Landon Whitten hustles down to first base for the Bristol County Eagles.
By Rich Bevensee
The Diamond Jacks don’t mind hosting baseball programs who are first-time visitors to Diamond Nation in Flemington. In fact, they embrace their role as gracious ambassadors. Just don’t expect them to roll over for their guests between the foul lines.
The Bristol County Eagles of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, discovered first-hand how the Diamond Jacks handle their business, regardless of whether their opponent is familiar or not.
From his No. 10 slot in the batting order, Mario Armenti fueled a balanced lineup by going 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI and led Diamond Jacks 11U to a four-inning, 12-2 pool play victory over their visitors from New England in the Independence Weekend Firecracker on Saturday at ‘The Nation.’
“As long as you’re hitting good and the whole team plays well, it doesn’t really matter where you are in the order,” said Armenti, one of only two Diamond Jacks with two hits. “I’ve been improving because I’ve been practicing a lot and making adjustments on my swing.”
The Diamond Jacks improved to 2-0 Saturday after blanking the NXT Titans, 16-0. They’ll face another 2-0 club, North Jersey Diamondbacks Prime, on Sunday to determine who will be the top seed for the four-team playoff.
The Eagles (10-7-1), making their first ever visit to ‘The Nation,’ fell to 0-2 after losing an 11-10 nailbiter to the Diamondbacks. They will finish pool play Sunday against the NXT Titans.
Eagles coach Tom D’Ambrosio said he was so impressed with the Diamond Jacks, the facility, and the environment that he fully intends to bring multiple teams to ‘The Nation’ next summer.
“The complex is beautiful, the graciousness and friendliness of the staff was wonderful,” D’Ambrosio said. “And I love to see a team like that. Not only are they talented, but I appreciate the way they handle themselves. We all know there’s good kids, but when great players stand out like that, it’s refreshing.”
Ten Diamond Jacks batters in the 12-man lineup scored at least one run, while coach Mike Cust’s team received hits from five players and RBIs from four.
Kwame Boachie-Agyeman takes a rip for the Diamond Jacks 11U.
“Up and down the lineup we contribute pretty good,” Cust said. “I try to move it around where if the guys get hotter, I move them up. So the lineup is constantly changing. Like you see today, different guys get hot at different times.”
The hosts broke out in the bottom of the second inning with a six-run rally, sending 12 batters to the plate and doing their damage with three hits, two walks and two hit batsmen. Armenti highlighted the inning with a two-run double, Ryan Beardsley had an RBI single and Kwame Boachie-Agyeman stole home after escaping a rundown.
“Mario’s a good hitter,” Cust said. “He struggled a little bit early on but he’s been coming around lately. It’s good to have guys who can hit throughout the lineup. He had a nice day today with two hits and three RBIs.”
The Eagles chipped away at their deficit in the top of the third with a pair of runs, as Easton Chaves and Logan Luedke both slapped RBI singles.
The Diamond Jacks accounted for that noise with two runs of their own, when Armenti had an RBI single and Bobby Knoke poked a two-run double into the right field corner.
In the fourth, the Diamond Jacks closed the deal. Beardsley and Liam Schenkel each had an RBI single and Schenkel came around to score on a wild pitch to end the game via the mercy rule.
Nate Kayser went the distance for the Diamond Jacks on the bump and allowed two runs on four hits two walks with two strikeouts.
“Nate threw strikes, he worked ahead – he was ahead of almost every guy,” Cust said. “He probably could have done a little better with two strikes and not getting so much of the plate, but overall he was just throwing strikes and pounding the zone.”
Albert Antonio and Mack Latour were the only other Eagles to record a base hit. Latour pitched the first 1⅓ innings and Gilbert Rocha finished off the last two innings.