Hold the top three arms — Bailey, James Cooper, Mantzouris — off the mound entirely Saturday. Pool play is a seeding game; we can win it with Smith / W. Reeke / Biggs / Johnson and back-end relievers. Sunday is where the trophy lives, and bracket can be three games. Top arms enter fresh.
Smith opens — 47% strike%, 6 K in 3 IP gives K-upside without leaning on the ace tier. W. Reeke (65% strike%) takes the middle. Findley one inning, Packham closes (70% FPS — strikes are there in his small sample).
Burns the second-tier arms. Biggs gets infield support (J. Cooper at 3B, Packham at SS — see fielding). Parker Reeke is fresh on the mound this season — his 1 IP, 0.00 ERA microsample earns a closer look.
All eight Saturday arms throw ≤ 9 outs / day — each meets PG’s “available next day” threshold. Bailey, James Cooper, Mantzouris remain held off the mound.
Mantzouris starts — 1.00 WHIP, .167 BAA. Lowest-leverage Sunday game gets the smallest workload. Smith returns from his 6-out Sat outing.
J. Cooper’s K-rate (8 K in 5.1 IP) shows in elimination games. Capped at 3 IP to preserve him for Champ if needed. Break-glass: Mantzouris on short rest.
Bailey’s 71.7% FPS / 74.4% strike% is the strike-throwing anchor — held off the mound the entire weekend specifically for this. PG daily cap is 18 outs / 75 pitches; he’ll cruise inside that.
PG event cap is 24 outs over 3 days — nobody on this plan exceeds it. Strike percentages and BAA: see season aggregates.
Whole order bats at 10U. Same order works both Saturday games unless a kid is unavailable.
| Player | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | P. Reeke | .600 OBP, 1.426 OPS, 5 SB — sees pitches, runs |
| 2 | W. Reeke | 92% contact, 6 BB / 1 K — moves runners |
| 3 | J. Cooper | 2.382 OPS, .857 BA/RISP, 100% contact |
| 4 | Bailey | 1.952 OPS, 1.000 BA/RISP, 5 XBH in 19 PA |
| 5 | Johnson | 1.471 OPS, .900 SLG, 11 H — protects 4 |
| 6 | Smith | 1.026 OPS, .455 BA/RISP, 8 RBI |
| 7 | Robey | .667 OBP, 1.238 OPS — cashes singles behind 5/6 |
| 8 | Biggs | 1.150 OPS, .500 BA/RISP, 5 BB |
| 9 | Packham | 1.167 OPS, 50% QAB, 4 SB |
| 10 | Mantzouris | 1.033 OPS, .533 OBP, 3 BB |
| 11 | M. Thomas | 1.545 OPS, 81.8% QAB — small sample (11 PA), flag it |
| 12 | Findley | 1.009 OPS, .500 BA/RISP |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Smith | Smith | W. Reeke | W. Reeke | Findley | Packham |
| C | Parker | M. Thomas | Parker | Parker | M. Thomas | Parker |
| 1B | Johnson | Johnson | Smith | Johnson | Smith | Smith |
| 2B | W. Reeke | Biggs | Biggs | M. Thomas | W. Reeke | W. Reeke |
| SS | Packham | Packham | Packham | Packham | Packham | J. Cooper* |
| 3B | J. Cooper | J. Cooper | J. Cooper | Biggs | J. Cooper | Biggs |
| LF | Bailey | Bailey | Bailey | Findley | Bailey | Bailey |
| CF | Robey | Robey | M. Thomas | Robey | Robey | Robey |
| RF | Mantzouris | Findley | Mantzouris | Mantzouris | Mantzouris | Johnson |
| Bench | Findley, Biggs, M. Thomas | W. Reeke, Parker, Mantzouris | Findley, Johnson, Robey | Smith, J. Cooper, Bailey | Parker, Johnson, Biggs | Findley, M. Thomas, Mantzouris |
*J. Cooper SS Inn 6 is a pinch — flex pool when Packham goes to the mound. Parker capped at 4 catching innings. No back-to-back sits.
Pitching changes drive the chart; coach can fill catchers and OF on the day. Key rules: nobody who sat Inn 5-6 of G1 (Findley, M. Thomas, Mantzouris) sits G2 Inn 1. Parker catches no more than 4 G2 innings either — M. Thomas absorbs Inn 2 & 5, J. Cooper available as the 3rd C if Parker is at cap.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Biggs | Biggs | Johnson | Johnson | Robey | P. Reeke |
| C | Parker | M. Thomas | Parker | Findley | M. Thomas | J. Cooper |
| 1B | Smith | Johnson | Smith | Smith | Johnson | Smith |
| 2B | W. Reeke | W. Reeke | W. Reeke | Biggs | W. Reeke | W. Reeke |
| SS | Packham | Packham | Packham | Packham | Packham | Packham |
| 3B | J. Cooper | J. Cooper | J. Cooper | J. Cooper | J. Cooper | Biggs |
| LF | Bailey | Bailey | Bailey | Bailey | Bailey | Bailey |
| CF | Robey | Robey | Robey | Robey | Findley | Robey |
| RF | Mantzouris | Findley | Mantzouris | Mantzouris | Mantzouris | Mantzouris |
| Bench | Johnson, Biggs, M. Thomas | Smith, Biggs, P. Reeke | M. Thomas, Findley, P. Reeke | W. Reeke, M. Thomas, P. Reeke | Parker, Biggs, P. Reeke | Findley, Johnson, M. Thomas |
1.952 OPS, 1.000 BA/RISP, 5 XBH in 19 PA. The plan holds him off the mound until Sunday Champ — which means he’ll get 4-5 ABs per Saturday game in the 4-spot. Pool seeding probably hinges on what he does at the plate, not what he hasn’t done on the mound.
.667 OBP and .571 SLG — entirely singles. That’s a 7-spot bat, not a top-of-order spot. He cashes runners that 5/6 (Johnson, Smith) put on, not the other way around. Don’t move him up "because OBP."
Parker has caught 22.2 innings across 9 games. A full-bracket weekend is up to 5 games — that's 30+ innings if he catches them all. Cap him at 4/game. M. Thomas (5.1 C innings season) and James Cooper (3rd C option, confirmed 2026-05-22) need to absorb 4-5 innings each across the weekend, not 1-2.
8 BB in 3.1 IP looks like a red flag, but his strike% (47%) and FPS (53%) say the strikes are in the zone — he’s pitching around contact. Put him in Game 2 with our strongest infield behind him (J. Cooper 3B, Packham SS, W. Reeke 2B) and the walks become singles-equivalent that the IF eats.
Bailey is a pounder — 74% strike%, comes after hitters. Mantzouris is a paint-the-corners type — 53% strike%, .167 BAA. If we stack them back-to-back in any Sunday game, the hitters can’t lock onto one approach. That's the bullpen pairing worth deploying together in Champ if it gets tight.