By Rich Bevensee
The Baseball U PA 14U National team began charting its path to a Diamond Nation championship in just its second pool play game.
Needing a shutout to qualify for the 14U Boys Of Summer six-team playoff, Baseball U coach A.J. Bednar handed the ball to Alejandro “Wally” Cartagena, possibly their most talented all-around player.
Cartagena responded not just with a shutout, but with a perfect game.
That remarkable performance served as a springboard for Baseball U, which, despite earning the sixth seed, rolled through three playoff games unscored upon and secured its fourth straight championship in as many weeks after a 13-0, three-inning victory over Diamond Jacks Super 13U in the Boys Of Summer final on Sunday at ‘The Nation.’
For his contributions with his arm, bat and glove, Cartagena was an easy choice as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“He comes up in big moments, he has a good mental game and he’s an all-around good player,” Bednar said. “He came through in all facets this weekend. He’s a born athlete and he has a good baseball IQ. I think that helps him out, too.”
“I have to give it up to my dad, Elvis,” Cartagena said. “He gave me everything I know. My arm, my bat, my knowledge, my IQ. Everything I know.”
It cannot be understated how huge Cartagena came through in the team’s second game of the weekend against NJ Rising Rebels 2029. Baseball U lost to Diamond Jacks Super 14U, 8-2, in its opener, and its second pool game against Wladyka Baseball American was rained out.
That left Baseball U needing a shutout in its next game against the Rebels to make the playoffs. Bednar handed the ball to Cartagena and he was perfect, striking out all 11 batters he faced in a 10-0 win. The 12th batter was an automatic out because a Rebel player was injured and taken out of the lineup.
“I don’t think I could have done that,” said Cameron Glovas, the Baseball U lefty who pitched a two-inning shutout in the final. “It’s really hard. He struck everybody out, which was very impressive.”
“We trusted our guy and he came up big for us – not one ball in play,” Bednar said. “He has good velocity for his age. He’s in the mid 80s. He was around the zone and got swings and misses.”
On Sunday Baseball U had a tough road to hoe, needing three wins in a single day amidst sweltering heat on turf to win a fourth straight championship.
All Baseball U did was blank all three playoff opponents. Baseball U began with a 7-0 victory over Stampede Select in the quarterfinals. Then came a 6-0 win over Diamond Jacks 14U Gold in the semifinals.
“The way we’ve been playing all weekend, we’ve been destroying the ball and we got good pitching all weekend,” Glovas said.
Alejandro Cartagena of Baseball U. Pa. 14U National was named the 14U Boys of Summer MVP.
In the final, Glovas gave up one hit and one walk while his teammates scored 13 runs on nine hits, seven walks and three errors. Eight different players scored a run, seven players chalked up a hit and seven had an RBI.
Baseball U cleanup hitter and catcher Jack Bowers, son of Baseball U assistant and Susquehanna University head coach Denny Bowers, led the offense by going 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI. Leadoff man Giovanni Patrisso doubled, walked twice and scored three times.
“We have a complete team. We have solid guys top to bottom,” Bednar said. “It helped us out not playing the game on Friday. It helped us save our pitching to have an arm for the championship game.”
“In the beginning of the season we had two big injuries to pitchers but we fight and battle, do with what we have, and win games,” Cartagena said. “The bats have been hot lately and everybody is coming together as a team.”
To be fair, the Diamond Jacks were not only playing up an age division, but they were also out of pitchers in the final and were using their second emergency pitcher of the game when Baseball U scored its 13th run with two outs in the top of the third inning. At that point, Diamond Jacks coaches Luke Crawford and Matt Markiewicz waved the white flag of surrender and asked to stop the game.
Baseball U has one more tournament in Pennsylvania next weekend and then will call it quits until the fall. No reason to believe the team cannot make it five straight trophy-winning weekends.
“It’s been like this all summer,” Bednar said. “They’re good at collecting trophies. This is our fourth in a row, but our first at Diamond Nation. It’s too bad the season has to end.”