By Sean Reilly

Harrison Cser came to Diamond Nation over the weekend with a couple of objectives in mind. 

He wanted to have fun, and he wanted to hit. 

Cser succeeded on both counts, as he put on a phenomenal batting display, and added a couple of pitching performances as well, as his Steelsharks Baseball team captured the 9U Championship at the Summer Finale-2, Powered By Victus, on Sunday afternoon in Flemington. 

The Steelsharks, from Bethlehem, Pa., won the title by defeating The Bulls, from Hamilton, N.J., by an 18-11 score in the final. 

The Bulls had beaten the Steelsharks, 6-5, in a pool game on Saturday. 

Cser went 3-for-4 in the final, with two triples, two runs and two RBI. He also pitched two innings to earn the win. 

For the tournament, Cser was 11-for-12 with five triples, a double, eight runs and seven RBI. 

Given all that, it was no surprise that in addition to his first-place medal, he also went home with the special Victus bat awarded to the tournament MVP. 

“I had a lot of fun here this weekend, playing against really tough competition,” he said. “I wanted to keep my eye on the ball and smash it.” 

There was plenty of offense from both teams in the final. Cser got it started with an RBI single when the Steelsharks scored four times in the top of the first. That inning also included a two-run triple from Cooper Horlick, who went on to go 2-for-4 with five RBI. 

After The Bulls scored twice in the bottom of the first, the Steelsharks added four more runs in the second, with Hunter Roth and Cser each hitting a one-run triple. 

The Bulls got two of those runs back in the bottom of the frame, with Thomas Hose and Nate Kleinze both tripling in a run. 

The Steelsharks later scored twice on an error to expand their lead to 10-7 in the top of the fourth, but The Bulls scored three times in the bottom of the inning to tie. Michael Sinback singled in the first run, before Ralph Salzano hit a two-run single. 

After that, the Steelsharks pulled away, starting with a four-run fifth. After a run scored on an error, Colton Betley hit an RBI infield single for a 12-10 lead. A wild pitch scored the next run before Caden Cramer hit an RBI triple.

Harrison Cser of Steelsharsks Baseball was named MVP of the 9U Summer Finale-2.

The Steelsharks added four more runs in the sixth for an 18-10 lead. 

After Cser led off with a triple, Ash Kendy hit an RBI single. Ben Hartenstine also singled. Horlick followed that with a two-run triple. After Betley walked, Horlick stole home as part of a double steal. 

The Steelsharks totaled 14 hits in the game. Aside from Cser and Horlick, Cramer (2-for-3), Hartenstine (2-for-4) and Cameron Nauman (2-for-3) all finished with multiple hits. Leadoff man Pierce Steiner (1-for-3, walk) also scored four runs.

The Bulls were paced by Lewis Van Duzer (3-for-4, three runs, one RBI). Hose, Kleinze, Daniel Peralta and Sinback finished with two hits each.