By Sean Reilly
The players on the Body Armor Titans 13U have had a great season, which was made even better by the team’s first three games over the weekend at the Diamond Nation 13U August Showdown Pool A-C division tournament.
The Long Island crew scored 31 runs and allowed none through those three contests, which also raised its 2025 record to 44-7.
But standing in the path of a title on Sunday afternoon were the Diamond Jacks Super 13U, who were 4-0 on the weekend, with a 22-1 run differential, and an overall 2025 mark of 54-5-1.
It was a premier championship matchup, so whichever side captured the title would most definitely have earned it.
That team turned out to be the Titans, who put together two productive middle innings to gain a 6-4 victory in Flemington.
“It was tough coming into this one,” said Titans standout Jackson Cella. “But it’s better, because the pitching is faster, and also more toward our type of play. We played really well coming in, but we knew we would have to fight.”
Sure enough, the Titans allowed their first run of the tournament in the top of the first against the DJacks, after Nate McGann drew a two-out walk and Aaron Erb followed with a triple to right field. The next batter grounded out to shortstop.
The DJacks extended the lead to 2-0 in the top of the third. Alan Pena led off with a full-count single to shortstop, and Logan Koziupa reached on an error which sent him to third. Rocco Gaeta then grounded out, allowing Pena to score.
The Titans went ahead with a three-run bottom of the third.
Chris Mazzolla led off with a single to shortstop, stole second and moved to third as Derek Karpowicz grounded out to first base. Luke Kaplun then reached on an error which scored Mazzolla.
Lewis King followed with a single to center that sent Kaplun to second. Cella drove in Kaplun with a single to center to tie the game.
Joey Corradino was the next batter, and a wild pitch sent the two runners to second and third. Corradino hit a grounder to short that resulted with an out on the bases, but allowed King to score the go-ahead run.
The Titans extended their lead to 6-2 in the fourth.
After a leadoff single in front of the pitcher by Noah Fernandez, next man Luke Lordi reached on an outfield error which resulted in a force out at second. Following a line out to shortstop, Tyler Austin and Mazzolla drew walks that loaded the bases.
Jackson Cella and Joey Corradino of the Body Armor Titans were named co-13U A-C bracket MVPs.
Following a pitching change, Karpowicz was safe on an error which scored Lordi and Austin and left runners on first and third. Kaplun was at the plate when Karpowicz stole second, with Mazzolla scoring on the play.
The DJacks closed to 6-4 in the fifth. Pena led off with a walk and Koziupa singled to right field. A pitching change was made, but Gaeta walked on a full count to load the bases. After a strikeout, Andrew Vasil hit a grounder which resulted in a force out at third as Pena scored. Ryan Nigro walked to reload the bases, and McGann then hit a single to shortstop to score Gaeta. The inning ended with a groundout to second.
Lordi ended the game 2-for-3 for the Titans.
Tournament MVP honors were shared by the Titans combo of Cella and Corradino.
Cella was 6-for-10 over the four games, with two walks, four runs and three RBI.
Corradino went 4-for-7, with seven RBI. He also pitched a one-hitter during pool play, with seven strikeouts and two walks.
“I was able to stay in, stay composed and get hits,” Corradino said. “We knew that they were a good team, but we just played our game. We know we’re good, and everyone did their job.”