By Sean Reilly
Nico Bertuglia of Hustle Baseball 11U knew one thing before taking the mound as the starting pitcher in the championship game of the 11U Spring Swing tournament on Sunday afternoon at Diamond Nation.
The best way to help himself would be to make something happen as the leadoff man in the top of the inning.
After batting second in the first four games of the tournament, he was moved to leadoff in the final.
He began the title game against the Diamond Jacks Super 11U with a single to right field. He stole second, and then scored on an error before Griffin Lunsmann hit a two-run home run well beyond the fence in straightaway center field for a quick three-run lead.
With his task made much easier, Bertuglia went on to pitch a complete-game, scattering five hits while striking out nine against three walks, as Hustle Baseball won the championship with a 4-2 victory in Flemington.
“I really like leading off,” he said. “And those runs allowed me to pitch with a lot less pressure.”
His single in the first inning came on the first pitch of his at-bat. Lucas Gunnels was the next batter, and Bertuglia wound up stealing second off of a pickoff throw to first. He then went to third when Gunnels was safe on error.
Nico Bertuglia of Hustle Baseball Academy 11U was named the 11U Spring Swing MVP.
Lunsmann was the next batter, and Bertuglia scored on an error as Gunnels stole second. Lunsmann followed with his no-doubt-about-it blast to center.
Bertuglia allowed his first hit when Jordan Fleischer singled to center with one out in the second for the Diamond Jacks. But two consecutive strikeouts ended the inning to maintain the three-run lead.
Lunsmann’s next at-bat was a grounds rule double to left field to put runners on second and third for Hustle with two out in the third, but a ground out to third prevented further damage.
The DJacks closed to 3-2 in the bottom of the third. Michael Botti led off, and walked on a full count. Evan Pfitzenmayer then hit a first-pitch home run to center field. Bertuglia retired the next three batters, on a foul out to first followed by two strikeouts, to maintain the lead.
Hustle Baseball got one of those runs back in the fourth. John-Carlo Tango led off with an infield single. Jayden Ortiz was up next, and singled to left field. With Paxton Mirabile at the plate, Tango stole third, before a pickoff throw to first created a rundown that resulted in Tango stealing home.
A double play grounder and another ground out ended the inning.
A huge defensive play for Hustle took place in the bottom of the fifth. After Fleischer led off for the DJacks with a single to left, Sebastian Perez singled to right, and took second after an unsuccessful throw to get Fleischer at third.
Bertuglia then made a pickoff throw to second in a bid to get the trail runner. He was safe, but shortstop Gunnels threw home to catcher Mirabile in time to tag the lead runner trying to steal home. Bertuglia got out of the inning without further damage, and, more importantly, with the two-run lead intact.
“Our coach called that play,” Bertuglia said. “He was getting jumpy off second, so we tried it. It was one of the biggest plays of the game. After we got that out, it really calmed me down.”
Bertuglia ended the tournament 8-for-14 as Hustle went 4-0-1 on the weekend, with a 41-14 run differential. He scored six runs and had four RBI while earning his second career MVP award at ‘The Nation.’ He was also honored when Hustle won the 9U School’s Out tournament in 2024.