Dylan Boehm scores the winning run in the top of the seventh inning for OOTP Cyclones 14U.
By Rich Bevensee
As good as the Out Of The Park Cyclones 14U Prospects ballclub has been this spring and summer – 41 wins in just over three months is pretty much a fantastic run – the club from Green Brook is looking to improve on its success in close games.
On Saturday morning the Cyclones took a step in the right direction after getting another major scare from Slim’s Chance Bulldogs 14U Black of Middletown, Delaware.
Not until the Cyclones were able to string together a series of well-executed bunts in the top of the seventh inning were they able to escape with a 3-2 pool play victory in the Independence Weekend Firecracker at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
The Green Brook-based Cyclones, 41-5 overall, improved to 6-4 in games decided by three runs or less. That second mark is what Cyclones coach Travis Zilg wants to improve upon.
“If you look at our schedule, we’ve struggled in close games lately,” Zilg said. “We’ve been struggling to hit the last few weeks, but the good thing is being able to rely on small ball like that when you’re not hitting.”
The Bulldogs, a homegrown team from Delaware which earned a trip to the Intermediate 50/70 World Series in Livermore, California, last summer, steamed into the game with a 15-6-1 summer record. The Cyclones knew the first game of the day on Field 1 at ‘The Nation’ would be a showdown worthy of the complex’ showcase field.
“We always like being challenged,” Cyclones pitcher Dylan Boehm said. “We don’t like blowing teams out. We like to play tough close games.”
The Cyclones trailed 2-1 entering the top of the seventh inning. Dylan Pudlak reached on a hit by pitch and was replaced by Cody Alicea. Boehm, pinch-hitting for Chris Haines, bunted and reached on an infield error, giving the Cyclones runners at first and third.
With Lucas Bolton at the plate, Alicea scored on a passed ball to tie the game. Bolton laid down the Cyclones’ second straight perfect bunt and moved Boehm over to third.
Cole Webster, the Cyclones’ No. 10 hitter, pulled off the perfect squeeze bunt as Boehm charged in with the go-ahead run.
“We practice that a lot,” Zilg said. “We haven’t had our success because we produce huge crooked-number innings. We manufacture, we get our bunts down and we run the bases well. That’s not unfamiliar territory for us. We feel comfortable as a group when we have to manufacture to get one run. It was a bonus to get more.”
“Small ball creates pressure in a tight game like that,” said Bulldogs coach Jake McMaster, whose team had just scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead. “It makes you pucker up a little bit and when you can execute it, hats off to them. We tried to play some small ball early in the game and we weren’t successful. They were successful.”
The bottom of the seventh did not pass without drama. Cyclones lefty Vincent Donofrio, who relieved Boehm in the sixth, retired the first two batters in the seventh before walking the next two batters. With the potential tying and winning runs on base, Donofrio got a strikeout looking to end the game.
“We’ve got a group of fighters,” McMaster said. “These kids have been together since 9U. They’re a homegrown team from the same little league, and we’ve been super competitive.
“We really look forward to playing teams like that. That’s why we come to these tournaments, for a challenge. I’ll put my guys against a team like that every time.”
The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the sixth when they scored a pair of unearned runs off Cyclones’ starter Boehm, whose secondary pitches allowed him to breeze through the first five innings and face just one batter over the minimum.
In the bottom of the sixth, Nick Deramo earned a one-out walk, stole second and scored on an infield error on Nathan Collins’ ground ball. Collins scored from second when the next batter, Jordyn Brown, also reached on an infield error.
The game began as a sterling pitcher’s duel. The Cyclones’ Gianni Cenicola led off the game by reaching on an error and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The game stayed at 1-0 until the Bulldogs batted in the bottom of the sixth.
Boehm allowed two unearned runs on one hit and two walks with nine strikeouts through 5⅔ innings. The Bulldogs’ Mason Guth went four innings and allowed one unearned run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
After the game, Zilg told his players they had just faced one of the best pitchers they had seen all season in Guth.
Nick Deramo of Slim’s Chance Bulldogs 14U Black dives back to first base ahead of pick-off throw.
“They had a big arm on the mound,” Zilg said of Guth. “He was very good. He gave us a lot of trouble. We probably lose that game if Boehm doesn’t have the performance that he does.”
Boehm said his fastball wasn’t as lively as usual but his secondary pitches, his changeup and slider, were actually better than usual.
“I wasn’t really blowing the fastball by kids. They were catching up to it,” Boehm said. “I’d dump in a changeup and slider here and there and that’s what got me most of my strikeouts today. Usually my fastball and only one of my off-speeds are working, but today both were working really well. In fact I think that’s the best I’ve felt in a while. It was my location. I was working on my sliders away and low and everybody was swinging, and I was getting good spin on the change.”
Donofrio’s final line was 1⅔ innings, no hits and three walks with one strikeout.
Colton “Big Cat” Murray pitched the final three innings for Slim’s Chance. He allowed two runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batsman.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Slim’s Chance is a foundation which supports children’s families when a parent passes due to illness or sudden loss of life. The program is named after Michael “Slim” Duncan, a baseball coach and a beloved figure in his community who passed away at the age of 30 and left behind a 10-year old daughter. The foundation is named in his honor.