DEACON JONES INVITATIONAL: Bulldogs repeat as champions

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on April 22, 2017 11:26 PM

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PRINCETON -- His dirt-stained jersey unbuttoned and beads of sweat popping out on his forehead, Blake Sapp walked over to Princeton head baseball coach Justin Willoughby.

"Here coach, take this home with you," said Sapp with the Deacon Jones Invitational tournament championship trophy in tow.

Willoughby denied the gesture.

"No, this belongs to you guys. I didn't play in a single game," he said.

Sapp shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the dugout. His cleats scratched the concrete surface as he placed the trophy in the center of the wooden team bench.

An appropriate spot.

Just four days ago, Princeton searched for an identity.

The Bulldogs (9-7 overall) might have found it during the two-day DJI that ended with a 5-0 conquest of Union in the title tilt Saturday afternoon. Princeton became the first team to win back-to-back tournament crowns since Rosewood nabbed three straight crowns from 2006-08.

"I've got chills right now just thinking about the fact of where our team is going as far as effort and commitment-wise," Willoughby said. "Our seniors set the standard for what we wanted to do as a team and for the past two days we've done exactly what we've wanted to do.

"We finally put it into play."

Princeton barked the bark against Union.

Colby Sullivan and all-tournament selection Will Gurganious combined for a complete-game, six-hit shutout against the aggressive-swinging Spartans. Union whiffed at off-speed and heat-seeking missiles on seven occasions, and stranded eight runners.

"They were all out in front on (the pitches)," said PHS catcher Alex Hickman, who earned Invitational MVP accolades. "I was really surprised (at MVP). These past two days I've been feeling real good, real confident swinging the bat, making good contact. I've felt real good behind the plate making throws."

The Bulldogs scratched for single runs in each of the first five innings.

All-tournament picks Ryan Woodard (2-for-3) and Tanner Flowers (2-for-3) each collected an RBI. Luke Braswell and Gurganious each supplied an RBI. Braswell scored on a wild pitch.

PHS had just six hits on the day.

"Offensively, it seems like we left a lot of guys on base," Willoughby said. "We were able to get some guys over to second base, peck...get a couple of balls here and there, and try to take advantage of every situation we could early in the outs.

"It's a good thing the ball bounced our way the last two games."

Princeton secured its fifth Invitational championship since 2005 and is just one of two teams to shut out an opponent in the final. The Bulldogs beat Spring Creek 2-0 in 2013 and Rosewood handed North Johnston a 12-0, mercy-rule loss in 2014.