By Sean Reilly
Michael Competelli is the cleanup batter for the New York Dynasty 11U.
He came to the plate in the bottom of the first inning of Sunday’s championship game at the Diamond Nation 11U Summer Bash after the first three batters reached base on walks.
Competelli didn’t want to follow suit. He wanted to make an impact with his bat.
“I wanted to do damage,” he said. “I wanted to get a hit. I didn’t want to walk.”
There was actually an out during his at-bat, since the lead runner was tagged out after trying to score on a wild pitch. But that play still left men on second and third, and Competelli drove in both with a hit to center field that ignited a four-run inning and sent the NY Dynasty to a 14-0 victory over the Rhode Island Reds for the tournament title in Flemington.
The Dynasty finished the weekend with a 4-0 record and 45-9 run differential. The Reds entered the final with a 3-0 record, but simply ran out of pitching arms in the championship, which lasted three innings after the Dynasty scored 10 more times in the second.
Competelli finished 2-for-2 with a walk, three runs and four RBI and was named the tournament MVP.
Another standout was fifth batter Bobby Russo, who was 3-for-3 with two runs and four RBI. He also permitted just three hits for the pitching victory.
“I just found my groove,” Russo said. “It’s great to win this. Practice makes perfect.”
The Staten Island-based Dynasty scored its other two runs in the opening inning via an RBI single from Russo and a groundout from Marcus Barrios.
The second inning began with a first-pitch single to center field from Daniel Toro, who stole second and scored when Jack Sherlock doubled to center.
Michael Competelli of NY Dynasty was named 11U Summer Bash MVP.
Competelli walked, and Russo hit a single to left that resulted in one RBI and a second run scoring on an error. A single from Mason Panell scored another run for an 8-0 lead, still with nobody out.
Jonathan Alvarez was credited with an RBI while reaching on an error that scored the ninth run, and after the first out, Danny Guerrera was hit by a pitch that loaded the bases. An error scored the tenth run, before Competelli hit a two-run double with two out, followed by a two-run single from Russo.
“This weekend was a lot of fun,” said Competelli, whose team has one more tournament to play before completing its summer campaign. “It’s been a great season.”
Ryan Puhacz, Lucas Mallozzi and Mike Iafrate had singles for the Reds, who had scored 28 runs while winning their three games prior to the final.