FORNEY, Texas — A Forney High School student will be returning home having clinched a gold medal at the 2015 COPABE "AA" Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
FORNEY, Texas — A Forney High School student will be returning home having clinched a gold medal at the 2015 COPABE "AA" Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Jonathan Childress, a 6 foot, 4 inch, 200-pound sophomore who last year pitched as a freshman for Forney High School varsity baseball and was named the Underclassman of the Year in District 12-5A last year, was only one-of-two baseball players selected in Texas to compete on the 20-man roster for the 15U National Team.
The team clinched a gold medal after a 9-5 victory over Colombia in the Gold Medal Game after the two-week tournament. The gold medal represents only the second time the 15U National Team has won a gold medal in its history.
The team finished the tournament on a five-game winning streak having outscored their opponents 64-18.
Tournament play began for the National Team on August 21, 2015, with a 19-2 win over Venezuela. The team went on a three-game winning streak with a 22-0 win over Argentina and an 11-5 win over Colombia. The team would be handed its sole lose in the tournament by Cuba, 13-3. Their five-game winning streak began with a 13-3 defeat of Panama and continued with wins over Dominican Republic, 18-3, Nicaragua, 17-2, Mexico, 7-5 ,and ultimately Colombia, 9-5.
“It was an incredible experience for Jonathan,” his father, Don Childress, who traveled with the team to Mexico told inForney.com. “We loved the fact that the coaches and staff of the USA baseball organization stressed character, teamwork, and what it meant to represent our country.”
“We are very proud of him,” said Don Childress. “Making this team has been a goal of his for the past year and he has been very determined to make it happen.”
“He has been fortunate enough to have good coaches and teammates along the way that have helped him develop into the player he is,” he said.
Childress says Jonathan has college baseball aspirations and is looking forward to the upcoming basketball and baseball seasons with the Forney High School Jackrabbits.