Andrew Todaro drives in a run for Sportika with a third-inning single.
By Rich Bevensee
Opportunities lost, lessons learned.
That’s usually the message after a tie game, and it was no different Thursday evening after Canes Tri-State 16U and Sportika Baseball Academy 16 National fought to an 8-8, five-inning deadlock to close out their respective weeks in the 16U Blue Chip Prospects event at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
The game featured three lead changes, two ties and a host of plays both coaches wish they could revisit. Of the 16 total runs scored in the game, seven were earned.
“We had great at bats, we fought, but we have to eliminate mistakes,” Sportika coach Griffin Murphy said. “That game would have been easily 6-2 and we should have been pitching to win in the bottom of the fifth if we had made a couple plays in the infield. A couple errors here and there, a couple walks, passed balls, stuff like that. If we had taken care of the baseball and eliminated the free bases, we could come out with a win instead of a tie. That’s a good team over there but we deserve to win.”
Canes coach Joe Curreri was just as disgusted with his defense, but he was even more disappointed with his team’s failure to produce a base hit with runners aboard. Sportika walked seven batters to give the Canes ample opportunity to drive in runs, but the Canes stranded six runners, all in scoring position.
“We had our opportunities because they walked a lot of guys but we really didn’t get that big hit when bases were loaded, and that’s the difference,” Curreri said.
“The standard here (with the Canes program) is to go 4-0 and we were far from that. It’s due to a mixture of things. Some guys were on vacation, this team makes a lot of errors so the defense has to get sharpened up, and we don’t hit with guys in scoring position to make that extra jump. We’re being given runs and we don’t pile on top of that.”
Sportika, which trains in Manalapan, finished the week 2-1-1. It beat NJ Rising Rebels 2028 Prime, 8-0, and PPH, 6-4, and lost to RCBC Ghost 16U Nationals, 5-1.
The Canes, based in Blauvelt, N.Y., closed the week 1-1-2. They defeated Premier Player Headquarters, 8-3, lost to Diamond Jacks Gold, 9-1, and tied Team Elite Liberty Black 15U, 8-8.
The scoring in this wild back-and-forth contest concluded when Sportika’s Richie Cammarata drove an RBI double to left and later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 8-8 in the top of the fifth. With one out, Canes righty Jayden Bower retired the next two batters and stranded the potential winning run at third base.
“If we’re down, we don’t care, we’re coming back no matter what,” said Cammarata, a 6-2 rising senior at Manalapan. “We’re gonna fight to the last out no matter what. We take it pitch by pitch and see what happens.”
Murphy had to be pleased with his team’s approach going into the top of the fifth, because earlier the defense fell flat and allowed four unearned runs to cross as the Canes took an 8-6 lead in the bottom of the third.
“We were obviously a little disappointed after that inning but you try to flush it, right?” Cammarata said. “It’s baseball. Next play.”
As far as stranding potential winning runs, Sportika returned the favor to the Canes in the bottom of the fifth. Jayden Sanchez smoked a one-out triple into the right-center gap, but he was unable to score because Sportika reliever R.J. Lillis induced a pair of groundouts to end the game.
Josh Ariola leads off first base after his second base hit of the game.
Josh Ariola, the only Canes player with multiple hits Thursday, went 2-for-3 in the game and 4-for-9 in the four-game set. The rising junior at North Rockland in Thiells, N.Y., believes he knows how his team can improve its hitting with runners on base.
“I think it’s just having confidence at the plate,” Ariola said. “Being able to understand that if you believe in yourself as a good player you can get the job done.”
The Canes struck first in the bottom of the first when Ethan Calderon had a fielder’s choice RBI to drive in Luke Kim with the bases loaded, and Luca Brunetti scored on the same play when the ball was bobbled at second base on the attempted force out.
Sportika immediately responded with a four-run rally in the second, albeit with a little help from the Canes defense. Gavin Kaufmann had an RBI single and that was followed by a three-run error on Frank Marcantonio’s ground ball for a 4-2 lead.
The Canes tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the second when Ariola singled home Jahaziel Caba and Luke Kim scored on a wild pitch.
The seesaw game continued in the top of the third. Jackson Alexander drove in a run on a fielder’s choice and Andrew Todaro singled up the middle to drive in a run and give Sportika a 6-4 lead.
The wheels fell off the Sportika defense in the bottom of the third. The Canes scored four runs on one hit, two walks and three infield errors to claim an 8-6 lead. All four runs were unearned.
For Sportika, Todaro pitched 2⅔ innings and surrendered eight runs (three earned) on four hits and seven walks with two strikeouts. Lillis relieved for 2⅓ scoreless innings, he gave up two hits and struck out three.
For the Canes, Bower went three innings and yielded six runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts. James Iino threw the final two frames and gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits and struck out two.