Youth baseball coaches Brooks Zeigler and Todd Mayo decided to join forces for fall baseball, and the result is a 9-under baseball team that captured a tournament championship October 9-10 in Brunswick.
Zeigler and Mayo have been two of the most prominent youth baseball coaches in Savannah for several years, and their teams often played against each other in not only baseball but other sports as well. Through a series of circumstances, the two coaches combined members of their rosters to form a team to play travel tournaments.
In only their third tournament since being formed, The Savannah Vandals traveled to Brunswick compete in the South Georgia Athletics USSSA East Coast Nationals against teams from Jacksonville, Jesup, Alma, Bluffton, and Vidalia. In pool play, the Vandals defeated the Bacon County Dirty Dozen from Alma, 20-1, and then lost 5-0 to the Oakleaf Knights from Jacksonville, Fla.
Having earned a 3-seed heading into bracket, the Vandals knocked off the Nos. 6, 2, and 1 seeds en route to a tournament championship victory. In the quarterfinals, the Vandals won, 13-2, over the North Florida Defenders from Jacksonville, Fla., and the picked up a 7-6 win over Major League Unleashed from Jesup in the seminfinals.
In the championship game game against Line Drive Vidalia, the Vandals scored 13 runs on 11 hits. In the key victory over Major League Unleashed, the Vandals rallied from a 3-run deficit to score preserved a victory by striking out the final two batters of the game with the bases loaded.
“It’s a great group of kids,” Zeigler said. “A lot of the guys we play against in these tournaments only play baseball while our players are playing multiple sports. But our players are very talented, and I’m proud of them. It’s all about getting experience and development and growth, setting us up to be successful in the spring, because this team is going to be amazing once it all comes together.”
The Vandals’ roster includes Rex Zeigler, Will Mayo, Oliver Newland, Walker York, Robert Tuttle, Wesley Chapman, Charlie Milmine, Louie Pascual, Brooks Whitaker, Walker Erickson Rex Wickstrom, Mercer Cox, Sully Rooks, Alton Smith and Ty Thompson. The coaching staff includes Zeigler, Mayo and Dylan Cox.
During the tournament, the offense was paced by Wesley Chapman, Will Mayo, Oliver Newland and Rex Zeigler. Mayo and Zeigler combined at the top of the order for 16 hits and 15 runs in five games while Chapman had a home run and a double in the quarterfinal game and Newland tallied seven hits in 11 plate appearances during the tournament.
Charlie Milmine threw a complete game no-hitter during pool play, and outstanding pitching performances were also registered by Chapman, Newland, Robert Tuttle, Rex Wickstrom and Zeigler.
“We have put together an A team, and it was really fun to see them go out and compete against some of the top teams in the southeast and do really well,” Mayo said. “We’ve got a pretty good culture going, and we all have the same goals. We have kids who are very athletic and can do a little bit of anything, and what’s been great is we can move them around and let them get experience at different positions.”
Leading Hitters
Batting Average
1. Rex Zeigler (.818)
2. Oliver Newland (.700)
T3. Wesley Chapman and Will Mayo (.667)
On Base Percentage
1. Rex Zeigler (.846)
2. Will Mayo (.750)
T3. Wesley Chapman and Oliver Newland (.727)
Hits
1. Rex Zeigler (9)
2. Oliver Newland (7)
T3. Wesley Chapman and Will Mayo (6)
Runs
T1. Rex Zeigler and Will Mayo (8)
3. Wesley Chapman (7)
4. Robert Tuttle (6)
Runs Batted In
1. Wesley Chapman (7)
2. Will Mayo (6)
T3. Walker York and Oliver Newland (5)
Pitching
ERA
T1. Rex Zeigler and Charlie Milmine (0.00)
3. Wesley Chapman (2.33)
WHIP
1. Charlie Milmine (.500)
2. Wesley Chapman (1.000)
3. Rex Zeigler (1.500)
Strikeouts
1. Rex Zeigler (7)
2. Oliver Newland (6)
T3. Robert Tuttle, Wesley Chapman and Charlie Milmine (4)
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