Cole Arruda delivers pitch for Bay Sox Baseball during Super 17 victory.
By Sean Reilly
Some hits, even big ones, are more satisfying than others, and that was certainly the case for Kyle Sherman, Jr. on Monday morning at Diamond Nation.
Sherman was the cleanup batter for his Bay Sox Baseball team from Massachusetts in a matchup against the NJ Titans 17U at the Super 17 Invitational, Powered By Victus.
Bay Sox Baseball had been shut out in its opening game earlier Monday morning. And against the NJ Titans, the contest in the very hot weather was scoreless until the Titans clicked for three runs in the top of the sixth.
But in the bottom of the inning, the Bay Sox took advantage of a few breaks to load the bases for Sherman with two out.
He responded with a three-run triple to tie the game, and then scored the go-ahead run as Aedan Borges reached on an error.
NJ Titans first baseman Jalen Brogdon handles throw from pitcher Jayden Jimenez for an out.
Matthew Almeida then entered to pitch an impressive top of the seventh, and Bay Sox Baseball had a 4-3 victory which allowed them to return to their hotel feeling much better about their first day of the four-game week at ‘The Nation.’
“We’re a team that’s not going to go down without a fight, even if we lose,” said Sherman, a Class of 2027 player at Somerset Berkley Regional High School in Somerset, Mass. “This turned out to be a big reset game for us. It showed who we are.”
For the first five innings, the Bay Sox were stymied by a handful of impressive defensive plays by the Titans.
The biggest of those came in the bottom of the second. After the first two Bay Sox batters were retired, Cooper Cambridge walked, Bobby Leach and C.J. Smith singled, and the bases were loaded.
Jacoby Davidson then hit a grounder that seemed headed to center field, or least smothered to keep the ball on the infield. Instead, outstretched shortstop Alex Pigna was able to field and get the ball to second baseman Justin Culver for a force out.
The Titans meanwhile, had one batter reach in the third, fourth and fifth innings. But each was picked off at first base, the first two by starter Cole Arruda and the third by reliever Reid Ulmschneider.
The offense for both teams arrived in the sixth inning.
The Titans began the top half with full-count walks to Pigna and Edward Budzinski. Culver then sacrificed the runners over to second and third.
With the infield playing in, a grounder to shortstop resulted in an out at the plate. That left runners on first and third for leadoff man Dominic Massaro.
Massaro, a Class of 2026 player from South Plainfield High School, had a 3-0 count before sending a ball deep to left field that was foul by a couple of feet. He then unloaded the next pitch to the gap in right-center, and used his speed to make it an easy triple. He showed off his quickness again to race home on a wild pitch to the next batter for a 3-0 lead.
The first Bay Sox batter in the bottom of the sixth grounded out to third. Jack Bouchard was then safe on an infield error.
The top of the order was now up, but a fly out to center followed.
Cooper Cambridge leads off first base for Bay Sox Baseball during Super 17 play.
Aidan Martins continued the inning with a single to left, with Bouchard stopping at second. Matthew Sherry hit a grounder to the left side of the infield. The Titans tried for a force at third, but Bouchard was safe to load the bases.
Up stepped Sherman, who fouled off the first pitch before powering the next offering to the gap in right-center for a triple that tied the game.
“I swung at a bad pitch that was definitely a ball, so I was expecting him to come with another one,” he said. “But he left a fastball over the plate and I took advantage of it.”
Borges was up next and hit a grounder toward first. The fielding first baseman and the covering pitcher couldn’t sync up on the toss to the bag, and the resulting error allowed Sherman to score what became the winning run.
Dylan Oller began the top of the seventh for the Titans with a single on a slow roller down the third base line, but Almeida, dramatically, struck out the next three to end the game.
Jayden Jimenez pitched all six innings for the Titans, allowing four hits and no earned runs. He struck out two and walked two.
Arruda allowed three hits in his four-inning scoreless start for the Bay Sox. He struck out five and walked none.