Americus Travelers Baseball Club

Americus Travelers Baseball Club
2004 Team Roster (Alphabetical Order)
PLAYER	SCHOOL

Jeff Barfield	*Houston County*
Josh Brown	*Americus-Sumter*
John Edwards	*Southland Academy*
Cam Ellis	*Southland Academy*
Blaze Hargrove	*Southland Academy*
Brad Jackson	*Houston County*
Matt Kiley	*Southland Academy*
Dexter Lashley	*Southland Academy*
Josh Oliver	*Lee County*
Jody Sellars	*Southland Academy*
Zach Slaughter	*Southland Academy*
John Taylor	*Southland Academy*
Timmy Thompkins	*Southland Academy*

Americus Travelers Baseball Club
2004 Coaches Roster
COACH

Head Coach: Danny Slaughter
Assistant Coach: Bobo Short

2004 Schedule
DATE(S)	OPPONENT	# GAMES	TIME	LOCATION

May 22	Dooly County	One Game	11:00 a.m.	Thomas L. Bell Stadium - Americus
May 22	Macon Mudcats	One Game	4:00 p.m.	Thomas L. Bell Stadium - Americus
May 23	Macon Mudcats	One Game	11:00 a.m.	Thomas L. Bell Stadium - Americus
May 23	Dooly County	One Game	4:00 p.m.	Thomas L. Bell Stadium - Americus
May 28 - May 30	Post 30 Memorial Day Tournament	Four Games		Albany
June 10 - June 13	USSSA All-Star State	Four Games		Macon
June 17 - June 20	Parkview Shootout	Five Games		Atlanta Area
June 30	Post 30-C	Two Games	6:30 p.m.	Thomas L. Bell Stadium - Americus
July 1	Bleckley County	Two Games	6:00 p.m.	Cochran
July 5	Dodge County	Two Games	6:00 p.m.	Thomas L. Bell Stadium - Americus
July 6	Macon Mudcats	Two Games	6:00 p.m.	First Presbyterian - Macon
July 11 - July 18	Competition Unlimited Tournament	Five Games		Pensacola, Florida
July	Wood Bat Championships	Four Games		Gastonia, North Carolina

Recaps Section

May 22 - Dooly County Brewers/Macon Mudcats

Playing in two games of a three-game round robin, the Travelers started off their 2004 season in strong order, defeating Dooly County 11-3, then winning against the Macon Mudcats 5-3.

Dooly County: Cam Ellis took the win on the mound, allowing a solo hit, a solo walk, and fanning seven in five innings. In their initial at-batter, and with deuce outs already on the board, Jody Sellars walked. Ellis, Zach Slaughter, Dexter Lashley, and John Taylor all had hits. In a five run third frame, Brad Jackson and Sellars had doubles, then Ellis, Taylor, and John Edwards connected with singles. The fifth frame saw a pair of runs. Both Ellis and Taylor went 3-for-3 for the game.

Macon: Blaze Hargrove took the win on the mound in relief, throwing a trio of shutout frames; he gave up only a solo hit, allowed a pair of walks, and fanned four. Dexter Lashley started on the mound; he allowed four hits and four walks in four innings. Hitting: In their initial at-batter, Matt Kiley led off with a double. Brad Jackson beat out an infield hit. In the fifth, Josh Brown connected with a solo out hit. He reached second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then proceeded home on a hit by Hargrove. The sixth inning saw Jody Sellars with a lead off double. Cam Ellis reached first being hit by the ball, then Zach Slaughter advanced both with a ground out. Lashley singled one Traveler home, knotting the game 3-3 at that point. John Edwards reached first in the seventh on a wild pitch. Brown's deep hit to left center brought Edwards home.

May 23 - Dooly County Brewers/Macon Mudcats

The Travelers split their two games in today's three-game Round Robin, losing to the Macon Mudcats 11-5 and winning against the Dooly County Brewers 8-3.

Macon: Jody Sellars started on the mound, going 2 1/3 innings and allowing six to score plus seven hits. Brad Jackson, as reliever, allowed five runs on eight hits and struck out a trio. The Travelers had nine hits altogether. John Taylor posted a pair of hits and a run-batted-in. Blaze Hargrove and John Edwards each drove in one score, and Sellars had a double.

Dooly County: John Taylor took the win on the mound, allowing a pair of walks, five hits, a pair of earned runs, and sending four back to the dugout. Hitting: Jody Sellars posted a double. Zach Slaughter doubled in a pair of Travelers. Cam Ellis posted a double that brought in one. Josh Brown had two hits, one of which was a double with a run-batted-in. Taylor and Matt Kiley each drove in one run.

May 28-30 - Post 30 Tournament

The following are score results from the Post 30 Tournament:

Travelers, 9 - Macon Post 3 JV, 14

Travelers, 20 - Westover, 0

Troy Alabama, 14 - Travelers 13

Travelers, 5 - Post 30 B, 1

June 10-13 - USSSA All Star State Tournament @ Macon

Congratulations to the Americus Travelers for winning the USSSA 16 & Under State Championship. They went 5-1 in the tournament:

Savannah Chain, 12 - Travelers, 6: Americus gave up ten hits, including a pair of homeruns.

Travelers, 9 - Jacksonville Bombers, 1: This game went five innings. Between the efforts of Dexter Lashley and Blaze Hargrove on the mound, there was one unearned run on a hit and one walk. Eight Bombers were struck out. Jody Sellars and Cam Ellis contributed doubles. Lashley contributed a single and a double, and Josh Brown styled with a homerun.

Travelers, 9 - Central Delab Vipers, 1: This game also went five innings. Jody Sellars and John Taylor combined their efforts on the mound, resulting in one hit, a pair of walks, and 11 going back to the dugout. Taylor contributed a double in the third frame; six scored for Americus.

Travelers, 9 - West Cobb Knights, 2: Blaze Hargrove pitched a trio of frames, allowing two runs on two of a trio of hits allowed. Zach Slaughter sent four back to the dugout in a pair of frames, and Dexter Lashley had a pair in the sixth. Lashley styled with a deuce scoring dinger in the fifth; there were deuce outs already on the board at that point. John Taylor also styled with a three scoring dinger in the 4th frame.

Travelers, 11 - Middle Georgia Stars, 3: Cam Ellis went the distance on the mound; he also had a pair of doubles. Jody Sellars contributed a double, and Dexter Lashley styled with a deuce out, deuce scoring dinger. Josh Brown and Brad Jackson each contributed a pair of hits.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Travelers, 7 - Savannah Chain, 3: Americus posted six hits, including back-to-back doubles from Brad Jackson and Blaze Hargrove with deuce outs.

June 17-20 - Parkview Shootout

The Travelers went 4-1 in the Parkview Shootout. Their only loss was in their first game, and the team played at fields in Norcross, Parkview, Berkmar, and Marist.

Providence, 9 - Travelers, 3: Blaze Hargrove contributed a pair of hits, and Cam Ellis styled with a deuce scoring dinger in the fifth frame.

Travelers, 10 - Wesleyan, 1: Dexter Lashley took the win on the mound; he allowed quad hits, a pair of walks, and fanned ten. Lashley and Zach Slaughter each had a trio of hits; Lashley's included a dinger in the sixth frame, where five runs were scored. Jody Sellars contributed a pair of doubles.

Travelers, 11 - Morgan County, 1: Cam Ellis was the winning pitcher in this contest; he struck out six and walked a pair. Ellis also did well batting, what with a single, a double and a triple. Jody Sellars and John Taylor contributed a pair of hits. Dexter Lashley doubled and singled. Josh Brown and Blaze Hargrove both hit back to back doubles in a fourth frame that produced lucky seven runs.

Travelers, 12 - Jeff Davis,4: Jody Sellars took the win on the mound. allowing four walks, six hits, and struck out two. Americus put five on the board in the third frame. Blaze Hargrove started off with a hit and seven consecutive batters reached base. Sellars contributed a double. Brad Jackson had a single, triple, and double. Cam Ellis styled with a solo dinger in the fourth, then contributed a double in the fifth frame which produced six scores. Dexter Lashley led off the fifth with a double, then John Taylor styled with a dinger.

Travelers, 5 - Jefferson, 2: John Taylor was the winning pitcher; he allowed five hits (one a dinger) and walked one. Jody Sellars went 4-for-4 at the plate, including a run-batted-in single in the second. Brad Jackson and Cam Ellis contributed singles, and Matt Kiley posted a double.

June 30 - Post 30-C

The Travelers defeated Post 30-C in a twin bill, 17-1 and 7-2.

July 1 - Bleckley County

In a doubleheader with Bleckley County, the Americus Travelers tied 8-8 and won 6-4.

July 5 - Dodge County

The Travelers defeated Dodge County in a doubleheader, 9-0 and 6-5.

July 6 - Macon Mudcats

Americus won against the Macon Mudcats, 11-1. Cam Ellis took the win on the mound, with Josh Oliver pitching two innings of scoreless relief. Both Matt Kiley and Jody Sellars contributed homeruns.

July 11-18 - Competition Unlimited Tournmanet @ Pensacola, Florida

The Americus Travelers Baseball Club won the Competition Unlimited tournament in Pensacola, Florida. The Travelers went 3-1 in pool play; they had the best record in that pool and a spot in the championship game (the Travelers were supposed to have taken part in the USSSA All Star World Series in Livington, Louisiana, but the tournament was cancelled).

Pool play commenced with a 7-3 win for the Travelers against the Louisiana Padres. Americus scored six runs in the home fifth to take the lead for good. Cam Ellis walked to lead off the frame, and Jody Sellars contributed a double. Dexter Lashley and Matt Kiley each posted a hit, then Josh Brown hit a triple. Blaze Hargrove was the winning pitcher in relief.

Americus lost in a 3-0 shutout to the East Alabama Wildcats. Jody Sellars took the loss on the mound; he allowed five walks and struck out eleven. Cam Ellis had posted a pair of singles.

Americus defeated the Pace Patriots, 7-2. Brad Jackson went the distance on the mound, giving up five hits and allowing one walk. The Travelers had eight hits, two by Matt Kiley (one of his was a double). Blaze Hargrove scored three runs batting number nine.

The Travelers posted a 6-3 win against the Coastal Thunder. Americus scored three times in their initial at-bat inning. That frame featured a lead-off hit by Brad Jackson, and back-to-back walks. Americus plated a pair more in the second - Blaze Hargrove led off with a hit. Jody Sellars had an extra-base hit with ducks on the pond. Dexter Lashley went the distance on the mound.

In the championship game, Americus defeated the Gulf Breeze Storm, 7-3. Cam Ellis struck out eight, walked one and allowed a trio of hits. Americus plated a pair in both their second and third frames. The second inning had Matt Kiley contribute a hit, the third had hits from Jody Sellars and Zach Slaughter. Sellars, Slaughter and Josh Brown each had hits in the fifth inning, which produced a trio of runs.

Wood Bat Championships @ Gastonia, North Carolina

The Americus Travelers went 3-1 in the Wood Bat Championships in Gastonia, North Carolina, and wound up with a third place finish. The team ended the 2004 season with a 39-11 worksheet.

Travelers, 10 - Ashbrook, 1: Cam Ellis went the distance on the mound. He struck out six, allowed six hits and managed to escape a ducks on pond situation with a solo out in the second frame by fanning a pair and not allowing a run. The Travelers posted 10 hits, three from Blaze Hargrove, who had a single and two doubles. Americus plated six in their second at-bat on doubles by Hargrove and Dexter Lashley and singles by Josh Brown and Zach Slaughter.

Travelers, 2 - Carolina Megastars, 0: Jody Sellars allowed a solo hit in this contest; he also fanned seven. In the Americus fifth, Josh Brown singled, then Nathan Greene and Blaze Hargrove both had sacrifice bunts to plate Brown.

The Fear, 8 - Travelers, 0.

Travelers, 4 - On Deck O's, 3: This game went nine innings. Blaze Hargrove led off the ninth with a hit and proceeded on via a wild pitch and bunt by Brad Jackson. Cam Ellis and Jody Sellars were put on intentionally, then Dexter Lashley hit to thid base. Cam Ellis pitched five innings in relief of Nathan Greene, who went the first four frames. Ellis gave up a run that broke the 2-2 tie, but it was his bat that tied the score again via a deuce out double. Lashley had a double in the Americus third that brought in a pair.