The Clippers’ A.J. Sada dives back to first after his second base hit of the game in the fifth inning.
By Rich Bevensee
As a Division 1 commit, Matt Zambriski is an excellent model for how uncommitted baseball players should conduct themselves on the field.
Which is to say, just do what you do best.
Zambriski, a hard-throwing 6-4 righty who’s a rising senior at Riverhead (N.Y.) High and committed to St. John’s University, was very effective in his outing on Monday for the combined NorEast Clippers National/East Coast Lumberjacks squad. He allowed one run on five hits and one walk in leading the way to a 5-2 victory over Top Level Athletics in the 18U Blue Chip Prospects Powered By Victus at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Using a four-seam fastball, changeup, sweeper and a slider/cutter hybrid, Zambriski allowed one run on two hits in the first inning, then pitched three more shutout innings on three hits and one walk.
“I was relying on the fastball – I have incredible confidence in my fastball and I love to challenge the hitter,” said Zambriski, whose four-seamer reached 86 mph. “The sweeper was very good today, too. Been working on that one. ”
“Matt’s one of those guys who pounds the zone, he’s a big-time strike thrower, and he’s got a feel for all his pitches,” Clippers coach Ryan Pembroke said. “His sweeper was working really well. It’s a new pitch, a work in progress, but today it was much better. He knows that as a committed kid this is the time to get your work in, so when you step on campus you’re ready to go.”
Perhaps as a reflection of his maturity or toughness, or both, Zambriski said he never allowed college scouting to have an effect on his performance, neither before nor after he made the decision to matriculate to St. John’s.
“For me it was pretty easy,” Zambriski said. “I feel like you should go out there and show scouts what you can do. Showcase all your stuff. I never thought it would be easier once I made a decision. The coaches realize you’re going to have some days that are worse than others.”
Wearing his Clippers jersey, A.J. Sada, a rising senior middle infielder at Jamesville-DeWitt in DeWitt, N.Y., went 2-for-2 and played a clean shortstop with an especially nifty, off-balance throw across his chest while charging a slow hopper in the fifth inning.
With Sada at the leadoff spot and anchoring the defense at short, the Clippers/Lumberjacks are now 14-7-2 this summer.
“The summer’s been nothing but amazing,” Sada said. “These are my favorite teammates I’ve ever been on a team with, and Coach Pem’s awesome. It’s been a lot of fun baseball.”
A.J. Messercola of Top Level drives an RBI single in the first inning.
Sada said he’s been contacted by Cornell, Northeastern, Fairfield and Holy Cross, among others. It’s quite likely he made a positive impression on the dozenz of college scouts in attendance at ‘The Nation’ on Monday.
“Hopefully I’ll play Division 1 baseball and then get drafted,” Sada said. “When it comes to college it’s a tough decision but I’m grateful for everyone that’s contacted me. I want to impress someone but at the end of the day you have to play your game and do what you do best.”
Pembroke echoed his top players when it comes to how college hopefuls should conduct themselves with next-level baseball on their minds.
“In this type of atmosphere, you have to play with a certain type of pace, a sense of urgency,” Pembroke said. “The one thing you can do is play your game. Be the best at what you can do – don’t be something you’re not – and bring it every day.”
The Clippers/Lumberjacks broke through first with a pair of runs in the first inning, when Henry Lamberg had an RBI groundout and Ryan Shurgin added an RBI single.
Top Level answered with a run in the bottom of the first when Thomas Toher singled, stole second, and scored on an infield single on the first base side.
The Clippers/Lumberjacks manufactured a run the old fashioned way in the second inning when Joey Bradley doubled, advanced to third on a Jonathan Starvatow sacrifice bunt, and scored on P.J. Tubianosa’s sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
Bradley helped increase his team’s lead to 4-1 when he walked with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. Starvatow followed with a fielder’s choice RBI for a 5-1 lead.
Top Level added a run in the sixth on an A.J. Messercola sac fly.
For the Clippers/Lumberjacks, Lamberg and Bradley both doubled. Cole Simmons followed Zambriski on the mound and allowed one run in 1⅓ innings on two hits and no walks with one strikeout. Bradley recorded the final two outs by strikeout after a 30-minute rain delay.
Toher went 3-for-3 with a double and Johnny Cronk doubled to pace the Top Level offense. Carter Dean, a rising right-handed senior at Christian Brothers Academy of Albany and an Army commit, pitched five innings and allowed three runs on six hits and three walks with one strikeout. Dylan Plante threw one inning of relief and allowed two runs on one hit and two walks.