Dallas Tigers Vanlandingham took third place at the Perfect Game Invitational at East Cobb Georgia last week. The team went 5-0, but settled for third as the championship round was rained out and places were awarded by seeding. The Tigers were 3-0 moving into elimination play with strong pitching performances from Michael Kopech, Garrett Hale and Cameron Yates. Drew Gooch pitched a complete game shutout in a 3-0 win over Team Mizuno in the first round of elimination. Joseph Heineman started the quarterfinals and threw 6 scoreless innings against the East Cobb Patriots. Michael Kopech came in relief for the last 1 2/3 to get the 1-0 win in extra innings. Carson Vanlandingham drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 8th. Kopech struck out the side to complete the win. Kopech was named the Most Valuable Pitcher for the tournament. He was 2-0 in 8 2/3 innings with 15 strikeouts and only 1 base on balls. Brett Jackson and Carson Vanlandingham were named to the All Tournament team. Kopech, Drew Gooch and Turner Larkins were invited to the Perfect Game National Junior Showcase in Minneapolis, Minnesota immediately following this tournament. Kopech and Gooch both attended and threw 2 scoreless innings in their appearances.
