-run homer, but fine fielding by Cameron Gregory and a third out strikeout by Taylor Giles ended the inning with the Trojans down 2-1. Going into the top of the third inning, Mark Ankerholz hit a zinger through the right side of the infield and, after stealing second and third, was set up for a clutch RBI single by Devin "D-Train" McCleskey tying the game at 2-2. With Taylor Giles on first, again, and Devin on second, Tyler Heinrichs came up and hit a long shot just foul and then a sharp grounder for the final out of the inning, and only the second out recorded against Tyler in five games.   And then the wheels fell off the bus -- with the Angels hitting the ball hard and often and putting up six runs to hand the boys an 8-2 deficit. Reliever Austin Stanley sat down the Angels in the bottom of the fourth inning with a little help from a sweet 6-4-3 double play by Cameron Gregory at shortstop, Mark Ankerholz at second base and a stretching Anand Pappu at first base. Coming up to bat to lead off the Trojans' last stand in the top of the final inning, was Austin "Have You Seen MY Mohawk" Stanley who rocked his third homer of the tournament to start chipping away at the lead. Not to be outdone, Tyler "My Mohawk Is BEAST" Heinrichs jacked HIS third home run in Cooperstown to bring the score to 8-4. Coming in to run for Big Papi Pappu, Austin Richards stole second and third (or so we hear because Trojan fans only saw a blur) and scored on a passed ball to bring the score to 8-5 with one man on; however, the Angels were able to record a final out and give the hot Trojans their first loss.

At 4-1, the East Cobb Trojans are still looking good and are itching to make up lost ground. GO TROJANS!!!!!

Jonny Spratt Gets His First Home Run In Style With A Titanic Grand Slam And Austin Stanley Gets Another Slam, Leading The Trojans To A Victory Over The Tallahassee Titans (FL)

Starting pitcher Anand Pappu got off to a fine start but a long homer by the Titans cleanup batter gave the Titans a 3-0 lead after one inning. With Austin Stanley drawing a walk and Tyler Heinrichs picking up hit, Anand Pappu came up to bat - and hit a titanic blast over the left field wall tying the game 3-3. Jonny Spratt took the next pitch and hit it 199.999 feet and had his longest single of the season. The next inning, fellow basehitter Mark Ankerholz hit a long single off the left field wall. Trojan fans are hoping both Jonny and Mark get homers here at Cooperstown. With David Chabut, Mark Ankerholz and Taylor Giles on base after disciplined batting, the Trojans' basher Tanner Schneider came up and ripped a two RBI shot to the wall.  Tyler Heinrichs was up next and continued to rip the ball with a rocket to the right field wall, scoring Taylor Giles and loading the bases for Anand Pappu who, again, delivered the goods with an run-scoring single. This time the bases were loaded for Jonny Spratt. And this time the ball went back to Georgia for Jonny "Now MY Mom Can Buy The 'My Son Hit A Grand Slam' T-Shirt" Spratt, who (for his first EVER homer) rocked a game-breaking GRAND SLAM and took the lead to 11-4. 

All the boys began bashing the ball off the wall and David Chabut and Mark Ankerholz again taught the Titans how to play the ball off the Green Monster and upped the score to 13-4. Putting two more men on for Tanner Schneider who hit his second homerun of the tournament (which went over the fence, through the woods, back to Grandma's house and into the pond behind the field) and third for the Trojans in the game.  The Trojans took a 16-4 lead into the bottom of the third inning, where reliever Tyler Heinrichs came into a tough situation and recorded the three outs needed to end the inning on a great catch in right field by Austin "Crazy Train" Richards. Following on a nicely pitched inning, Tyler was the lead-off batter and went yard for the second time today in another monster blast. Jonny Spratt came up to chanting fans and delivered a nice single and stole second getting in scoring position for the hot bat of David Chabut. David's deep single scored Jonny and gave the Trojans an 18-8 lead. Reliever Devin McCleskey was called in and recorded the final outs, but not before the Titans put some hurting on the Trojans and brought the score to 18-14 when Mark Ankerholz and Cameron Gregory combined for an inning ending double play.  Cam and Taylor Giles (who walked for the second time in the game) got on base on walks and Tanner hit a single, which loaded the bases for Austin "I Feel The Need To Crank One" Stanley. And Austin's needs were fulfilled, in a big way, with a grand slam that gave the boys a 22-14 lead.

Tyler Heinrichs got another hit and was brought home by David Chabut as the boys again batted around the order again and ended the inning up 23-14. But the Titans continued to battle and put three more runs up, getting within six runs at 23-17 going into the final inning, where our batters went out in order and handed the ball to closer Tanner Schneider with the job to get three outs for under six runs. As was the story of this game, the boys made it interesting and let the Titans load the bases with two outs. But Tanner delivered a strikeout to end it for a Trojan victory, 23-17.

The Trojans end their second day of pool play at a perfect 4-0 after this exhausting two and a half hour marathon victory. GO TROJANS!!!!!


Tyler Heinrichs Crushes A Walk-Off Home Run To Power The East Cobb Trojans Over The Martinez Crush (CA)

In a matchup of undefeated teams, starting pitcher Taylor Giles blanked the strong Martinez Crush in the first inning and followed up by recording his first RBI of the week, giving the boys a 1-0 lead after one inning. The Crush battled back with nice hitting and tied the game 1-1 in the top of the second. A hot-hitting Tyler Heinrichs rocked a double to the wall and stole third. Fellow speedster Austin Richards smacked a nice single up the middle and rang up the RBI to take the Trojans up 2-1 after two innings. Reliever Anand Pappu took the mound in the third inning and kept the Crush to one run and a 2-2 tie. The boys were unable to pick up any runs in the third and gave up one in the top of the fourth to go down 3-2. In the bottom of the fourth the Trojans continued to chip away at the very strong pitching with a walk by Tanner Schneider, an RBI single by Tyler Heinrichs and then a RBI single by Kyle Garrard to get back the lead 4-3 going into the fifth inning. The Crush were able to pick up two runs over the next two innings, handing the Trojans a 5-4 deficit going into the bottom of the final inning. Cameron Gregory hit a 199 foot single to get on with one out, bringing Tyler Heinrichs to bat. Tyler delivered with a 300+ foot walk-off blast that did not land until it bounced off second base ON THE NEXT FIELD!

The Trojans win 6-5 and go to 3-0 for the tournament. GO TROJANS!!!!!


In A Shootout At The Cooperstown Corral, The East Cobb Trojans Take Down The Coppell Cowboys (TX), 7-4

Starting pitcher Devin McCleskey blanked the Cowboys in a well pitched first inning. Unfortunately, the Trojans were unable to take advantage and left the inning tied 0-0. The Cowboys put up two runs on nice hitting, but the Trojan bats came alive in the second inning with a solo blast by our own Hall of Famer Tanner "200 Feet Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" Schneider. Tyler Heinrichs followed up with a nice two out rocket to get another rally going where Kyle Garrard brought him home on a nice hit. Then Jonny Spratt cranked a two RBI double and Taylor Giles had a nice hit giving the Trojans a 4-2 lead in an evenly matched game. The Cowboys would not go quietly away and it took fine plays by left fielder David Chabut, third baseman Tanner Schneider and catcher Kyle Garrard to end a Cowboys rally and come out with a 4-4 tie going into the fourth inning, where relief pitcher Austin Richards brought the heat and outdueled the Cowboys' batters.

The score remained tied until the fifth inning and Austin Richards kept the Cowboys off the board with another very well-pitched inning, getting the final out on a crashing catch by Cameron Gregory. Leading off the fifth inning, Tyler "Rocket" Heinrichs had another double on the day and was set up for Big Jon Spratt. And Jonny delivered the goods with his second extra base hit of the game and a very important RBI, giving the Trojans a 5-4 lead. Then David Chabut took a pitch to the back for the team. With a double steal and Jonny and David on second and third, Mark Ankerholz delivered a clutch triple that scored two runs and gave the Trojans a 7-4 lead going into the top of the final inning. After a nice stab by David Chabut in centerfield, "Marky" Mark Ankerholz showed the Fun Bunch some moves and made, perhaps, the play of the year at second base for the second out. Tanner and Taylor combined for the final out in a very good, close game against a tough opponent. Austin Richards' three shutout innings gave the Trojans a huge 7-4 win (for the team and as winning pitcher) to take the boys to 2-0 on the day.

This was a great first day for the Trojans and we hope the momentum will continue.
 

East Cobb Trojans Blast Woodbridge Bulldogs (IL), 22-6

In the Trojans first outing in Cooperstown, they faced the Woodbridge Bulldogs from Illinois. Two hole batter Mark Ankerholz was the first baserunner and first run of the tournament, being was brought home by home run derby slugger Tanner Schneider. Not to be outdone, with two men on, Austin Stanley blasted a shot over the left field wall for a three run homer and the first home run for the Trojan bats. Batting around the order, the Trojans put up six runs in the top of the first to hand a 6-0 lead to starting pitcher David Chabut, and the boys never looked back.

Running into the outfield for the bottom of the first inning was Taylor "T-Man" Giles, Tyler "T" Heinrichs and Tanner "T-Bone" Schneider, for a Trojan "T" Party on this beautiful Independence Day weekend game.  Striking out the first two batters and knocking the third ball down for shortstop Cameron Gregory to make a diving play and throw out for third out of a scoreless first inning. The Bulldogs battled back in the second inning to bring the score to 6-2 going into the top of the third.

Tyler Heinrichs blasted a two out line drive and was brought home with a nice hit by Austin Richards, who was then brought home by David's 199.9 foot double off the top of the center field wall. Bringing in two more runs was another 199 foot shot by the D-Train Devin McCleskey off the right center wall and giving the Trojans a 11-2 lead.  Nice batting, again, by Kyle Garrard took the boys to a 14-2 lead after the top of the fourth inning. Holding the Woodbridge Bulldogs to two runs, with the final out recorded on a great tag out at first base by Anand Pappu, and the boys took a ten run lead, 14-4, into the fifth inning. 

Tyler Heinrichs was brought in as the closer with runners on the corners and kept the damage down, leading the boys into a 14-6 lead into the final inning as the leadoff batter. Tyler stroked a single to the left field wall to get on base for Austin Richards to hit the Trojans third 199 foot single of the game, scoring one run and loading the bases. The boys kept getting hits including Jonny Spratt to extend the score to 18-6 with a nice single to right field. The boys kept hitting and handed a 22-6 lead to Tyler, who brought the heat. Tyler recorded the final three outs on a strikeout and two bloopers back to him for easy plays.

This was a great way to start the tournament with every Trojan getting multiple hits and scoring lots of runs. Way to go boys. GO TROJANS!!!!!



The Trojans pool play schedule for Cooperstown follows. 

Follow the Trojans at Cooperstown by clicking here for results and standings.

Sunday 8:30 am - Trojans - 22, Woodridge Bulldogs (IL) - 6

Sunday 4:30 pm - Trojans - 7, Coppell Cowboys (TX) - 4

Monday 8:30 am - Trojans - 6, Martinez Crush (CA) - 5

Monday 1:45 pm - Trojans - 23, Tallahassee Titans (FL) - 17

Tuesday 11:00 am - Trojans - 5, Milwaukee Angels (WI) - 8

Tuesday 7:00 pm - Trojans - 12, Ponderosa Mustangs (CO) - 0