By Sean Reilly
The 13U fall season is almost always a mysterious proposition for players and teams.
Since the autumn campaign at that age level marks the first experience at playing on a large-size (60-90) field, no one is quite sure what to expect.
For Allstars Academy 13U Platinum from Latham, N.Y., a team that’s had previous small-field success at Diamond Nation, the move up has brought great results.
Allstars Academy returned to ‘The Nation’ over the weekend to compete in the 13U Fall Harvest, Powered By Cortes & Hay.
The results were impressive: three pool-play wins, all via mercy rule, and a 9-6 championship victory over Northeast Dodgers 13U on Sunday afternoon in Flemington.
Allstars Academy, which outscored its opponents, 48-9, now has an overall record of 8-0 since the move to the 60-90 diamond.
Gavin West was named tournament MVP, and for good reason.
Overall, he was 5-for-8, with six RBI. In the championship, he was 2-for-3 with a two-out, one-run single for a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third, and an inside-the-park home run for a 9-4 advantage in the fifth.
He was also the starting catcher before pitching 3⅔ solid innings of relief to earn the victory.
Aside from playing two defensive positions that require a huge adjustment with the bigger field, he also played third base — another job that’s much different — during one of the pool wins on Saturday.
To make it all the more impressive, West also plays football in the fall, so his baseball exposure has pretty much been limited to the eight games played by his team.
“It’s a big change,” West said. “But I’ve been looking forward to this since I was in 11U and realized we had to move up in two years.”
Hitting, running, fielding and throwing are all different on a bigger field, but it’s a change that West and his team have conquered.
“We played great this weekend,” he said. “We mercied every team until this one in the final. It was a really good tournament for us.”
The Northeast Dodgers were a formidable opponent, having entered the final 4-0 and fresh off a 2-1 semifinal win over the NJ Renegades, in which Peyton Lora delivered a game-winning single with one out in the bottom of the seventh.
The Essex County-based Dodgers started well in the championship, by scoring three times in the top of the second for a 4-1 lead.
Gavin West of Allstars Baseball Academy was named the 13U Fall Harvest MVP.
Dylan Kim started that inning with a walk, which was followed by consecutive sacrifice bunts, from Noel Vazquez and Mason Benitez. After a walk to Hudson Roque, a throwing error brought in a run. A balk scored another. A.J. Albuquerque, who also walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored a single by Tyler Hannigan, who had also singled and later scored for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Allstars Academy, which got an RBI single from Jude Miller in the bottom of the first, closed to 4-2 after Liam Gilchrist led off the second with a double, moved to third on an error, and then scored on a wild pitch.
Allstars Academy used a five-run third inning to command a 7-4 lead.
Grant Galusha led off by reaching on an error before stealing second. After a strikeout, he scored when Miller (3-for-3) tripled to right center. Parker Newlove followed with a single to center for a 4-4 tie.
Newlove advanced on a wild pitch and stole third before West delivered the go-ahead run on a single to third.
Gilchrist (2-for-3) added an RBI single, and he scored when Trevor Yates reached on an error for the final run of the inning.
Allstars Academy added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Diego Strickland led off the fourth with a single. He stole two bases before Lucas Deguire hit a one-out sacrifice fly to right field.
West hit his home run, to center field, with one out in the fifth.
West made the move to pitcher to start the third inning. He allowed no hits until the sixth.
With the 1:50 game clock expired, a hit by Vazquez and a hit batter was followed by an RBI single by Roque to get the Northeast Dodgers within four runs. West struck out the next two, before Aaron Yoo singled to shortstop to get his team within 9-6.
At that point, Allstars Academy turned to closer Newlove to finish out the game. He walked Eman Lai to load the bases, but retired the next batter on a pitcher-to-first grounder to clinch the championship.
Hannigan (2-for-3) was the only Dodgers’ player with multiple hits. Aside from Miller, West and Gilchrist finishing with multiple hits, Luca Kelly also went 2-for-3 for Allstars Academy.