The Diamond Jacks Super 12U squad came from behind to seize the Boys of Summer title.
By Rich Bevensee
To his players, the number sounded absurd at first. At the outset of the spring season, Diamond Jacks Super 12U coach Jairo Labrador told his team they could reach 40 wins before the end of the summer.
This team may have developed a better understanding than most that it takes an entire roster to achieve such a feat. Playing in their final Diamond Nation tournament on a 60-foot field, several Diamond Jacks played key roles in helping their team hit that big number and claim yet another championship.
Mason Roman survived a bumpy start to pitch a six-inning gem, Kwame Boachie-Agyman continued his monster offensive season by driving in three runs, and the co-MVPs propelled the Diamond Jacks to an 8-4 victory over Gold Coast Prospects and the 12U Boys of Summer Powered by Playa Bowls championship on Sunday at ‘The Nation’ in Flemington.
The Diamond Jacks finished their final campaign on the home field, 41-16-1, and laid claim to three titles.
Roman and Boachie-Agyman shared Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament, but contributions came from several slots on the roster.
Catcher Nate Kayser pulled off a sequence of plays which kept the Diamond Jacks within reach of Gold Coast in the early going. And pitcher Hunter Davies, normally reserved for playoff appearances, was pressed into service in a must-win pool play game and threw four shutout innings to help preserve a playoff berth for the Diamond Jacks.
In the championship game, Boachie-Agyman went 2-for-3 with three RBI to pace the offense. For the tournament he batted .667 with a home run, a double, six RBI and five runs scored.
“He’s been pretty consistent the entire season,” Labrador said. “He does a good job of hunting the heater and he got himself in fastball counts, and he did damage.”
“I tell myself in the box to hunt the fastball and if they throw me a curveball just try to adjust,” said Boachie-Agyman, who hinted his success may be partially due to having oatmeal for breakfast on game days. We’re not sure if anyone told Kwame about the historically proven value of a spinach diet.
This season Boachie led the team with 22 home runs, 30 walks and 67 RBI. He ranked second on the team with a .458 batting average and fourth with 44 hits. So, oatmeal it is.
“My goal was to have good stats, but not this good,” Boachie-Agyman said. “I practice with my dad a lot (Joe Boachie-Agyman) at the batting cages. My dad makes videos of my at bats and if I do the wrong thing we’d go to the cages and work on it.”
Roman got off to a rough start while following Labrador’s direction to use only the fastball the first time through the Gold Coast lineup. He admitted his control was off and he allowed two runs on three hits in the first inning.
The corrections Roman made after the first inning were spot on. From the second through the fifth – and while mixing in a curveball and changeup – Roman was terrific, striking out seven in four shutout innings while allowing three hits, no walks and one hit batsman.
“I changed up my locations and trusted my defense,” Roman said. “I threw over the plate where I wanted it and no matter where the ball would go, it would go to my defense. I can’t be more proud of my team, helping me out there, making plays.”
“So one of the things we like to do is use just the fastball the first time through (the lineup),” Labrador said. “In the beginning he didn’t locate it as well, but we stuck to it and he started locating it, and the second time through he started mixing up his pitches and he did a great job hitting his spots and mixing up his pitches.”
In six innings Roman struck out nine while allowing four runs on eight hits and, importantly, no walks with a hit batsman
Speaking of pitching, when Labrador isn’t leaning on Roman for big-game performances, he’s calling on Davies, another right-hander who was needed in the team’s final pool play game against MVP NY Select on Saturday.
With the Diamond Jacks trailing, 3-1, and with MVP still batting in the bottom of the third, Davies entered and pitched four shutout innings. He also helped his cause by going 2-for-3 with a triple and four RBI in a 9-3 Diamond Jacks win.
“I wanted to save him for the playoffs but needed him then and he kept them quiet until our bats woke up,” Labrador said. “He’s really been a guy I’ve leaned on, pitching-wise. Without him we’re not here.”
Mason Roman, left, and Kwame Boachie-Agyman shared MVP honors for the Diamond Jacks.
Yet another player who figured greatly into the championship game victory was Kayser, the Diamond Jacks catcher who threw out would-be base-stealers in back-to-back innings.
In the first inning he threw out Ian Matteson at second to take Gold Coast’s last baserunner off the board. In the top of the second with no outs and Liam Schenkel on second, Kayser showed bunt to get third baseman Charlie Kinney to charge, allowing Schenkel to steal third with no one covering the bag. Kayser then executed a perfect bunt single to plate Schenkel and tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the second Kayser struck again. Gold Coast had baserunners on first and third with one out. Taking a chance in throwing to second with a man on third, Kayser gunned down Ellis while Kinney remained on third. The Diamond Jacks escaped that inning without allowing a run.
“For him to do that on the small field is almost unheard of, so I’m excited to get him on the big (90-foot) field,” Labrador said. “He’s gotten so much better, and we’ve asked a lot of him because our other catcher (Jake Busch) got hurt. Nate’s been throwing guys out at a clip that is insane, but it’s not just him. Our pitchers have been doing a great job of holding guys on, and we emphasize that. It’s a tandem thing.”
The Diamond Jacks took control of the championship game in the top of the third by scoring three runs for a 5-2 lead and never looked back. Cameron Townsend, the team’s No. 11 batter, doubled to right, Roman knocked him in with a single to left, Boachie-Agyman drove in Roman with a single and Mason Ellmer had an RBI double.
The Diamond Jacks added three more runs in the fifth. Boachie-Agyman had a fielder’s choice RBI and Ellmer drove a two-run single to left.
The Diamond Jacks got the scoring started in their first at bat when Ryan Beardsley singled and eventually scored on a Boachie-Agyman single to left.
Gold Coast, a collection of players from three different Little League organizations in Fairfield County, Connecticut, took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first when Maddox Kopchik and Calvin Carreras singled and Matteson drove them both in with a single to right center.
Gold Coast did not score again until the sixth when Chase Rutstein doubled to center, nearly homering, and Kopchik homered over the same spot in the fence which Rutstein struck for a two-run shot.