Julian Schultz, a courtesy runner for Leo Spitaleri, slides home for a run in the first inning.
By Rich Bevensee
This is a tale of two pitchers who have been traveling very different paths while pursuing their goal of playing higher level baseball.
Casey Barratta threw exactly one inning during the high school season, but he’s been turned loose by PS2 Academy coach Kervin Rivera, and the college scouts have been flocking to see his electric fastball ever since.
Bourke Reid enjoyed an outstanding school season on the hill, but Rivera can’t bear keeping him out of the batting lineup because he makes the offense even more lethal.
Both ballplayers – Barratta with his arm and Reid with his bat – were key to PS2 getting into the win column at the 17U Garden State Invitational Powered by Victus on Thursday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Barratta surrendered one unearned run on one hit in 3⅓ innings. Reid singled twice and drove in three runs, and the PS2 Crusaders chalked up their first win of the Invitational by clamping down on the Brooklyn Storm for a 5-1 victory.
Earlier this week PS2 lost to the Zoned RedHawks, 8-2, and to the Philadelphia Reds, 4-1.
“We usually do really well at Diamond Nation,” Rivera said. “In our last tournament we went 4-0 and just missed making the top five by two spots. Last year we were in the Diamond Nation Super 25 at the end, so we were looking forward to it this year.
“Zoned was very good, and yesterday (against the Reds) was one of those games where it felt like we were stuck in summer mud. To come out today and, in spite of our record, put on a good performance, I’m proud of them.”
Barratta, a 6-1, 182-pound righty and rising senior at Wayne Hills, sparked the half-dozen radar guns in attendance with his 86-88 mph fastball and a 70-mph slider which kept hitters guessing.
“That was exciting,” Barratta said. “I like to pitch in pressure situations.”
He walked one and struck out three before retiring with one out in the fourth due to a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
“He showed it to us the inning before and it wasn’t as bad,” Rivera said. “He wanted to go out there and give it a try but he couldn’t throw offspeed. Before that, his fastball was electric. He’s gonna make a college look really smart by taking him.”
This past spring, Barratta threw one inning for Wayne Hills while providing a potent bat, hitting .459 with 23 RBI. He said he’s grateful for the opportunity to rack up innings for PS2 this summer.
“When I wasn’t pitching in high school last year, I gave it up for summer ball,” Barratta said. “This year I decided to stick with it and a lot of success came. I hope to be pitching next spring, because I think that’s where my future is.”
Unlike Barratta, Reid was handed a fairly healthy workload at Bergen Catholic this spring. As a junior he recorded a 1.85 ERA over 30 innings with 33 strikeouts and 21 walks. At the plate he went 4-for-23 against Bergen Catholic’s robust schedule.
Bourke Reid singled twice and had three RBI for PS2 Academy 17U.
It’s not as though Rivera is forcing a bat into Reid’s hands. Like Barratta, Reid sees his future as a pitcher but thoroughly enjoys being a two-way player, rather than a PO (pitcher only).
Batting in PS2’s No. 8 hole, Reid knocked in three of his team’s five runs. He had a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning and an RBI single in the third.
“I put most of my work in the offseason into pitching,” Reid said. “Only a couple times a week I would hit. I think I’m more of a pitcher but I love getting up there (at the plate). When I went up there today I told myself it was a big spot. It’s nice when the team gets production from the bottom half of the lineup. It means you don’t have to rely on just a few guys.”
Before joining PS2 this week, Reid was touring with Northeast Baseball in tournaments in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. He said he was used primarily as a pitcher.
PS2 received exceptional pitching from top to bottom. Jake Oliver, like Reid, a rising senior at Bergen Catholic, relieved Barratta and pitched a scoreless 2⅔ innings while allowing two hits and striking out three. Jamie Zee, another rising Bergen Catholic senior and a Notre Dame commit as a shortstop, struck out the side in the seventh.
“Casey and Jake are our guys,” Rivera said. “Jake’s probably our best pitcher but we use him as a reliever. Whenever we can throw Casey and Jake back-to-back in games we’re going to have a good shot to win.
“Jamie’s just a really good player. You can see the leadership he brings. We’re blessed to have him on the field.”
PS2 began the scoring in its first at bat with a pair of two-strike base hits, as Tyler Yoo had a two-run single to left and Reid stroked a two-run single up the middle for a 4-0 lead. Reid tacked on an RBI single in the bottom of the third.
Defensively for the Crusaders, second baseman Melvin Geano, a rising junior at Passaic Tech, showed exceptional range. In the second inning he dove to his right to make a back-handed stab of a Frank Creo ground ball up the middle and got to his feet in time to make the play. In the sixth he ranged behind first base and into foul territory to chase down a John Memoli pop up.
The Storm broke up the shutout in the top of the fourth when Joe Chelales reached on an infield error, took second on a Memoli sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a balk and scored when Mike Varriale roped a double into right field.
For Brooklyn, Creo pitched four innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and eight walks and he struck out three. Lou Prats retired all six batters he faced in two scoreless innings in relief with one strikeout.
PS2 finished its week 1-2-1 after tying the South Jersey Young Guns later on Thursday. The Storm closed at 0-3-1 after a 6-6 tie against Diamond Jacks Gold.