Lee Trawick
Reporter2@riverbendnews.org
On Friday, June 24, Live Oak native Ayden Phillips traveled to Marietta, Ga., to play in the 15u Wood Bat National Championships. There, his team—the Aces—competed with 362 other teams for a chance to call themselves National Champions. The tournament took place over eight days and was put on by the Perfect Game Organization. The Aces, which are based out of Freeport, Fla., consists of players throughout the southeastern United States. Ayden wears many hats for the Aces, including first baseman, third baseman and pitcher.
He is the son of Angela and John Phillips, of Live Oak, and has been playing travel baseball since he was eight-years-old. Ayden originally began playing travel ball for a local team. While playing against the Aces, he caught the coach's eye. From there, he received an invitation to play for the Aces, the team he quickly came to know as family.
In the world of travel baseball, there are different organizations that host travel tournaments, including the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), Triple Crown Sports and Perfect Game. The difference between travel baseball and school teams is the amount of exposure a player receives. By playing in the Perfect Game series, Ayden has been able to play with and against the top talent in the sport, while also being able to be seen by more college and professional scouts.
At the 15u Wood Bat National Championships, Ayden's team went 7-1 in the tournament. The Aces positioned themselves as the top seed coming out of pool play with a 7-0 record. On Friday, June 24, the Aces won the first game of the day, 10-0. Then, in the day's second game, the Aces carried the game with a final score of 15-0. As they continued in pool play, on Saturday, June 25, the Aces maintained their dominance with a 6-1 win. They then positioned themselves for their first tournament test, where they came out on top with a 2-1 win.
On Monday, June 27, the Aces won again by a score of 8-3 and again on Tuesday, June 28, by a score of 8-0. For their last game of pool play, the Aces were going for the sweep and remained undefeated entering the second round. They were tested throughout the game; however, they once again came out with a 4-2 victory, completing pool play with a 7-0 record as they entered the tournament's second round. Unfortunately, the Aces came up short in the first game of the second, eliminating them from the tournament.
Ayden led his team in batting throughout the tournament and solidified himself on the grandest of stages. His batting average on the season was .528, with 11 doubles and five home-runs. At only 15-years-old, Ayden has positioned himself to have a bright future in baseball. Although he and his family reside in Suwannee County, he will begin attending school in August at Columbia High School, where he hopes to play for Tigers Coach Chris Howard.