- Details
- Category: Past Issues
Qualify
for AAU playoffs
The Connecticut Cougars Amateur Athletic Union Baseball Organization, after three years, have begun to make a name for themselves as a threat in the New England AAU League. The Cougars 13 & under and 14 & under, for the first time in their existence qualified for the New England Regional Playoff Tournament.
The Cougars 13U team consisted of player Ethan Warren and Travis Zurowski from Brooklyn; Jordan Adams, Paxton Ings, and Thomas Jernstrom from Canterbury; McGuire Crouse, Adam Converse, Marcus Trudeau, Justin Bouten, Kyle Newman, and JP Bergeron from Woodstock. Jim Warren, Mike Zurowski, Joe Crouse, and Keith Newman coached the team
The 14U Cougar players were, from Woodstock, Robert Newton, Dan Murphy, Jesse Alexander, Brian Kemp, James Cutler, Will Bourgeois and Sean Falvey; from Thompson, Austin Miller, from Upton, Mass., Dylan Sumner, and Ben Stoopack, from Killingly, Tyler Stucke and Ben Rumrill. Coaches were Kyle Aldrich, and Mike Bourgeois.
The top 16 teams in New England, after a 12-week spring season, qualify for this tournament and the chance to become number one in New England and advance to the AAU National Tournament at Disney Wide World of Sports Complex, in Sarasota, Fla.
The Cougars 13U team qualified for the playoffs with a record of 10-2. A very strong hitting team, the 13U received their only two losses to the first place Strike Zone West team out of Worcester, MA. They were seeded 8th in New England going into the playoffs. They started tournament play in a tough pool, all teams with a higher seed. Bristol County Eagles (1); Bristol County Select (6); and RI Bears (7).
They played July 9 against the Eagles. July 10 against the Bears, and in the afternoon July 10 against BC Select. The first game was played in Dighton, Mass., and July 9 against the #1-seed Bristol County Eagles. The Cougars’ Adam Converse, held the #1 team to two runs through three innings. The Eagles scored 8 runs in the 4th, seven on Jordan Adams, and one on Marcus Trudeau, to get the 10-0 mercy win.
Game 2 and 3 were played in Rehoboth, Mass. The Cougars took game one against a tough RI Bears club 6-5, while in the afternoon, facing elimination without a win, the 13U Cougars battled against BC Select losing 10-6 to get eliminated from the playoffs.
All season, the Cougars were lead by pitching ace Adam Converse and JP Bergeron behind the plate while team leader Ethan Warren kept the emotions running high all thru their playoff run as The 13 U Cougars were in the top 16 teams of all of New England ( over 80 teams ). Thanks to the coaching effort of Jim Warren and all the fathers that helped along the way this group of players gelled quickly and proved to be a formidable opponent to all they faced. Lead off hitter Jordan paved the way many times for cleanup hitter Paxton Ings to move them around as scoring for this group was never an issue. The cougars ultimately fell in the pool play for the NEAAU 13 U division but not without a fight. They should all be proud of a great season and look forward to representing their respective schools and towns in the years to come.
The 14U Cougars entered the playoffs seeded 13th in New England. This 14U team has a deep pitching staff and were ready for the competition. They qualified for the playoffs with an 8-4 record at 13th place in New England. In tournament play the 14U team was scheduled against Quincy Red Stockings (2); Southern Maine Trojans (8); and Granite State Marauders (15).
Play started on July 8, when the 14U Cougars met the #2 seed Quincy Red Stockings at their home field in Quincy, Mass. The Cougars bats set the pace in the first inning with Tyler Stucke and Dan Murphy each getting a hit and Ben Rumrill and Jesse Alexander drawing walks. Brian Kemp and Will Bourgeois each drove in 2 runs with base hits, to put the Cougars up 4-0 in the first inning. The Cougars scored again in the second by way of a balk by a Red Stocking pitcher. The Red Stockings had a rally in the 4th, to tie the game at 5. Austin Miller had a 2 run single in the fifth to put the Cougars back on top 8-5. Quincy answered with one run in the 5th, and 1 in the sixth, while Murphy and Alexander both had a RBI in the sixth. The red Stockings managed only two runs in the bottom of the seventh, for a final score of 10-9 in favor of the Cougars. Five different Cougars knocked in runs, with Bourgeois delivering 3 runs and Kemp 2 runs. Bourgeois went 4 innings on the mound for the win, followed by Rumrill 2 innings, while Murphy came in to close the game in the 7th.
July 10 the team headed back to Quincy for their remaining two pool play games. In the first game against the Granite State Marauders, from Manchester, N.H., the Cougars continued their torrid offensive assault scoring 15 runs on 17 hits. The Cougars had five players with two hits or more, with Rob Newton collecting four hits along with four runs scored, and Brian Kemp and Tyler Stucke each collecting 3 hits. Dan Murphy pitched the first five innings allowing only four runs for the win. Robert Newton closed the game pitching the last inning for the Cougars.
Game two of the day was a game with little consequence as the Cougars already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals against the Southern Maine Trojans of Saco, ME. After using many pitchers to this point, the Cougars decided to use less experienced pitchers to save some arms for the following day. The effect was evident early as the Trojans mercied the Cougars 15-4 after 4 innings. The Cougars supplied 8 hits, to go along with two walks and two hits batsmen to continue their offensive output. Tyler Stucke added another 2 hits, as did Dylan Sumner. Unfortunately, there were too many runs scored against them as they fell to 2-1 in the pool.
After the reseeding for the single elimination tournament, the Cougars were seeded 7th out of 8, and packed up and headed to the Cape for the single elimination tournament in Mashpee, Mass. Facing the #2 seeded Cape Cod Sharks. The Cougars went back to the well with Bourgeois, who pitched five strong innings for the victory, allowing only three hits and one unearned run. Robert Newton saved the game pitching two innings and allowing only one run. The offense was again propelled by Stucke, who went 4-4 with two doubles. Dan Murphy, Brian Kemp, Will Bourgeois and Dylan Sumner all added a double apiece, with Bourgeois knocking in the game-winner in the 6th.
Twenty minutes after the win over the Sharks the Cougars were back on the field playing in the semi-finals against their regular season divisional foe, Triple Play All-stars. A friendly match between the two high quality teams lead to Triple Play taking the win 11-4 over the Cougars. The cougars controlled play with Robert Newton pitching very well for 4 innings. Newton kept the All-stars at bay allowing only 2 runs. The Cougars collected 5 runs through the first 5 innings with 3 doubles (2 by Stucke and 1 from Kemp), 3 walks, 2 hit-batsmen and 1 error. Unfortunately, the wheels then fell off the wagon afterwards. After the All-stars loaded the bases in the fifth inning, Murphy took over for Newton. The All-stars then doubled and walked twice for 4 runs. The sixth inning showed uncharacteristic play as the Cougars let up 3 hits and 2 walks and committed 2 errors, allowing another 4 runs to score.
The Cougars headed home after the long weekend of competitive baseball with there heads up knowing that they made it to the final four teams in New England, after only three years as an AAU organization.
The Cougars Organization runs year-round, including a 12-16 week spring season, summer tournaments, an eight-week fall season, and indoor winter training at facilities in Auburn, Mass. We are always recruiting and looking for new players to continue to build our organization, and develop high quality competitive youth baseball teams. Anyone in northeastern corner of Connecticut and Southern Mass interested in joining, send your contact information to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information. Tryouts for the fall season will be held the end of July.