FARMINGTON – The Dallas Tigers are the first team to earn a berth to next month’s Connie Mack World Series, finishing off the Texas Stix in the championship round of a regional tournament last weekend in Melissa, Texas.
Coached by Brett Bergman and coming off an unbeaten run through seven games in the Five Tool Texas AABC qualifier, the Tigers outscored its opponents by a margin of 39-11, capped off by a pair of victories in the championship round over the Stix.
“I’d like to say it’s a balanced team, but we’ve definitely got some high-quality arms we can put out there on the mound,” Bergman said. “The offense really got things going later in the tournament.”
The tournament, which featured 24 teams from across the region, was played in a double-elimination format with the winner receiving a paid berth, including travel stipend, to the CMWS.
Louis Bussard and Major Brignon each drove in a pair of runs for the Tigers in the first game of the best-of-three championship round, a 6-3 win over the Stix.
Bussard, who will be entering his senior year at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas, had a .434 batting average in his junior year and achieved first team all-state honors.
“(Bussard) is a guy who makes hard contact all the time,” said Bergman. “(Brignon) is maybe the best defensive player I’ve ever seen.”
Brignon, who played third base for the Tigers, capped a big season for the Celina (Texas) High School baseball team, which finished 35-6 last spring and has already committed to the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
In the second game of the championship finals on Saturday, the Tigers jumped ahead of the Stix, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on its way to a 2-1 win to advance to the CMWS, which gets underway in Farmington on July 21.
Pitcher Kade Davis, who struck out eight batters in four innings in an earlier win over Dulin’s Dodgers, allowed only a pair of hits in more than six innings of the second game of the final round before Brayden Bergman struck out the final two batters of the game to earn the save.
Bussard and Sawyer Strosnider each scored runs in the first inning to pace the Tigers offense in the final game.
Cooper Strawn was an integral part in the Tigers during the regional tournament. Strawn allowed only two hits and struck out 11 batters in a complete game, seven inning gem over the Lonestar Baseball Club in the second round of the tournament.
“(Strawn) is a high quality thrower who really had some of his better stuff for us this summer,” Bergman said.
Strawn, from Farmersville High School and recently committed to attend Weatherford College next fall, was one of several stars for the Tigers during the team’s run to the tournament finals.
Sawyer Farr, a recent commit to Texas A&M from Boswell (TX.) High School, also came up big for the Tigers in the qualifying tournament. Farr smacked a leadoff home run in the first game against the Stix while hitting .391 in the tournament, collecting four doubles, as well as driving in four runs and scoring six times.
“Reaching the World Series is really all they wanted to do, it’s something they really strived for,” Bergman said. “They went out and earned it.”
The Connie Mack World Series also added a team from north of the border, as the High Performance Program Tigers from Ontario, Canada earned a berth in the World Series with a tournament victory in Mississauga, ON.
The Tigers, coached by Greg Byron, are the first CMWS team from Canada since the Ontario Blue Jays participated in 2010 after winning the North Atlantic regional tournament.
“We’re excited to have a Canadian team back in the series,” said AABC vice-president Shannon Enfield. “The Canadian teams are well represented in some of the other World Series events for younger players, and our desire has always been to grow (AABC) into a large new area.”
Byron has been on coaching staffs at both the collegiate and professional levels, having spent time with the University of Iowa, Central Arkansas University and most recently at Austin Peay University in Tennessee. Byron also worked in the Minnesota Twins organization with the Rochester Red Wings and was with the St. Louis Cardinals organization as an assistant with the Memphis Redbirds.
Byron was an assistant coach for the Ontario Blue Jays 2010 team that came to Farmington for the CMWS, and used his experiences from that event as motivation for his current team.
“I told a lot of them about all the hype that goes into the tournament,” Byron said. “And I think that psyched them up for a chance to represent this area.”
The Tigers wrapped up the qualifying tournament with a 5-1 mark, including a 8-6 win in the finals, which were held Sunday at the Meadowvale North Sports Complex.
David Stanley was one of the main producers for the Tigers in the tournament, driving in a dozen runs and scoring ten times while going 10-for-18 at the plate with three doubles. He had a pair of runs batted in during the championship game while going 1-for-2 and drawing a pair of walks.
“(Stanley) has been a part of the program for nearly three years now, and he always puts the team and the program first,” Byron said. He’s somebody that’s revered by his teammates and has had some big moments.“
The HPP Tigers and Dallas Tigers are the first two qualifiers for the Connie Mack World Series. The next scheduled regional tournament gets underway Tuesday, June 20 in Denver. In addition to the 505 Panthers and the Albuquerque Baseball Academy, there are 12 additional teams scheduled to compete in the event. The AABC Ozarks regional tournament will also be held Thursday, June 22 in Joplin, Missouri.
For more information on the 2023 Connie Mack World Series, including schedules for upcoming events, log on to the official website at CMWS.org.
