Diamond Jacks 11U survived a series of dramatic wins to earn the 11U Fall Brawl championship.
By Rich Bevensee
Earning a tournament championship after a one-sided final was a satisfying experience for the Diamond Jacks 11U ballclub.
But it was the challenge of completing a massive comeback as well as earning a pair of one-run victories in order to get to the final which made the journey satisfying.
It was that kind of weekend for the Diamond Jacks, who received a pair of RBI and a five inning four-hitter from Brady Jezorwski en route to a 10-1 decision over the top-seeded Avengers in the final of the 11U Fall Brawl Gold bracket on Sunday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“It’s always fun to win games when you win by 10 or 12 runs. It’s great for the stats,” Diamond Jacks coach Mike Cust said. “It’s the close games when it comes down to pitching and defense and timely hitting that says a lot about your team, and all weekend we won those types of games. It was great.”
Shortstop Michael Botti, who began the weekend by going 3-for-3 against the Rotten Boys in the team’s biggest comeback win in recent memory, was recognized for his bat and defense when he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“This was one of our best tournaments all year,” Botti said. “We never hung our heads, we stayed focused and kept fighting and fighting until the job was done.”
The championship game had nowhere near the amount of drama the Diamond Jacks endured on their path to the final.
There was the massive comeback in the first pool game, when they trailed Rotten Boys by eight runs after four innings and mounted an incredible comeback to claim a 16-11 win.
The Diamond Jacks clinched the second seed for the 11U playoffs after Lucas Julian drove in the winning run late with a sacrifice fly in a slim 10-9 pool victory over Wildcats Blue.
Then on Sunday the Diamond Jacks survived another one-run heart-stopper, beating the Bucks County Clippers, 3-2, in the semifinals.
“I think our team enjoys the close games,” Botti said. “It’s nerve-racking but it keeps it interesting. We know we can beat these teams so we know we have to keep fighting.”
“I am really proud of how they never gave up and kept battling,” Cust said. “A lot of timely hitting, and really in the end, our pitching and defense came through big time. It was great. They just never gave up.”
The final seemed destined to have the same amount of drama, as the teams were tied 1-1 through the first three innings.
Michael Botti of the Diamond Jacks 11U was named the 11U Fall Brawl MVP.
Jezorwski got the Diamond Jacks on the board in the top of the first with an RBI groundout, and Jacob Behler tied the game for the Avengers with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the second.
The Diamond Jacks broke the game open in the fourth. Scott Tiger gave his team the lead with an RBI single, Julian scored on an infield error on an Evan Pfitzenmayer ground ball, and Dylan Banos added another run-scoring base hit for a 4-1 lead.
Sebastian Perez, the hero of the Rotten Boys game after he pitched two scoreless innings in relief and guaranteed his team a chance for a final at bat, smacked an RBI double in the fifth and Jezorwski followed with his second RBI groundout for a 6-1 Diamond Jacks lead.
The Diamond Jacks kept piling on in the sixth. Pfitzenmayer drove in a run with a groundout, Jordan Fleischer scored on a wild pitch, and Gavin Feehan had the hardest hit ball of the game, a two-run double to left to pad the Diamond Jacks’ lead to 10-1.
Jezorwski, who wielded a productive bat all weekend from his No. 3 spot in the order, allowed one run in five innings on four hits and two walks and he struck out five. Julian came on in the sixth and gave up a leadoff walk before retiring the side in order to clinch the title.
The Avengers (3-1) had given up just six runs in three games prior to facing the Diamond Jacks. They defeated the New Jersey Raiders, 2-1, in the semis. Lucas Anderson, Chase Kravelick, Brayden Trumbauer and Patrick Brown handled the pitching for the Avengers in the championship game.