Leans Scarano of Game On 13U Fury Elite rounds third while scoring on single by Nico Racanelli.
By Sean Reilly
Alejandro Rondon exited Diamond Nation as a very happy baseball player on Sunday afternoon.
While he did earn a pitching victory for his Game On 13 Fury Elite team on Saturday, he wasn’t quite satisfied with his performance at the plate during the course of the weekend at the 17/18U Fall Classic.
His team’s third and final game at the tournament, against the Tinton Falls Diamondbacks, was also Fury Elite’s last contest of the season.
Needless to say, he wanted to end on a positive note.
That mission was accomplished after he wound up going 3-for-3, with one run and two RBI, as his team gained a 12-1, four-inning win.
“It feels perfect,” he said. “I’d been struggling, so it was great to get three hits to help my team. This is also the last game for the fall, so it’s a great way to end it.”
Fury Elite, from Elmsford, N.Y., totaled 14 hits. It struck for seven runs in the third inning and added five more in the fourth for the mercy rule victory.
Tinton Falls took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Jake Bonardi led off with a walk, and Vincent Trematerra singled to shortstop. A one-out walk to Ryan Romano loaded the bases, and Justin Cannon followed with a four-pitch RBI walk.
Fury Elite, which had one hit through the first two innings, began the third with Rondon hitting a triple to center.
Nico Racanelli scores on wild pitch for Game on 13U Fury Elite.
Mikey Santoiemma followed with an RBI single to center, Mason Florin was hit by a pitch, and Gabe Almonte reached on a bunt single to load the bases.
The first out followed when Leans Scarano hit a sacrifice fly to center, with Santoiemma scoring the go-ahead run and the other runners advancing to second and third.
Jack Van Sise (2-for-3) hit a two-run double to center, and he moved to third on a passed ball before Nico Racanelli walked. Jackson Carroll followed with a sacrifice fly to left.
Tyler Venturini reached on an error which sent Racanelli to third, and Venturini then moved to second base.
Brad Dittleman was the batter when Racanelli scored on a wild pitch. Dittleman then hit an RBI single to center for the seventh run of the inning.
Rondon followed with a single in his second at-bat of the frame, but Fury Elite did not score any additional runs in the inning.
Fury Elite did plenty more, however, in the top of the fourth.
Sending up the top of the order, Almonte (2-for-3) led off with a single to center and Scarano singled to third. A double steal advanced both before a pitcher-to-first ground out kept the runners in place.
Racanelli hit a two-run single to center, and Carroll singled to left. A two-out walk to Dittleman loaded the bases before Rondon hit a two-run grounds rule double to center. Santoiemma followed that with an RBI single to center for the final run.
Tinton Falls had a chance to extend the game to another inning when it loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth.
Instead, a fly ball was caught by Almonte in center, who threw a strike to catcher Santoiemma, who applied a tag on an oncoming runner for a game-ending double play.
Eddie Lederer worked all four innings for Fury Elite. He allowed five hits, with one strikeout and three walks. All three walks came in the second inning.