Hammers Black whipped through four games to snag the 12U Fall Harvest and close undefeated.
By Rich Bevensee
For the second straight weekend, Diamond Nation welcomed young baseball players from Quebec City, Canada.
With their bright, fluorescent uniforms and French-speaking fans, the All-Stars made quite an impression on the Flemington campus. Their intention was to not just experience American baseball for the first time, but to make the most of their nine-hour drive by beating the best that ‘The Nation’ could offer.
The 12U Hammers Black squad from Middletown, N.J., had other ideas. After decimating two opponents in pool play, the Hammers’ aim was to finish the job and close the fall season undefeated.
Want to know how determined the Hammers were to nail down a trophy? No. 9 batter Michael Jahangani went 3-for-3 with two triples and three RBI, Johnny Werner and Blayze Brzezniak combined to pitch a perfect game, and the Hammers overwhelmed the All-Stars, 13-0, in four innings to snag the 12U Fall Harvest championship on Sunday night at ‘The Nation.’
The Hammers’ perfect 8-0 season ended with a perfect game. The hard-throwing Werner struck out six in three innings and Brzezniak struck out the side in the fourth to complete the perfecto.
“I don’t pitch very much so I was surprised they wanted me to pitch tonight, but that was fun,” Brzezniak said.
“That was a strong team,” All-Stars coach Fred Legare said. “Those two pitchers, oh, we don’t have that in Canada.”
The Hammers went 4-0 this weekend and beat their opponents by a combined score of 64-5. They closed their season scoring in double figures in all but one game and averaged 14.5 runs per game.
“We practice a lot at hitting, everyone can hit, and there’s not one person doing all the work,” said Godbout, the Hammers’ leadoff hitter who went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the final. “It definitely helps us win. Putting up a lot of runs helps the pitchers and is a lot of fun to watch.”
Blayze Brzezniak, left, and Kyle Godbout shared MVP honors for the Hammers going 17-for-26.
Brzezniak and Godbout shared Most Valuable Player honors. Brzezniak went 8-for-12 with two homers, five doubles, 10 RBI and eight runs scored. Godbout went 9-for-14 with three doubles, nine RBI and eight runs.
“They’ve been very tough to get out and they’ve driven in so many runs this weekend,” Annucci said. “Blayze for his power and Kyle for hitting line drives all over the place. They’re big reasons why we scored a lot of runs this weekend.”
The Hammers did face one big challenge this weekend, having to squeak by NY Gotham Ghost, 5-2, in six innings in the semis. The Hammers were nursing a one-run lead after three innings before scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take control of the game.
“Most of these guys have been together since 7 and they’ve won a lot of different things,” Annucci said. “We teach them that in baseball you can’t get too high and can’t get too low. So they were ready for that challenge.”
Players, coaches and parents of the Quebec City All-Stars celebrate a successful Fall Harvest.
Quebec City went 2-2 in its visit to New Jersey. The All-Stars split two games in pool play before knocking off NJ Pride, 7-1, in the semifinals.
Getting shut out by the Hammers didn’t change how Legare and his countrymen felt about the challenge of American baseball.
“They have to believe they are the best players,” Legare said. “Some had a hard time, some had a nice time, but collectively we are a strong team and can’t wait to come back here and win next time.
“We worked hard to get to this point and even though we didn’t win we learned something. It’s all good. They’re still smiling and that’s all that matters.”
For the Hammers, Werner went 2-for-3, drove in a run and scored twice, and Brzezniak and Hudson Hayes each had a double.
For the All-Stars, Luka Pepin pitched an inning, Nathan St-Cyr threw two-thirds of an inning, Logan Legare pitched an inning and Derek Tremblay got a strikeout for the final out.