By Rich Bevensee
Baseball U PA 14U National has steadily been building a reputation around the Diamond Nation campus as a ballclub which causes opposing teams both headaches and long drives back home.
It seems all the team has done this fall is win, and that has prompted coaches, players, umpires and parents to talk about them with both envy and worry in their voices when Baseball U is in their bracket.
On Sunday evening, Baseball U cemented its status this fall as one of Diamond Nation’s most lethal ballclubs after Jordan Medrano and Jake Kwiatowski combined on a five-hitter in a 5-3 championship game victory over Sportika Baseball Academy in the 14U Gold Grand Slam Powered by Kessler Rehab at ‘The Nation’ in Flemington.
With the victory, highlighted by Grand Slam MVP Luke O’Brien’s inside-the-park home run, Baseball U pulled the curtain on its fall campaign by capturing its fourth title in five tournament appearances.
The only time Baseball U failed to come away with a trophy this fall was when they lost on a walk-off walk, 6-5, to the Underground Vipers of Newtown, Pennsylvania, in the 14U Slugfest final on Sept. 9 at Diamond Nation.
“We have a lot of good hitters, a lot of good fielders, a lot of good pitching on this team,” Medrano said. “It’s been a lot of fun. When I’m not on the field, I can guarantee the players in front of me are going to make a lot of plays and get the hits.”
Before winning at Diamond Nation this weekend, Baseball U captured titles at Big Show in Leesport, Pa., All Stars Baseball Academy in Latham, N.Y., and at a local tournament in Scranton, Pa.
“This is my first time coaching this particular group and I’m very proud of everything they did,” Baseball U coach Zack Luksic said. “This fall has been an absolute blast.”
Medrano, employing a fastball, curveball and changeup, kept Sportika bats silent for four innings while his team spotted him a 5-0 lead. He endured a bumpy fourth inning where he stranded two baserunners, then tired in the fifth when he allowed three runs on one hit, two walks and one error.
“I threw the fastball a lot, trying to paint the outside and inside corners,” Medrano said. “I was getting a little mad when I couldn’t hit my spots in the fifth. I was trying to take deep breaths, and kept telling myself I’m not tired and keep throwing.”
Luksic said it’s part of the team’s script to throw Medrano for five innings and Kwiatkowski for two in championship games. He said he wanted Medrano to finish the fifth despite the fact that the tying run came to bat with two out. Medrano would finish with 70 pitches.
“I wanted to give him that confidence, especially in this game here as he started to struggle,” Luksic said. “He was coming out of the game next inning no matter what. Jake’s our guy to follow Jordan, which is another reason why I wanted to push Jordan a little further.”
In Medrano’s five innings he yielded three runs (one earned) on three hits and five walks with four strikeouts.
Baseball U relief specialist Kwiatowski was coming off an extensive rehabilitation program – he missed all of August with a pitching elbow injury – and was competing in just his second tournament of the fall.
“I’m feeling good now,” Kwiatowski said. “Some of my mechanics are causing my arm to hurt a little. I think I’m about 60-70 percent.”
Kwiatowski pitched a scoreless sixth but was greeted in the top of the seventh by a leadoff double by Brendan Varricchio, which brought the tying run to the plate with no outs.
“I just tried to work through it,” Kwiatowski said. “You can’t get down on yourself. You can’t let one double get you down. I was focused on the next guy.”
Kwiatowski got a strikeout and flyout for the first two outs. But he put the go-ahead run on base by walking Ryan Bierne, then got a strikeout looking to clinch the championship.
O’Brien’s big sprint around the bases came after Baseball U jumped on Sportika starter Miles Block for three runs on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the first inning. Kash Kromko and Carter Samanas had back-to-back RBI singles, and Samanas later stole third and dashed home on an errant throw.
Luke O’Brien of Baseball U. Pa. 14U National was named 14U Gold Grand Slam MVP.
O’Brien led off the second inning by crushing a pitch into the left-center gap. He wore a huge grin as he rounded second and saw Luksic giving him the windmill, meaning he wanted O’Brien to go for it.
“I didn’t expect him to send me. You could see me struggling to get home and it was pretty close at the plate,” O’Brien said. “Once I hit it I knew it was going to be a triple or a home run because it was right in the gap. When I saw Coach waving, I thought I better dig deep because I’m already a little burnt out. But I saw the catcher come off a little bit and I knew I had it.”
It was O’Brien’s first home run on a 90-foot diamond. He finished the game 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
“As Luke approached second,” Luksic said, “I saw that the ball was at the base of the fence. I also saw the shortstop might not have that strong of an arm and he was out there pretty far. That’s why I had it in my head that Luke was going home no matter what.
“He was thrilled to see me do that (wave him home) and he was thrilled when he got to the dugout.”
Sportika, which rolled through pool play 3-0, rallied against Kwiatowski and Baseball U to keep the game close in the fifth, its final at bat. Bierne sent an opposite-field flare into shallow right for an RBI single. With two on and two out, Mason Reinhard hit a slow roller which resulted in an infield throwing error, allowing Bierne and Kellen Verney to score.
Baseball U finished the tournament unbeaten in four games. The champs ripped through pool play and earned the top seed by beating three teams by a combined 32-1.
Diamond Jacks Gold earned the second seed after going unbeaten in three pool play games by a 28-3 count, but was upended by Sportika in the semifinal, 9-1.