Waylon Hobgood of DCP 2024 National is out at first base by two steps against Crossbridge Raiders .

By Joe Hofmann

Have right arm, will travel.

Dylan Carmignani brings it with him wherever he goes and it was one of the main reasons his Crossbridge Raiders beat DCP 2024 National, 3-1, in a Super Top 25 Showcase game at Diamond Nation on Monday.

The Robbinsville High rising junior allowed just one run heading into the sixth inning before giving way to lefty reliever Chase Burrows, who closed it out.

When Carmignani is not pitching for the Raiders, he is catching for his high school team.

Against DCP, he carried a no-hitter into the sixth despite battling wildness he felt during the early-morning warm-ups.

Carmignani pitched 5 2/3 innings, struck out seven and was able to navigate his way through despite losing control at some points (three hit batsmen and four walks). He surrendered two hits in the sixth before he gave way to Burrows, who finished it up for the save.

“I was very impressed with how Dylan threw low fastballs for strikes down in the zone,” coach Derrick Kraemer said. “He also kept his curveball low for strikes. He hit his spots. We are at the point in the summer where I can now leave the kids in a little longer and I was able to do that today. He pitched backward really well. He had a lot of moxy out there.”

“I wasn’t feeling good in warmups,” Carmignani added. “I had no command of my fastball, which is why I hit some kids and had some walks. The other team had some energy and that gave me some energy. There was a lot of back and forth and that is what made it fun.”

The Raiders scored the only two runs they’d need in the top of the third with the bottom of the order doing the damage against loser Nate Donohue, who pitched well in defeat.

Brooks Saft led off with a walk before Charlie Cordisco singled to left.

One of the Raiders most important at bats of the game ended in an out but didn’t end in a double play, which came up big for the winners. That’s when Dillon Gallagher hit what appeared to be a 4-6-3 double play, but the shortstop’s throw pulled the first baseman off the bag and Gallagher advanced to second as the throw went out of play. Saft scored on the grounder.

If Delmarva had turned two, only one run would have come across that inning.

“That’s one reason that one thing we focus on is getting the bat on the ball,” Kraemer said.

One out later, Nate Jones singled Gallagher in, making it 2-0.

The Raiders added a run in the fourth when Dylan Hirsch reached on an error with one out, was forced at second by Justin Prekop, and Prekop scored on Josh Thompson’s (Immaculata) double to right center.

While the Raiders were able to seize the moment with runners on, Carmignani often escaped jams. He walked one and hit a batter in the first but escaped. He fanned the side — all swinging — in the second.

He walked two batters on four pitchers apiece in the third but regained his control and got out of it.

He hit two batters sandwiched around a walk in the fourth but got Ryder Swenson — first-pitch swinging — on a pop to short. Carmignani then struck out Reed Thompson to end the threat.

After a 1-2-3 fifth, Carmignani allowed Waylon Hobgood’s leadoff triple to right center, James Tassone’s RBI grounder, and Patrick Easton’s single to right before Kraemer pulled him.

Burrows came in and allowed Mason Borall’s single to right but then fanned Nate Berzonski to end the sixth.

Burrows allowed Swenson’s leadoff double in the seventh but then got the next three hitters to finish the game.

“It’s been a great summer,” Kraemer said. “We were Top 16 in Georgia, we made the finals of the Dynamic Baseball tournament in North Carolina. We won an 18U tournament in the Boston area. Our pitching has really been outstanding. The starters have averaged six innings pitching per-game and that makes things a lot easier.”

One of those is Carmignani, who could conceivably get more innings at Robbinsville when the bell rings next spring.

“I started pitching last year against the teams we had no chance of beating, like Gloucester Catholic,” Carmignani said. “On this team I am a pitcher first, on my high school team I am a catcher first. I guess I was an early bloomer physically, so from a young age they said, ‘Go catch.’ I like ’em both.”