Angel Perez of Willis Otanez Baseball Academy rounds first on his bid for a double.
By Sean Reilly
Bo Betley is fully aware that there’s much more to running the bases than staying or going.
Making the opposing team think, even if it’s for a play that hasn’t happened yet, can be just as important.
That’s exactly what took place on Sunday morning at Diamond Nation, and it helped his Jersey Devils Scout 14U team win a game.
Here’s what unfolded: the Jersey Devils were in a tie game against the Willis Otanez Baseball Academy in the final pool game for both teams at the 14U Labor Day Blast.
It was the bottom of the sixth inning, there was one out, and Betley was the runner on third with Jackson Nolte at the plate.
During the first three pitches of the at-bat, Betley took unusually long leads off of third. It didn’t draw any throws, but clearly caught the attention of the pitcher, catcher and third baseman.
He took another long lead off the base on the next pitch, which Nolte happened to ground hard toward the third baseman.
Betley broke toward home, and while the third baseman fielded the ball cleanly, knowing that Betley was well on his way, he rushed a throw toward the plate that was offline.
Betley was safe with the decisive run in a 6-5 comeback win for his team, allowing it to go back home to South Jersey on an upbeat note after starting the tournament with three losses.
“He was in his windup, so I was trying to get a bigger lead,” Betley said. “Little things are the most important thing in baseball.”
The Jersey Devils held a 4-1 lead until Willis Otanez Academy, from Union City, went ahead with a four-run top of the sixth.
The Jersey Devils, however, rallied in the bottom of the inning.
Colton Herrschaft began the comeback with a leadoff double to right field. He advanced to third on a wild pitch before Pat Sapporetti hit an RBI single to shallow center field for a 5-5 tie.
Betley courtesy ran for Sapporetti, and moved to second on a balk. He advanced to third after a well-executed sacrifice bunt by Cole Wagner. The decisive fielder’s choice grounder from Nolte followed.
In the top of the seventh, Luke Nocito pitched a 1-2-3 inning to end the game.
Jack Martinez scores on a wild pitch for Jersey Devils Scout 14U.
“It was good to end with a win,” Betley said. “We believed in ourselves and we came back and got the W.”
Willis Otanez Academy scored a run in the top of the first after Xavier Guzman led off and reached third after a misjudged fly ball. After Daniel Ortega walked, Guzman scored on a double steal.
The Jersey Devils responded with three runs in the bottom of the first.
Nolte and Nocito walked, and Jack Martinez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Jack Madden was the next batter, and a wild pitch scored Nolte before Madden hit a two-run double to center.
The Jersey Devils added to the lead in the fourth. Martinez led off with a single to left and moved to second on a wild pitch. He advanced to third on a groundout from Madden, and scored on a wild pitch with Chris James at the plate.
Willis Otanez Academy mounted its big comeback when it sent up the top of its order to start the sixth.
Guzman led off with a full-count double to center. He moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a ball four wild pitch to Ortega.
After a pitching change, David Torres was safe on an error which moved Ortega to second. Asher Portillo walked to load the bases.
The next batter struck out, but Justin Jimenez followed with a two-run single to center for a 4-4 tie. Portillo moved to third on a wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run when Perez grounded out to second with the infield playing in.