By Sean Reilly
Scott Tiger had just received the tournament Most Valuable Player award after his Diamond Jacks Super 11U team won the 11U Battle at the Turf championship on Sunday morning, and the first thing he wanted to do was share credit with his teammates.
That reaction is a great sign in a multitude of ways.
For one, the award in itself meant Tiger and the DJacks performed well enough to have won the event and receive the hardware after a 10-8 win over the New Hampshire Prospects 11U in the championship contest at Diamond Nation.
The other is how it was the team’s first tournament of the 2026, and Tiger’s sentiment is a sign of togetherness that will serve the DJacks very well in the months ahead.
“It was a good weekend for me, but it was a team thing,” Tiger said. “It was fun to get out and play again. We did great, and it’s always fun to be together.”
Tiger was also stellar with his bat through the four weekend games, which came with a 4-0 record and 37-23 run differential.
Aside from going 2-for-2 with a walk and two RBI in the final, he went 7-for-10 overall with six RBI, after starting 0-for-3 in the opening game on Saturday morning.
“I want to keep getting better this year,” he said. “I want to improve my hitting.”
The New Hampshire Prospects, whose 2-2 record included a 7-4 loss to the DJacks in the pool play opener for both on Saturday, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first after Dominik Cacciola drew a full-count walk with two out before Finn Durrell hit a home run just beyond the fence in straightaway center.
Brady Jezorwski singled and later scored on Tiger’s one-out single to left to draw the DJacks to 2-1 in the bottom of the first. New Hampshire, however, extended its lead back to two runs in the second, after Ben Burns led off with a double to center before scoring when Austin Boucher was safe at first on a fielder’s choice following a force play at second.
The DJacks took control with a six-run bottom of the second that resulted in a 7-3 lead.
Jordan Fleischer led off with a double to center and Aiden Spisso and Chris Durso both walked to load the bases with nobody out. Robert DeSimone hit an RBI single on a slow grounder on the first base side of the infield, and Jaxon Shah was hit by a pitch to score Spisso with the tying run.
Scott Tiger of the Diamond Jacks Super 11U was named MVP of the 11U Battle At The Turf.
The next two batters were retired, and New Hampshire was almost out of the inning before a wild pitch with John Lyons at the plate scored a run for a 4-3 lead. Lyons walked to reload the bases for Tiger, who hit a single to right field that was misplayed. The hit scored one runner, and the miscue allowed the other two to also score for the four-run lead.
Burns, who went 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly for New Hampshire, hit an RBI double in the third to get his team within 7-4.
The DJacks got that run back and more in the bottom of that inning. Lucas Julian led off with a walk, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. He later scored on another error. Spisso, meanwhile, had reached on a walk and later scored from second when Durso hit a single to deep shortstop that also came with a throwing error to first. That play pushed the lead to 9-4.
The Prospects scored twice in the fourth, with Bradley Zakien hitting an RBI ground out to first and Cacciola hitting a run-scoring single on a fly that fell into shallow center.
Shah led off the DJacks’ fourth with a hit by pitch. He stole second and scored as Lyons hit a two-out double to left for a 10-6 advantage.
The Prospects scored the final two runs, with Burns hitting his sacrifice fly in the fifth and Boucher adding an RBI ground out in the sixth.