Backroads and Ballfields: East Cobb Erases a 7-1 Deficit to Win Jupiter
By Daniel Wilson ·
The last half-inning of the 28th WWBA World Championship began with East Cobb/SD Padres Scout Team down 7-1 and three outs from finishing second. It ended with an umpire calling a balk and CJ Wall walking home from third. East Cobb scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh on Oct. 12 at Roger Dean Complex Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., and beat SBA/Marlins Scout Team 2028, 8-7, for the title.
The details below come from Hannah Jo Groves' game story for Perfect Game, the event's official line scores and bracket, the team's posted roster and public commitment reports.
How It Got to 7-1
Neither team scored in the first two innings. SBA/Marlins went ahead in the third when Jacob Reynolds singled home Ashton Pittman, and Wall answered in the bottom half with an RBI double to left. Lefty Tyler Robinson struck out the side for SBA/Marlins in the fourth. SBA/Marlins scored twice in the fifth, with Peyton Tarlton homering, and added four more in the sixth on a Dariel Carrion single, a walk that forced in Luke Esquivel and two wild pitches. SBA/Marlins finished with 10 hits. East Cobb had one run through six innings.
Jonah Winton, who hadn't batted yet, later described the dugout's view of the deficit. "One run in a six-run difference isn't going to win the game," he said they kept telling each other, and he said the approach shifted from big swings to finding any way on base.
Seven Runs in the Seventh
Caden Dawson and Jose Doubront drew walks to start the rally. Wesley Moering singled home Dawson, and a wild pitch on the first pitch to Brue Milner brought in another run. Milner and Justice Morrison then walked to load the bases, and SBA/Marlins changed pitchers.
That brought up Winton for his first at-bat of the game. "I wasn't originally in the lineup," he told Groves. "Kevin told me that I was going to hit." Kevin is Kevin Baldwin, East Cobb's owner and general manager. With the count even, Winton singled to right and two runs scored, making it 7-5.
Wall came up next. He said he missed a first-pitch fastball and then told himself, "It's not about how far I can try and hit this ball. I just have to put something in play or draw another walk and keep the momentum alive." He singled, again on an even count, and Morrison and Winton scored to tie it at 7.
SBA/Marlins walked the next two hitters, loading the bases for Carson Bruce. Bruce never got to finish the at-bat. Wall, at third, said he was taking his lead and getting into his secondary when he heard the call. "I was like, 'what?' And then it registered and I'm like, 'Oh, my God, he just called a balk,'" he said.
The Players in That Inning
Every East Cobb player named in that rally is a 2027 graduate with a college commitment, according to the team's roster and public commitment reports.
Wall is a left-handed-hitting catcher from Georgia Premier Academy in Statesboro, Ga., and an Arkansas commit. He was named tournament MVP. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that he hit .455 in Jupiter with 10 hits, four doubles, a home run, 12 RBI and seven walks.
Winton is a shortstop from Silverdale Baptist Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn., committed to Kennesaw State. Bruce, a left-handed outfielder from Powder Springs, Ga., who plays at North Cobb Christian, committed to South Carolina in September 2025 and announced a switch to Georgia in May. Morrison is a switch-hitting shortstop committed to Vanderbilt. Moering, a North Paulding shortstop, is a Southern Miss commit. Milner, a catcher from Tallassee, Ala., is headed to Georgia Tech. Dawson, an outfielder from Marietta who attends Blessed Trinity, is a Tennessee commit. Doubront, who struck out two in the second inning of the final, is listed as a third baseman from Greenville, S.C., who attends P27 Academy, and he's committed to Indiana.
The event's most valuable pitcher award went to another East Cobb player, Franyer Ortiz, a right-hander from the 2028 class.
The Road Through the Bracket
East Cobb came into bracket play as the No. 1 seed, according to Perfect Game's bracket. The official line scores show a 12-0 win over Texas Brigade 2027-Gafford and a 9-2 win over MLB Breakthrough Series 2027 on Oct. 11. Then came three games on Oct. 12: 4-3 over TB SoCal Scout, 11-3 over Canes National 18U/New York Mets Scout Team, and the final. SBA/Marlins entered bracket play as the No. 30 seed.
What Baldwin Said
Baldwin said the group goes back a long way. "The greatest thing about this group is the core group has been together since they were 12 years old, so this tournament was actually their 60th tournament win since they were 12," he said. He added that "this fall, we were undefeated 35-0, so they don't know what losing is."
He also said he has been coming to the event since the start. "I've been to Jupiter since the very first one," Baldwin said.
Winton's week had a personal side. He said his parents were in Louisiana because his brother had a baby, and that "Kevin took care of me all week, made sure that I had a place to stay, had travel down here."
Perfect Game's list of past champions includes East Cobb Astros in 2003 and East Cobb Baseball in 2012. CBA Marucci won the previous two titles, in 2024 and 2025. This one went to a core group that has played together since age 12, and it took seven runs in its last turn at bat to win it.