Andrew Schmeider drives in the first run of the game for the Cyclones with a third-inning sac fly.
By Rich Bevensee
In what may have amounted to a premature playoff game in pool play, two of the better teams in the entire 16U field went head-to-head on Saturday afternoon.
The Out Of The Park Cyclones 16U Prospects 2029s should be considered a super team when it comes to playing at Diamond Nation, having lost one game at the Flemington complex in the last four years.
The Diamond Jacks Super 15U ballclub is a terrific team in its own right – perhaps a mirror image of what the powerful Cyclones looked like last year – but the host squad was playing up an age group this weekend.
The older team gained the upper hand on Saturday, but that’s not the only factor that played into the Cyclones’ 6-0 victory in the Fall Fury tournament at ‘The Nation.’ By and large, the majority of this Green Brook-based roster has remained intact since the boys were 10 years old.
“It’s definitely been a lot of fun staying together for this long,” said Cody Alicea, a sophomore at Union Catholic who homered against the Diamond Jacks. “We’re all brothers at this point.”
With the win over the Diamond Jacks, the Cyclones improved to an unthinkable 81-1 at Diamond Nation since the boys made the migration to the 90-foot field, and are now 187-19-5 overall for an .886 winning percentage.
“It’s very hard to keep such a talented team together,” Cyclones coach Travis Zilg said. “Guys want to look elsewhere to get more playing time and seek other opportunities. But I think our guys bought into the system. You have a group of guys who care more about the team’s success than their own. You don’t usually see that at the club level.”
Southpaw Vincent Donofrio was marvelous for the Cyclones, throwing 5⅔ shutout innings before Zilg pardoned him after 86 pitches. Donofrio, a sophomore at A.L. Johnson, kept it basic, using only a fastball, curveball and changeup to strike out seven while scattering four hits and three walks.
Donofrio held the Diamond Jacks’ two hottest hitters, Omar Henriquez and Zach Dionyssiou, to two hits in six plate appearances. Henriquez and Dionyssiou came into the game hitting a combined 17-for-30 with 22 RBI this fall.
“I was very happy with how I threw today,” Donofrio said. “I didn’t want to give up any runs and that’s exactly what I (achieved).”
The 16U field this weekend features three pools and only the pool winners advance. The Cyclones and Diamond Jacks are in the same pool so they were basically battling for the only playoff spot available to them.
The Diamond Jacks fell to 2-1, while the Cyclones moved to 2-0 before they later defeated the Zoned RedHawks, 10-1, Saturday evening. A horrifically raining day followed on Sunday to wash out what would have been an intriguing 16U playoffs.
“I didn’t come in with a plan, I was just focused,” Donofrio said. “I didn’t want them to beat us and us, be 1-1 and if we lose again we’re out of the playoffs.”
Donofrio’s counterpart, Diamond Jacks righty Tyler LaGanga, blanked the Cyclones for two innings before permitting two runs on one hit, two walks and an error in the third.
Andrew Schmeider, a Bridgewater-Raritan sophomore who fueled the Cyclones fast start to the weekend by going 3-for-3 with a homer in a 12-3 win over the Avengers on Friday night, was the first to break through against LaGanga. His one-out sacrifice fly drove in Lucas Bolton, and two batters later Alicea singled home Andrew Schmidt for a 2-0 lead.
LaGanga, a freshman at Hun with a fastball in the low 80s, threw 57 pitches over three innings, allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks and struck out one. LaGanga also employed a two-seamer, slider and changeup.
Zach Dionyssiou was one of five Diamond Jacks to record a base hit against the Cyclones.
“The Diamond Jacks are a great team and we knew they would be our biggest test,” Zilg said. “LaGanga throws the ball very, very well. He’s very talented.”
The Cyclones had a little more success against Diamond Jacks reliever Ryan Sharma, scoring four runs over the next two innings for a 6-0 lead.
After Jake Correa followed a pair of leadoff walks in the fourth with a bunt single, No. 10 hitter Cole Webster singled through the right side to drive in Nicholas Yacykewich. Donofrio then coaxed a bases-loaded walk to make the score 4-0.
In the fifth, Alicea launched a solo home run, his second of the year, and Gianni Ceniocola doubled and later scored on a wild pitch for the final run of the game.
“The pitch was low and in and I knew I got jammed because it tingled my hands a little bit, but I just pushed it,” said Alicea, who homered for the first time since July. “I saw it go high and above the net. At its peak I knew it had a chance.”
Lucas Bolton threw the final 1⅓ innings for the Cyclones. He gave up one hit and struck out one.
Daniel Chu, Omar Henriquez, Zach Dionyssiou, Alan Pena and Joe Lopresti were the only Diamond Jacks hitters to record a base hit against either Donofrio or Bolton.
For the Diamond Jacks, Sharma allowed four runs on four hits and three walks with one strikeout. Jack Fitzgerald pitched a scoreless sixth inning, walking one and striking out one.
Like the Cyclones, the Diamond Jacks are on the right path with this roster, which has for the most part remained intact since they moved to the big field.
Through their first five seasons on a regulation diamond – from the fall of 2023 through the fall of 2025 – the Cyclones went 171-17-1 for a .905 winning percentage. The Diamond Jacks, now playing in their fifth season on a 90-foot field, are 129-31-4 for a .787 winning percentage.
Both teams roared into the second game of their pool play schedule.
With Schmeider going 3-for-3 with a homer, a triple and three RBI, the Cyclones wiped out the Avengers, 12-3. Andrew Schmidt was 2-for-2 with a homer, a double and two RBI, and Alicea and Bolton each had a double. Genicola, Bolton and Alex DePierro combined for four innings of scoreless relief.
The Diamond Jacks, buoyed by the right arm of Logan Koziupa, also raced past the Avengers, 12-0. Koziupa threw four shutout innings, striking out seven while allowing four hits and two walks. Chu went 2-for-2 with a homer and two RBI, Pena was 2-for-2 with a double, triple and three RBI, Lopresti had a double and two RBI, and Asher Fontaine went 2-for-3 and drove in a run.