Midwest Phillies Take 2nd Place in Pastime Midwest Freedom Classic

The Midwest Phillies took 2nd place in the Pastime Midwest Freedom Classic tournament in Edwardsville, Illinois on July 7, 2013.  The tournament included 31 top teams from various states including Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ontario.  The championship game was played at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.

In the first pool game, the Midwest Phillies beat the Bluegrass Stars from Louisville, Kentucky 2-1.  In the next pool game, they beat the Midwest Mules from Litchfield, Illinois 4-1.  The Mules have been one of the teams to beat this summer.  They finished pool games beating Tigers Baseball Club (Edwardsville High School) 6-5 with a walk-off hit in the 8th inning.

The Midwest Phillies won their pool and earned the #3 seed of 31 teams in the tournament and one of the eight spots to play in the championship bracket.

In their first championship bracket game, the Midwest Phillies shut out the Oakville Royals Baseball Club from Ontario, Canada 5-0.  The Royals had 24 players on their bench versus 11 for the Phillies that day.  In the tournament semi-final, the Midwest Phillies beat Indiana Nitro from Indianapolis, Indiana 8-2.  The Midwest Phillies lost to DuPage Training Academy Wildcats Navy from Chicago, Illinois in the championship game.

The weekend of July 12-14 the Midwest Phillies will be playing in the Greater Midwest Baseball Elite Midwest Nationals tournament at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, MO.  This tournament features eight of the top 17U/18U teams in the St. Louis area, who were invited to participate in the tournament.

For more information on the Midwest Phillies, visit their web site www.midwestphillies.org.  Photos from the tournament are included with this article.  The Midwest Phillies are coached by head coach Dana Musgrove and assistant coaches Charlie Hope, Steve Lorenz, Kevin Rizzo, and Justin Musgrove.