Mason Newman is safe on bunt single for Rockland Elite National.
By Sean Reilly
Rockland Elite National arrived at Diamond Nation on Saturday morning having not played a game in three weeks.
It was a nice break after an active and successful summer campaign. But while there were no games during that span, it didn’t mean the players were totally removed from baseball activities.
Take Mike Montijo for example.
“We had a few weeks off, so I was hitting off the tee in the backyard to get ready for this,” he said. “It feels good to be back, especially now that the weather is a little cooler. It was nice to have a break, but I was eager to play more baseball.”
Montijo’s work paid off on the first day of the 15U Labor Day Blast, as his hitting helped the New York team open its fall season with two lopsided victories.
Logan Cox rounds third to score for Rockland Elite National.
He was 3-for-3 with a walk, four runs and four RBI in an 11-1 opening win over the Out Of The Park Cyclones 15U Futures, and followed with a 1-for-2 performance with an RBI double in a 10-0 triumph over the NJ Bombers 15U.
Rockland Elite, which was 39-9 as a 14U team in the summer before aging up for this week’s event, totaled 11 hits and drew 10 walks against the Cyclones. It added 10 more hits in the four-inning win over the Bombers.
In the opener against the Cyclones, Rockland scored three times in the top of the first, before adding two runs in the second and four in the third for a 9-0 lead.
Nathan Bengston walked with one out in the first before scoring on a double to right field by Montijo, the shortstop and third man in the lineup.
Montijo moved to third on a balk before Logan Cox walked, and Montijo scored on a wild pitch before Kyle Lascano also walked. After a strike out, Spencer Izenman dropped an RBI single to center for a 3-0 score.
Izenman, who pitched the first three innings, worked out of a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the inning by getting a called third strike for the final out.
In the second inning, Mason Newman (2-for-4) led off with a single and took second on an error. He stole third and scored when Bengston grounded out to first.
Montijo followed with a single to right. He moved to second on a wild pitch before Cox drew the second of his four walks. Montijo advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch with Lascano at the plate.
Izenman pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the second, aided by an exceptional catch by Newman in center field.
Rockland’s four-run third began with Cam Singleton hitting a double to center. Newman then used his speed to beat out a bunt along the third base side. Bengston was up next and was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Montijo, having already hit a double and single, followed with a three-run triple. After another walk to Cox, Mintijo scored for the second time on a wild pitch to Lascano.
OOTP scored in the bottom of the third. Cipriano Panzarella led off with a hit-by-pitch, and after a single by Brad Bateman and a walk to Jake Correa, Panzarella scored when a grounder hit by Andrew Schmieder resulted in a force out at second.
Nathan Bengston scrambles back to first base for Rockland Elite National.
Montijo led off the fifth for Rockland, but his bid for a cycle was denied when he walked on four pitches. Cox and Lascano also walked to load the bases. Ben Reim followed with an RBI fielder’s choice, and a second run scored on an error at the end of the play.
Izenman allowed two hits and the one run in his three innings on the mound. Cox allowed one hit over two scoreless frames.
In the second game, Rockland scored twice in the bottom of the first before adding four runs apiece in the second and third to blank the NJ Bombers.
Newman, who went 2-for-3, led off with a single and scored on Montijo’s one-out double to left. Cox then ended his streak of drawing walks by getting hit by a pitch. Jack Tringale followed with an RBI single to right.
Newman, Tringale and Singleton all finished the game with two hits. Bengston was 1-for-3 with four RBI, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple in the second.
Reim allowed one hit over three innings for the win. Tringale allowed one hit while pitching the final inning.
“This is a great start,” Montijo said.
OOTP rallied from its loss with a 9-6 victory over Elite Per4ormance 15U. All nine runs came in the second inning to erase a 3-0 deficit. Schmieder hit a three-run triple to highlight the rally.