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Gamers baseball finishes 38th out of 392 teams at Perfect Game National Championship
Three local baseball players competed for the Gamers Blue 17U team from June 25 to July 6, at the Perfect Game Showcase and the Perfect Game 17U National Championship in Cartersville, Georgia.
Sikeston’s Nate Self, Carson Aycock of East Prairie, and Landon Tenkhoff from Chaffee all helped the Gamers finish 38th out of 392 teams at the event.
Overall, Gamers Blue went 8-3 in the Perfect Game Showcase and Perfect Game 17U National Championship.
Self said that playing down there was a “different world.”
“Last week, we went to Atlanta and down there, it’s like it’s a different world,” Self said. “Everybody there is trying to make a name for themselves. To put it best, you don’t go down there to be good; you go down there to be great. There’s so many kids going to so many big colleges, and every single time you step on the field, you’re playing against somebody that’s going somewhere, and you’re just trying to make a name for yourself too.
“It’s really cool because, in summer ball, there’s not a lot of energy in a lot of the games, but down there you’re playing for something, playing for the national championship, so it’s a lot of fun.”
Aycock added that it’s the best competition in the country and that you have to stay focused.
“It’s the best competition in the country, so when you go down there, you got to stay focused,” Aycock said. “It’s no joke, playing with those guys. It’s just most of the teams are full of Division I commits. I mean, we faced a team; 10 kids were going to Arkansas, so you just play with the best of the best down there, and it’s great.”
During Perfect Game Showcase action, Gamers Blue finished 2-1; defeating Palm Beach Select 2019 10-7 and East Cobb Twins 16U 5-3, before losing to 643 DP Cougars Sterling 5-4.
Then, in the perfect Game 17U National Championship tournament, Gamers Blue advanced out of pool play and into the bracket, where they would try and compete for a national championship.
Gamers Blue wound up falling a little short of that goal, though, but were still able to finish with a 6-2 record in the tournament.
In its first game, Gamers Blue defeated Stars Baseball Blue 17U 2-1, before losing its second game to East Coast Sox Elite 4-1. They were not done there though, as they would win their next five games in a row — with all of the games being decided by three runs or less.
In the final game of the tournament, Gamers Blue was out-matched, as they fell to Stick Baseball Academy 5-0. Stick Baseball Academy’s Kale Davis — an Oklahoma State commit — pitched a shut out.
Going into the tournament, Self said that he knew it was going to be tough to get out of the pool play.
“I knew it was going to be tough to get out of our pool because last year we were a good team; I think going into the tournament we were something crazy, like 25-5, we were dominating, and we still knew — going into this tournament — it was going to be different,” Self said. “Everybody’s tuned up, everybody’s different, and we were 5-2 last year, didn’t make it out of our pool, so this year I was just like, you know, we got to do something special to get out of it. I didn’t expect us to get out of it, that doesn’t mean I didn’t believe, but when we made it out of our pool that was crazy.”
Aycock said that, for him, the expectation was go down there and play their best, but also realized that it was going to be a steep mountain to climb.
“The expectations for the national championships was not we’re going to go down here and kill everybody, it’s we’re going to play our best, but it’s going to be really hard to win,” Aycock said. “We started playing baseball with the best competition; we were producing. It turned our heads a little bit, woke us up, and I think we exceeded our expectations no doubt.”
From the 17U National Championship, over 300 players have appeared in the MLB, there have been over 4,000 players drafted, and over 22,000 players have committed to play in college.
Some of the names of the players that have played in the tournament include, Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies, Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs, John Brebbia of the St. Louis Cardinals, Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros, and Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants.
For Self and Aycock, the best way to get noticed is to play in high-level tournaments.
Self added that he wants to play baseball at the highest level that he possibly can, and what better what than by playing in a tournament where MLB players come and go regularly.
“We put ourselves there to give us the best opportunity to play baseball at the highest level we can,” Self said. “I think it’s something crazy, like 90 percent of people that play for the Gamers go on to play at least college baseball, most of it being DI. That’s something that motivates us, is we see the names on the wall, the organizations they’ve played for, and it’s possible.”
For Aycock, having the equipment down there that most Division I schools have is something that he appreciates a lot and is something that he said helps immensely.
“All the equipment that most Division I schools around here have, and it’s really cool that we get to work with,” Aycock said. “I think the past few 17 -year-old teams, every player on the team has been committed to a college. You know, JUCO, DII, or DI by the end of the year. There’s no doubt, you’re going to get exposure, and you’re going to have a chance to play ball if you want to so, I mean, that’s all you could ask for really.”