Area players help travel baseball team win Perfect Game World Series

Four area baseball players became national champions July 21 when the Orlando Scorpions Prime team won the 2015 17U Perfect Game World Series in Arizona.

West Orange’s Tyler Baum and Matt Coello and Dr. Phillips’ Chase Cheek and Chris Moore were part of the team that defeated GMG Marucci 5-0 in the final.

One of several teams that compete for the Scorpions — a large, well-regarded travel baseball organization based out of Central Florida that is owned and operated by Matt Gerber — the Prime team is coach by West Orange High’s Jesse Marlo and The First Academy’s Gary Kennedy.

The accomplishment is bolstered by Marlo’s opinion that the event is one of the top tournaments in the country.

“I would say it’s the top one or the second-best one,” Marlo said. “The only one you could say that is harder to win is the (WWBA World Championship in) Jupiter in October.”

Although the championship game was a sound victory for the Scorpions, the semifinal was perhaps the toughest test of the tournament. The Prime team defeated CBA Marucci — a team that had previously been undefeated this summer in Perfect Game competition, winning 17 in a row — by a score of 8-7 in extra innings. 

Helping to lead the way was Baum, a rising senior for the Warriors who scored a win and a save during the tournament and whose fastball reached 95 mph during competition.

“He just went out there like a veteran; he went out there like he’s done it before,” Marlo said.

Baum’s performance led him to be named as a Perfect Game All-American. The Perfect Game All-American Game takes place Aug. 16 at PetCo Park in San Diego and will be broadcast live on MLB Network.

Coello, also a rising senior, played well for the Scorpions and committed to play his college baseball for Winthrop just two days after the tournament’s conclusion. 

Cheek was the team’s leadoff hitter throughout the competition and played in every game, making an impressive catch during the semifinal contest that may have saved the game. 

Moore, a reliever, got the team out of a bases-loaded jam in that same game, also.

For Marlo, coaching a pair of players who, as Panthers, are rivals of his Warriors during the spring, is a unique and rewarding experience.

“It’s fun to get to know some of these guys that you coach against,” Marlo said. “You get to find out that they’re really good kids.”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].