Natives’ Randy Fan, who went 3-for-4, follows through on his three-run double during an 11-run 4th.
By Sean Reilly
Whenever the NJ Natives needed a lift on Friday night at Diamond Nation, Randy Fan was ready to deliver.
Fan, the leadoff batter for the North Jersey-based team, went 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI as the Natives gained a 12-7 win over the FBT Pack 11U in the opening game for both in the Red Bracket of the 11U Grand Slam, Powered By Cortes & Hay, in Flemington.
The game was decided by one particular half inning — the top of the fourth.
The FBT Pack held a 3-0 lead through three innings, and the NJ Natives had just one hit at that point, a leadoff single by Fan in the first.
When Fan came up again with one out and nobody on in the fourth, he doubled to right field.
No one could predict it at that point, but that hit launched an 11-run explosion for the Natives, which was highlighted by a three-run double by Fan when he came up again as the 13th batter of the inning with two out.
“This was a lot of fun,” Fan said. “It was a really good feeling. I loved that inning. We knew we would come back.”
The FBT Pack established its lead by scoring twice in the first and once in third. Marcus Cabanas and Anthony Wolke hit RBI singles in the opening inning and Jackson Neu singled across a run in the third.
Carter Johnson steals third base for the FBT Pack 11U.
After Fan’s first double in the fourth, Henry Gildea reached on a strike three wild pitch. Stefano Bisceglia hit a double to right center to score Fan, and a wild pitch with Everett Stalker at the plate brought in Gildea. Stalker followed with an RBI single to right field for a 3-3 tie.
Tyler Benz reached on a walk and Andrew Walters singled to first base to load the bases for Nick Scudilla.
With the infield playing in, Scudilla hit a grounder that scored Stalker, with Scudilla credited with a fielder’s choice due to hesitation on the throw to first. The runners kept on going after an error, with Benz and Walters also scoring for a 6-3 lead.
A walk to Colin Scudilla left runners on first and second for Sebastian Szorc, who sent an RBI single to center.
After a strikeout, Michael Dzurilla walked. That loaded the bases for Fan, and he came through again, this time with a three-run double to center.
Glidea drove in Fan with a single to center for an 11-3 advantage.
The FBT Pack got one run back in the bottom of the frame as Wolke was hit by a pitch and later scored on a wild pitch. Carter Johnson led off the fifth with a walk, stole his second and third bases of the game, and scored on an error to draw the Pack within 11-5.
Dzurilla hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth for the Natives.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Pack scored once on a wild pitch and had a runner on third with one out before the Natives turned to Fan to close out the game.
He got a ground out to shortstop which scored a run, and then induced a ground out to first base that ended the game.
“I just had to get outs,” he said. “This was our first fall game, so it was a great way to start. They were a pretty good team, but we stayed on it and never gave up.”