Patrick Van Note (Montclair) dives into first ahead of pickoff throw from Tyler Bunnell (Robbinsville) as Ryan Wetmore (CBA) covers first.
By Sean Reilly
Diamond Nation was the place to be on Thursday for scores of college baseball coaches and professional scouts who converged on the facility for the 12th Garden State Underclass Baseball Games, Powered By Ocean First Bank.
Roughly 100 players competed in the two Top Prospects Games – divided into North 1 and North 2, and South 1 and South 2 teams. Those players represent the Classes of 2026 through 2028.
Another 40 players, representing the Class of 2029 – were on the American and National teams that were paired in the Futures Game.
It was a great showcase of New Jersey baseball talent, all on the new freshly turfed fields at ‘The Nation.’
“These games not only provide New Jersey’s top players exposure to hundreds of colleges and pro scouts, but also gives them a distinct advantage over the rest of their peers,” said Nick Massari, Diamond Nation’s Executive Vice President. “The Garden State Games gets these players in front of college coaches at the very beginning of the summer recruiting calendar.”
One of the movers and shakers at the very start of the Garden State Underclass Games concept has been Steve DiTrolio, then Diamond Nation’s recruiting coordinator, now a scout with the Milwaukee Brewers.
“With the ever-changing landscape of travel baseball, one thing has remained pretty constant,” said DiTrolio, “and that is the entire New Jersey baseball community coming together — high school coaches, travel coaches, professional and college scouts — recommending and supporting such a great night of baseball.”
The night began with batting practice followed by infield/outfield practice. After pre-game ceremonies, the two 10-inning Top Prospect games and the single nine-inning Futures game followed.
“I’m extremely grateful to everyone who has been supporting the event from the beginning and donating their time and resources so the top underclass baseball talent can be recognized,” said DiTrolio.
“As a former New Jersey high school player who never got to experience this type of exposure, it brings me joy to know that the best kids in our state today will not fall through the cracks,” said Massari.
Prep Baseball Report (PBR) New Jersey was also on site to accumulate player data, fine-tune rankings, and sum up the night with their much sought-after player assessments.
Scouts swarm the scout tower behind the plate at Field 1 during 12th Garden State Underclass Games.
In the three games, the National defeated the American, 10-2, in the Futures matchup, while in the Top Prospects games, North 1 was a 7-6 winner over South 1, and North 2 and South 2 played to an 8-8 tie.
The results, however, were secondary to the exposure the athletes received, along with the chances to compete alongside players from other teams – some of them rivals – who they’d otherwise never get to know.
One of the most interesting sights of the night came in the Futures Game, as Cayden Meccage, a rising freshman at Pennington, pitched both lefty and righty.
The ambidextrous look is something he’s been working on for several years, and Thursday night marked the first time he pitched with both arms in a true organized game. That made him just as interested as the spectators who did double-takes as he alternated throwing lefty and righty to the batters.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always thrown left,” he said. “But we’ve always realized I write with my right, eat with my right, I shoot basketballs with my right…so we decided to try it out one day when I was nine, and it’s been going ever since.”
At this point in the process, it doesn’t really matter what side he uses to pitch against a left-handed or right-handed batter. He’s still feeling things out. When he reaches high school, pitch count rules don’t take ambidextrous throwers into account, so he’ll still be measured in total pitches thrown. When it comes to the travel season, he won’t over-exert himself, but it’s conceivable that if he were to throw a certain amount using one arm on one day, he could contribute the next day using the other arm.
All in all, it’s a true learning process figuring out how to best utilize the skill, and Meccage is having fun with every bit of it.
“This night has been great,” he said. “The adrenaline is rushing for the first time doing it. I’ve only gone lefty before, but now you’ll be seeing me doing both.”
There’s one other natural question which comes with Meccage being ambidextrous. What does he do for a glove?
It took some extensive online research, and some trial and error in finding one that worked in terms of both fit and quality, but he’s now found a six-fingered glove that’s become his gamer. Much like a hard-to-find left-handed catcher’s mitt, ambidextrous gloves do exist, but are in short supply.
Cayden Meccage, a rising freshman at Pennington, shows off his six-fingered glove. He pitched both lefty and righty in Futures Game.
“I had gone with two different gloves, one for left and one for right, but I found this one,” he said. “I put a pinky in two of the fingers in the glove, and switch on and off.”
The 36 hours leading into the evening were ones that Thomas Collins, a 2026 player from Don Bosco Prep will never, ever forget.
Don Bosco made a long trip from Ramsey to Veterans Park in Hamilton to face Christian Brothers Academy in the NJSIAA Non-Public A final on Wednesday night. The game was suspended due to a field curfew with the score tied, 4-4, at the conclusion of the eighth inning. The game resumed at Veterans Park on Thursday at 3 p.m., and Don Bosco scored in the 11th inning for a 5-4 win.
After celebrating with his Don Bosco buddies, Collins made the 40-minute trip to Diamond Nation. Collins not only played for the North 1 team, he pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, and struck out the first man he faced – who in a very coincidental twist happened to be from CBA.
“I wanted to get here, wanted to play and get exposed to the coaches,” Collins said. “I definitely stuck around this afternoon to celebrate, take pictures and enjoy the moment. It’s probably the best feeling you can have in high school baseball, but I also wanted to be here.”
The bus ride from Don Bosco to Hamilton was 90 minutes to two hours each way. Collins, who lives in Upper Saddle River, made it home around 1 a.m. early Thursday morning.
“We had to go back home, and we had a lot of energy coming back,” he said. “Today, we went back to Bosco to hit at 11:15, had another long ride back there and the game started again at 3. It all worked out in our favor because we ended up winning.”
Thomas Collins pitched a scoreless inning for North 1 in the Top Prospects Game after winning a NJSIAA state championship earlier in the day with Don Bosco Prep.
He had a one at-bat in the Thursday portion of the state championship game, a ground-out in the 10th inning.
It all worked out for Collins and his team in the 11th, and he made sure his memorable day continued at ‘The Nation’ in Flemington, even if it meant a tour of the state that would make a gubernatorial candidate envious.
“It’s all worth it when you win,” he said. “And I definitely wanted to be here as well. There’s a big crowd here, I know a lot of these guys, and it’s a great night.”
The Garden State Games served as a nice diversion for a contingent from Gov. Livingston High School, who’ll be out to make history on Saturday in the NJSIAA Group 2 state final.
The Berkeley Heights school will take a 27-0 record and No. 1 state ranking into the matchup against West Morris Central. A public school taking a top state ranking, and with an unbeaten record, is about as rare as it can get in New Jersey baseball.
It’s been an incredible year for the Highlanders, and their five-game run to the state final has included a 7-6 win over Point Pleasant Boro in the first round, when GL trailed 5-1 in the fifth inning and scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, as well as a 3-2 triumph over Raritan in the sectional semifinals, when it scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Coach Chris Roof was a part of the North 1 coaching staff, and was joined by players Michael Novotny, Michael Basile and Zach Geertsma. The GL players did not compete in the games, but were on the field for BP and infield/outfield practice.
The Garden State games were a nice respite from the championship preparation.
“This is great,” Roof said. “Just to get out and see the talent that we have in New Jersey, and it’s a little bit of a break before Saturday. It’s been a special year, and we have special kids who have always bought in. They are outstanding young men, and it’s going to be sad seeing the seniors go.”
Among the three GL players at the event was Novotny, who is no stranger to Diamond Nation since he has grown up playing in the Diamond Jacks program.
“This is a nice night, seeing a lot of familiar faces,” Novotny said. “It’s fun being able to hang out here and be a part of the experience.”
He’s a key member of the Governor Livingston team, batting second and playing first base. He was instrumental in the Raritan comeback, by singling in the first run and scoring the game-winner. He was also 3-for-5 with two RBI in sectional final victory over Robbinsville and had a hit in a 8-6 triumph over Haddonfield in the state semifinals. He also hit a key home run in what was, at the time, a tight game against South River.
“It’s been a journey,” he said. “Our team is a really good group and we’ve all been connected.”
Basile and Geertsma are also Diamond Jacks players, as are four others on the Governor Livingston roster.
Ryan Jezorwski follows through for the National team in the Futures Game.
Will Hickman, a 2026 standout from Mainland, was excited to be present and competing for the South 2 team.
“This is pretty cool to be out here on a great night at a great facility,” he said. “The people running it do an awesome job and I think everyone here is thankful that Diamond Nation does this. You’re out here with the best kids in your class from all throughout New Jersey, from different high schools and meeting new people. It’s fun.”
A cool aspect of the Garden State Games is how it brings together players who are very often in opposing dugouts.
A case in point was how the Futures Game saw players from two of the premier 14U teams who compete at Diamond Nation – the Out Of The Park Cyclones Prospects and Diamond Jacks Super 14U – suiting up for the same team in a fun environment.
Lucas Funk is a key player for the OOTP Cyclones, who have a 56-1 record at Diamond Nation since moving up to the big-sized fields as 13U players in the Fall 2023. They also played against their DJacks counterparts going back to their small-field days at the complex. This summer, look for the Cyclones to move up and play in 15U events.
“It feels good to be here for a night like this, having fun and meeting new kids,” Funk said. “It’s cool playing with those guys. I’ve gotten to know them from playing against them, so it’s nice to be on the same side.”