By Rich Bevensee
The Bronx Raiders used the 12U Summer Finale to leave an explosive imprint on Diamond Nation in Flemington.
The second-seeded Raiders, which bulldozed into the finals by scoring 40 runs in four games, blasted three home runs and knocked off top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven Diamond Dawgs, 12-7, for the 12U championship, Powered by Pure Rush Shades on Sunday evening.
Tournament MVP Xavier Crespo, Sammy Lopez and Eddie Garcias each cleared the fences – and each one by a wide margin – while Devin Pula pitched 4⅓ brilliant innings to keep the high-scoring Diamond Dawgs off balance.
“This was very big for our team,” said Pula, who struck out 10. “We have faltered in big tournaments before but we came together and never faltered in this tournament.”
Crespo, who caught Pula’s 70 mph fastball, went 3-for-4 in the title game with a homer, double and two RBI.
Pula singled, walked three times and scored three times. Garcias was the leading RBI man for the Raiders after going 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, driving in four runs and scoring three times. Aiden Ubens doubled and drove in three runs.
And Lopez hit a three-run homer that might still be traveling were it not for the batting cages behind the right field fence.
“I think this tournament can help boost our confidence,” said Crespo, who closed out his team’s five-game weekend with five hits including three homers and eight RBI. “We worked really hard to get here and it shows hard work will pay off.”
The Raiders used their bats to bully their way through pool play, beating Delaware Fury Price, 8-5, NJ Pride, 14-13, and Waterford Warriors, 8-6. The Raiders knocked off the third-seeded NJ Nationals, 10-2, in the semifinals.
The Diamond Dawgs used a similar method to reach the title game, scoring 39 runs through their first four contests. They handled Zoned RedHawks Select, 10-0, Hammers White, 10-9, and Bucks County Generals Summer, 15-2. The Dawgs slipped past the Branchburg Bulldogs, 4-3, in the semis.
The championship loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the terrific Diamond Dawgs because it was their fourth defeat in as many championship game appearances this season.
The Dawgs also fell short in their third finals appearance at ‘The Nation.’ Last season as an 11U team they lost to the Flores Baseball Braves and the Diamond Jacks in separate tournament finals.
“We’re going right back to work Tuesday,” Dawgs coach Jimmy Wynne said. “We want these guys to compete as much as they can. We’re going to work on those finite plays that we missed that kind of added on for them to score 12 runs.
“The main thing for them is understanding that wins and losses are part of this whole experience. As we continue to work hard we’ll appreciate winning even more.”
The Diamond Dawgs flexed their top-seeded muscles in the bottom of the first inning when cleanup hitter Colin Padnes belted a no-doubt-about-it, three-run homer to left field, giving the Dawgs a 3-1 lead. That was the last time they would own the lead.
Xavier Crespo earned MVP honors while leading the Bronx Raiders to the 12U Summer Classic title.
In the top of the third, Crespo rocked a solo homer, Ubens had an RBI groundout to tie the score at 3-3, and Lopez socked a three-run homer into the right field batting cages on a two-out, 3-2 pitch.
The Raiders added four more runs in the fourth, as Crespo tapped an RBI infield single, and Garcias lofted a three-run homer high into the trees beyond the left field fence for a 10-3 lead.
The Dawgs clawed back with a pair of runs in the fifth when Pula began to tire and James Harvey and Charlie Chubrik both earned bases-loaded walks.
The Raiders answered immediately with two runs in the sixth on Ubens’ two-run, grounds-rule double to center.
Charlie Bonanno and Andrew Eberhard earned bases-loaded walks in the seventh to narrow the score to 12-7 and give the Dawgs hope of a late rally. But the Raiders’ Joshua Ronka came on in relief to get the final out and extinguish any comeback hopes.