By Sean Reilly
There’s an odd truth within baseball. No team wants to fall behind by a significant number of runs. But, if it’s going to happen, it might as well occur early in the game.
The FTB Falcons 11U-Columbia allowed five runs in the top of the first inning against the Bergen Crush 11U Orange in the championship of the Diamond Nation 11U Youth World Series on Monday morning in Flemington.
The New York City team didn’t panic. For one, it was so early in the contest that they had six innings to make up the deficit. The other reason was that coming back was a theme throughout the extended weekend at ‘The Nation.’
The FTB Falcons immediately rallied with five runs to tie in the bottom of the first. The offensive fireworks continued, resulting in a 14-10 victory for the winning hardware, which included medals and rings for each player.
“We needed to rally, and needed to be loud, but most of all be confident in ourselves,” said Anthony Starostiak, a veteran competitor at Diamond Nation who earned his first tournament MVP award
The FTB Falcons ended the tournament with a 5-0 record and 71-25 run differential.
Among the other four wins, they were down 4-0 after the first inning before beating the CK Cardinals, 14-4, in a pool game on Sunday, and 7-4 in the third inning in what became a 15-7 win over Antonelli Baseball National later on Sunday.
Those experiences were crucial after the Bergen Crush opened the championship with a serious flurry.
John Peters began the game by reaching on a full-count walk and Zach Jones followed with a home run over the left-field fence. Brayden Vitale then hit the 10th pitch of his full-count at-bat beyond the fence in left-center for a very quick 3-0 lead.
The inning also included an RBI double from Santino Catanzaro, who scored on a base hit by Caleb Kim, for the five-run advantage.
The FTB Falcons, who had scored multiple runs in 11 of their previous 16 offensive innings in the tournament, clawed back in rapid fashion.
Luis Quintero led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and stole second. Starostiak then ripped an RBI double past third. With Christian Torres at the plate, Starostiak stole third and scored on an overthrow. Torres and Ryan Orlandi walked, and Raniel Ortega hit a grounds rule double to straightaway center to get the Falcons within 5-3. An error on a pickoff throw scored Orlandi, and Xander Gomez hit an RBI ground out to tie the game.
Anthony Starostiak of the FTB Falcons was named 11U DN World Series MVP.
The Crush scored the next two runs, with Lorenzo Barberi scoring on a wild pitch in the third and Jones walking with the bases loaded in the fourth.
The Falcons, however, seized control with a six-run fourth which resulted in an 11-7 lead.
Thomas Cronin singled in the first run, and Quintero smacked a two-run grounds rule double to center for an 8-7 lead.
Starostiak was then safe in an error which scored two more runs, and he scored on a single from Torres for the four-run lead with one out.
The Falcons added three more runs in the fifth, getting an RBI single from Caleb Castillo, a run-scoring double from Kayden Traylor (2-for-3) and an RBI groundout courtesy of Eli Reccio.
The Crush scored three times in the top of the sixth. Oliver Arnell had an RBI walk, Jones (1-for-3, walk, four RBI) hit a run-scoring groundout, and Vitale singled in a run.
Quintero finished 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs and two RBI for the Falcons, who are now 37-14 in 2025.
All 11 spots in the batting order accounted for at least one run scored in the win.
“It means a lot to be MVP, but it’s a team game,” Starostiak said. “It was good that we had to earn it. We had to play hard and try hard.”