Alvy Serrata of the Brooklyn Falcons cruises into first base with a single against Powerarm Baseball.
By Joe Hofmann
When school is in session, Brooklyn Falcons coach Charles Lalane teaches eighth-grade math.
When you hit the ball the way his team did Thursday, that’s a good thing.
Only a math person would be able to sort through all of the numbers his 14U team put up in a 15-0, four-inning victory over Powerarm Baseball at Diamond Nation.
Brooklyn scored four in the first, six in the second, and five runs in the fourth to end the game due to the 10-run mercy rule after four innings.
The Falcons:
accumulated 14 hits in just four innings.
drew seven walks.
stole six bases.
Did you get all of that?
Lalane sure did.
“We do a lot of hitting and running and try to make things happen,” he said.
They did plenty of that – and winning pitcher Moises Esteves limited any Powerarm damage. The righty took advantage of all of the support to pitch a one-hitter over four innings, striking out five and allowing just an infield hit.
The win gave the Falcons a 3-1 record in pool play and put them in Friday’s Diamond Nation 14U Blue Division World Series playoffs. The Falcons would go on to win their first round game against Rip City 14U, 4-0, before falling in the semifinals, 11-3, to eventual champion Morris County Cubs Navy.
When the game ended, Brooklyn nonchalantly shook hands with Powerarm at home plate before packing up their gear and heading for the exit. No frills. No Gatorade baths.
“We don’t do our celebrating,” Lalane said, “until after a championship.”
Brooklyn lost its opening game here against Intensity Baseball but bounced back to win its next three to reach the playoffs.
The team was a contender on Friday because it is loaded with pitching. Esteves looked imposing, but Lalane said he can call on five more pitchers who are ahead of Esteves in the rotation. Lefty Jaden Torres throws 83 MPH, Lowell Golub throws 84 MPH heat. Victor Acosta hits 79.
The team showed what it is capable of at the plate against Powerarm. They usually attack early in the count but are patient when they have to be, which is what they were on Thursday.
“We like to be aggressive early in the count,” Lalane said. “Today was a little different. We were patient.”
In the first inning, Torres singled, Acosta and Golub drew walks, and Nate Fuller (3 for 3, 3 RBIs) hit an RBI single to left center. Marcus Ramirez walked and Jaden Rivera singled for another run before Jaden Alvarez launched a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.
It was more of the same in the second inning. Eduard Fernandez and Alvy Serrata walked and each stole a base before Ernesto Ortiz hit a two-run single. One out later, Acosta and Golub walked before Fuller singled in one run and Ramirez singled in two to put the game away as Brooklyn led, 10-0, after two.
Brooklyn added on in the fourth. Ortiz tripled and the team then hit five straight singles by Torres (RBI), Acosta (RBI), Golub, Fuller (RBI), and Ramirez. Jaden Alvarez added another RBI single as the team not only showed good speed on the bases, but wise judgment – two characteristics that don’t always go hand in hand at this level.
The win came as no surprise to the team, which puts in a lot of practice time during the week.
“We practice four times a week,” Fuller said. “We take a lot of pride in what we do and we work on a lot of things in practice. We stretch, we work on infield-outfield, situational hitting, hit and run, how to hit the ball the other way. If we did something wrong in a game, we work on it in practice and figure out what we need to do so we can fix it.”
One thing’s for sure: There wasn’t much to fix against Powerarm. Lalane may want to have his calculator handy for the rest of the summer.