The Savannah Chain 14U Black youth baseball team won the 2023 USSSA Summer Nationals in Effingham, Georgia, on July 9th after being the runner-up in their previous two USSSA 14U AAA tournaments. Chain claimed the title by defeating the Jacksonville Indians Blue team 5-2. Both teams came into the championship game with a record of 3-1. Jacksonville beat the Chain 14U team 3-1 in the second game in the tournament.
Hitting Highlights: Four Chain batters batted over .500. Led by Ben Kleinpeter .556 batting average, going 5-9 with a triple and four runs batted in. Jack Kelly, Evan Smith, and Chris Morgan all batted .500. Evan Smith led the team in runs batted in with six, followed by Kelly, who had five and a home run, and Morgan, who knocked in three runs and two doubles.
Pitching Highlights: Logan Smith led Chain in inning pitched (IP) with seven innings with an earned run average (ERA) of 1.0, striking out nine opposing batters. Ridge Reddick followed with six IP pitched, also with a 1.0 era. Ben Kleinpeter pitched five innings and came up big in game three.
Kleinpeter had a big outing in game three as he came on in relief with Chain trailing 2-0 with no outs in the 1st inning in a 9-2 Chain win against the Hilton Head Hurricanes 14U team. Kleinpeter went five innings, giving up two hits, no runs, and striking out 9.
On the season, the Chain 14U Black team is 20-6, 10-1-1 in pool play, and 7-3 over the last ten games. Besides winning the USSSA Summer Nationals, the team has finished runner-up twice in 2023.
Chain 14U Roster: Mack Bowers, Christopher "Kase" Dye, Caden Godbee, Jack Kelley, Ben Kleinpeter, Robbie McCorkle, Christopher "Rhett" Morgan, Padraig Morgan, Ridge Reddick, Evan Smith, Logan Smith, Wyatt Sowell, Chris Wynn.
The Chain 14U coaching staff is head coach Michael Godbee, assisted by Davey Reddick, Michael Kleinpeter, Cameron Godbee, and Caden Blankenship.
