Morris County Cubs 2028 Navy went 4-0 through the 16U Summer Classic to earn the championship.

By Rich Bevensee

Give Louis Carter credit for not packing it in after giving up four runs in the top of the first inning. It’s what he did after that which will earn him the respect of his teammates. 

Carter straightened himself out by basically getting his defense into the act and allowing the offense to catch up. The result was he gave up just one run over his three remaining innings while his team chipped away at its deficit. 

Connor Hale made Carter’s rebound pay off. He had a game-tying two-run single and later a game-deciding sacrifice fly for top-seeded Morris County Cubs 2028 Navy, which earned a 6-5 win over second-seeded Wow Factor Nation NJ Scout in the 16U Summer Classic finale on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.

The Cubs completed a 4-0 run through the tournament, although the Wow Factor contest was the closest by far. The Cubs beat their three pool opponents by a combined 32 runs.

“Louis had to battle through four innings,” said Cubs coach J.J. Jensen, the 1999 Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year. “He had a tough first inning but came back and pitched very well for the last three that he was in there. Fortunately we came out and swung it right away and chipped away at that lead while he kept us in the ballgame.”

The Cubs entered the bottom of the fourth trailing 5-4, but loaded the bases by starting the inning with a hit batsman, a walk and a single by Andrew Swanick. Greyson Langsdorf drew a walk to tie the game and Hale, the team’s No. 10 batter, came up with one out and delivered an opposite-field, sacrifice fly to right to drive in Nick D’Amico with the go-ahead run. 

“I like batting at the bottom because you get more fastballs, they’re easier to hit,” said Hale, a 6-foot rising junior at Jefferson High. “With one out there you gotta put the ball in play, and you can’t hit the ball on the ground because then it’s a double play.”

Connor Hale had a game-tying, two-run single and later a game-deciding sacrifice fly for the Cubs.

Carter, a rising junior lefthander at Mount Olive, pitched four innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and no walks with three strikeouts. Carter’s final three innings saw one run yielded on three hits and no walks.

“He had a tough time locating early but he got a lot of outs for us and it worked,” Hale said. 

Finn Kowalski pitched one scoreless inning in relief, and the Cubs ran out the clock in their final at bat. 

The Cubs, trailing 4-0 to start the game, began the comeback in their first at bat. Santorelli knocked in a run with a double to left center and Joe Elko added an RBI single to make the score 4-2. 

In the second inning the Cubs tied the game when D’Amico walked, Langsdorf singled and Hale drove them both in with a base hit to right field. 

Wow Factor reclaimed the lead, 5-4, in the fourth when Ethan Ketschke led off with a triple which landed just inside the right field line, and scored on a double play two batters later. 

Wow Factor began the game by jumping all over Carter for four runs, as four of the first five batters reached safely with a hit. Owen O’Connor singled, and Luigi Sacca doubled him home and later scored on a throwing error after stealing third. Jackson Schoening added another double and Ketschke bombed a two-run home run into the net in right field for a 4-0 lead.

Sacca, a rising junior righty at Union Catholic, went the distance for Wow Factor, pitching five innings and yielding six runs on six hits and four walks with seven strikeouts. 

The Cubs defeated Hustle Baseball, 12-2, Complete Performance Baseball Academy, 12-0, and MBC Baseball, 15-1, before the championship game.

Wow Factor received a huge game from E.J. Onyschak in the semifinals, an 8-0 verdict over third-seeded Morris County Cubs 2029 Navy. Onyschak, a rising senior at Union Catholic, made a terrific running catch in right field in the first inning, then belted a two-run home run and added an RBI single.

In pool play, Wow Factor ran past Morris County Cubs 2029 White and Complete Performance Grey by identical 10-0 scores, and Bucks County Generals Red, 6-5.