Ryan Feliz of ZT Northeast legs out two-out infield hit which allowed a run to score.
By Sean Reilly
Brenin Tapia had a great day on Saturday at Diamond Nation, but he has no problem keeping it in perspective.
Tapia was 2-for-2 with a walk, double and two RBI when his ZT Northeast team opened play at the 10U Mother’s Day Classic with a very impressive 10-7 victory over the powerful Bucks County Generals 10U Black.
He followed by going 2-for-3, with two more RBI when his Wayne-based team defeated the FTB Falcons 10U, 16-2, to secure a first-place pool finish on Saturday morning in Flemington.
“I’m trying to make contact with the ball and just get a base hit,” he said. “Something simple. This was fun, but the job is still not done. Now we need to win a championship.”
A key for ZT Northeast was getting off to fast starts. They scored four times in the top of the first while building what swelled into an 8-0 lead against Bucks County.
In the nightcap, ZT Northeast scored five in the bottom of the first for a 5-0 advantage, and added eight more runs in the second for a 13-1 lead.
“We had energy in the first inning and that’s what got us to win both games,” Tapia said.
In the second game, ZT Northeast began its early rally with walks to Gabe Garcia and Cole Madden. They advanced on a wild pitch before Tapia hit an RBI single to center field.
With runners now on first and third, Liam Madden hit a sacrifice fly on a ball caught by a backpedaling second baseman in shallow right field. Mason Rincon drove in the third run on a single to center, and after a strikeout, Chase Klimkowski hit an RBI single and Ryan Feliz beat out a grounder to shortstop to score the fifth run.
Brenin Tapia makes contact on RBI single for ZT Northeast 10U.
The FTB Falcons, from New York City, scored in the second inning when Charlie Lalane reached on an error and later scored on an error.
After sending all 11 batters in its lineup to the plate in the first inning, ZT Northeast sent up 14 while scoring eight in the second inning.
Tapia singled in the first run, Liam Madden hit a two-run double and Ethan Delanter added an RBI single for a 9-1 lead.
Feliz beat out another grounder to short for another RBI hit, Minetti’s single to right field scored the next run, and Roobin Choi was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Gaba Garcia had an RBI fielder’s choice for the 13-1 score.
The FTB Falcons scored in the third when Rui Gutierrez led off with a single and scored on a one-out single to right field by Leandro Anaya.
ZT Northeast ended the game with three runs in the bottom of the third. An error after a Rincon single scored the first run, Delanter hit a sacrifice fly to right field and Kimkowski reached on a walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Choi pitched all three innings, allowing four hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
The Falcons ended their day on a positive note by defeating the Rhode Island Rays, 12-5.
ZT Northeast will open the playoffs on Sunday by meeting the winner of a game between the fourth-seeded Falcons (1-1) and fifth-seeded Rays (0-2).