Team Georgia v Team Carolinas Recap

Tue August 11, 2020
Phil Kerber
Georgia Scouting Director



Team Georgia was back in action on Monday morning against Team Carolinas at the 2020 PBR Future Games. It was more of the same from the Georgia Boys as they hit, defended and pitched at a high level in route to a 6-3 victory over the Carolinas.

Getting the start for Team Georgia was the ultra quick armed RHP Caden Spivey (Vidalia, 2022). Spivey, one of the fastest rising prospects in Georgia’s 2022 class, stands an athletic 6-foot, 165-pounds. The right-hander showed poise and confidence on the mound as he attacked hitters with his fastball, up to 91, and a swing and miss slider at 79-83 that featured a spin rate as high as 2700 rpm. In his three innings of work, Spivey tied for the Team Georgia lead in strikeouts, racking up six, while walking three, hitting one batter, scattering two hits and one run.


After going down in the first inning 1-0, Team Georgia exploded for four runs in the second inning to take a commanding 4-1 lead. 1B Jay Murdock (Terrell Academy, 2022) got the Georgia Boys rolling with a long sacrifice fly to right field, scoring OF Luke Boone (Richmond Hill, 2022), who had led off the inning with a walk. SS Colin Houck (Parkview, 2023) followed by reaching base on an error.  Back-to-back singles by MIF Tanner Knowles (Perry, 2022), scoring Houck, and C Cale Stricklin (North Oconee, 2023) had Team Georgia threatening with men on first and second and two outs. C Jonathan Vigoa (Rome, 2022) pushed another run across the board with a hard hit ball to the right-side that got past the first baseman. A series of wild pitches would allow Stricklin and Vigoa to advance home.
The lead extended to 5-1 in the fourth inning when Boone showed off his game changing power at the plate, blasting a solo home run over the left field fence, leaving the yard with a 95 mph exit velocity.
The ball was handed over to C/RHP David Bell (Greenbrier, 2022) for the fourth and fifth innings. Bell, works at an extremely quick pace and typically hammers the zone with a fastball and curveball combination. We saw something new from Bell on this day. While still pounding the zone with his fastball, he turned to his changeup as the preferred offspeed pitch, and was extremely effective with it. The pitch featured fade and sink as he located it low in the zone, creating weak contact. Bell’s fastball sat 84-87 with a changeup at 78-81, he briefly mixed in his 12/6 curveball at 73-74. Team Carolinas were able to scratch across two runs on Bell in the fourth, before he settled in the fifth, facing the minimum three batters.
Bell helped his own cause in the top half of the fifth by leading off the inning with an infield single. Bell would get to third base following a walk by Murdock and a fielder’s choice on a Knowles ground ball, setting up Stricklin with one out and men on the corners. Stricklin turned on one and nearly sent it sailing out of the park for a three run homer, but had to settle for an RBI sacrifice fly to left field.

The score would remain 6-3 as the game was called to an end in the top of the sixth due to the threat of severe storms.

Offensive Leaders

OF Justin Thomas (Benedictine, 2022)
Stat Line: 2-for-2, 2 1Bs off 88 and 86 mph FBs
1B Jay Murdock (Terrell Academy, 2022)
Stat Line: 0-for-0, RBI, BB

MIF Tanner Knowles (Perry, 2022)
Stat Line: 1-for-2, 1B, RBI, 2 SB
C Cale Stricklin (North Oconee, 2023)
Stat Line: 1-for-1, 1B, RBI
OF Luke Boone (Richmond Hill, 2022)
Stat Line: 1-for-1, HR, RBI, BB

3B Tai Peete (Trinity Christian, 2023)
Stat Line: 1-for-2, 1B off 87 mph FB
C David Bell (Greenbrier, 2022)
Stat Line: 1-for-2, 1B

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