C.J. Scheier scores the tying run in the third inning for the Diamond Jacks Super 14U.
By Rich Bevensee
Just minutes after the Diamond Jacks Super 14U team squandered a five-run lead to allow Tucci Elite 15U to tie the game with no time left on the game clock, the Diamond Jacks were to immediately start their next game against Zoned RedHawks Elite 15U.
It was then that Diamond Jacks coach Luke Crawford made one of the best moves in his coaching career thus far. He gave the ball to Richie Adamczyk.
Adamczyk, a right-hander with a powerful fastball and curveball, is usually given the job of starting a tournament opener and getting his team off to a fast start for the weekend. But not in this case. The Diamond Jacks needed a stopper.
Adamczyk responded with the kind of outing the Diamond Jacks fans have become accustomed to watching. While pitching against an age group one level up, Adamczyk allowed one unearned run over his 4⅔ innings, exactly the head start the Diamond Jacks needed on a chilly Saturday evening.
Adamczyk teamed with Julian Mendez to lift the Diamond Jacks to a 7-2 pool play victory in the 15U Grand Slam at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“I like being given that ball,” Adamczyk said. “It allows our whole team to get back in the groove and maybe win.”
Battling temperatures in the low 50s in a game which started after 9 p.m., Adamczyk didn’t exactly have the pinpoint control he usually exhibits. But an outing slightly less than his best is still exceptional. He allowed four hits and no walks and struck out seven on 70 pitches by pairing his four-seam and curveball with a two-seamer and changeup.
“He was outstanding, just like he has been all year,” Crawford said. “He’s a smart kid. He knew what we needed.”
In the earlier game against Tucci, the Diamond Jacks broke a 2-2 tie by rallying for five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Tucci, however, came right back and tied the game with its own five-run rally with no time remaining. It could have been a major blow to a Diamond Jacks squad playing up an age group.
“It definitely bothered us,” Adamczyk said. “We were all down and we just wanted to pick ourselves up and win this game.”
“All I said to them was not to let that game fall into the team,” Crawford said. “Treat each game as its own, leave it in the past. That was Tucci, this is Zoned.”
Instead, the Diamond Jacks exhibited patient at bats against Zoned starter Kirk Alessi and finally broke through in the third inning.
Alessi, a sophomore at Metuchen, looked strong for two innings, facing one batter over the minimum and striking out four thanks mostly to a fastball in the mid 70s. But the Diamond Jacks found a chink in his armor in the third.
With two on and two out and the Diamond Jacks trailing 1-0, Mendez lined a grounder through the middle. C.J. Scheier raced home from second and beat the throw to score the tying run.
Julian Mendez, left, and Richie Adamczyk carried the DJacks to a crucial bounce-back win.
Two batters later Garrett Garlits walked to force home a run, and Nick Penna was hit by a pitch to bring home another run for a 3-1 lead.
The Diamond Jacks continued to pile on. With George Antivachis at bat, Jace Hernandez and Garlits scored on wild pitches. Antivachis walked and soon initiated a double steal, allowing Penna to score from third for a 6-1 cushion.
“That is the most velo they’ve seen all fall,” Crawford said. “I told them get the front foot down, get the barrel out and good things happen. The guys were fighting off a lot of pitches and worked them into a lot of walks.”
The Diamond Jacks added more insurance in the fifth when they coaxed three leadoff walks to load the bases and Garlits drove in Tino Guidicipietro with a single to center.
Mendez came on to relieve Adamczyk with two out in the fifth and managed to wade through trouble and escape in two straight innings.
In the fifth and all with two out, Zoned loaded the bases on a walk, an error on an infield grounder and a hit batsman. Mike Guerrasio scored on a wild pitch before Mendez got leadoff hitter A.J. Raiti to line out to left field.
In the sixth, Zoned had runners on first and second after two walks and a fielder’s choice, but Mendez settled down to get a strikeout and a game-ending flyout.
Mendez went 1⅓ innings and allowed an unearned run on no hits and three walks and he struck out one.
For Zoned, Alessi went 3⅓ innings and permitted six runs (five earned) on one hit and seven walks with six strikeouts. Raiti pitched the final 1⅔ innings and allowed one run on one hit and four walks with three strikeouts.
It was Raiti who got Zoned started in the scoring column in the first inning, reaching on an infield throwing error and scoring on a two-out single by Liam Buksar.