Peyton Lora had an RBI groundout and run-scoring single for Lynx Northeast 13U Marucci.
By Sean Reilly
Noel Vazquez had a choice on Saturday afternoon at Diamond Nation.
Vazquez went 2-for-2 with a walk for Lynx Northeast 13U Marucci in the Bergen County team’s opening game at the 13U Mother’s Day Classic.
The right-hander also earned a save by pitching 2.1 innings of hitless relief as Lynx Northeast gained a 5-2 pool play victory over Wild Bill 13U Black from Virginia, in Flemington.
So which aspect of his performance impressed him the most?
“I think the pitching,” Vazquez said. “I threw a lot of strikes, more than usual.”
He was called on to pitch in a high-pressure spot.
His team’s lead was 3-2, and Wild Bill had runners on second and third with two out in the top of the fifth.
The count on the batter went full before Vazquez struck him out with a fastball.
“I was throwing fastballs,” he said. “Just pumping them in the zone.”
Jacob Bredenkoetter takes off on steal of second for Wild Bill 13U Black.
He issued a leadoff walk in the sixth, but after a fly out to center field, the runner was thrown out trying to steal by catcher Eman Lai. A strikeout followed.
Lynx Northeast then made his job much easier by scoring two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Matthew Carvelli led off with a single into left field. Tyler Hannigan followed with a successful sacrifice bunt. A passed ball moved Carvelli to third before Mason Benitez walked.
After a pitching change, an error on a pickoff throw to third scored Carvelli. Benitez went to third on the play, and then scored on a balk.
Vazquez pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to close out the win.
“Getting those two runs made it way easier,” he said. “It made me more comfortable.”
Both teams had their leadoff man score in the first inning.
Luke Cole began the game with a single for Wild Bill. After advancing on two wild pitches, he scored on a fielder’s choice from Jacob Bredenkoetter.
Aaron Yoo led off in the first for Lynx Northeast, and singled to shortstop. He stole second, moved to third when Lai flew out to right field, and then scored as Peyton Lora grounded out to shortstop.
The Lynx Northeast lead went to 3-1 in the third. Lai walked with one out, stole two bases and scored on Lora’s single to center.
Wild Bill got a run back in the fifth. The first two batters were retired before Nate Ghorbanian singled to center. Sean Harry dropped a single into right field that moved the runner to third. A wild pitch with Shane Berezdivin at-bat scored Ghorbanian. He eventually walked, which resulted in the pitching change to Vazquez.
Lynx Northeast made it a perfect day at ‘The Nation’ by following with a 4-3 victory over Grit Baseball Pa. 13U.
Lynx Northeast won that game with just four hits. Three of them were from Yoo, who went a combined 5-for-6 in the two games.