By Sean Reilly
The fall portion of the baseball season offers players different ways to approach the game after a summer loaded with what’s often weeklong competition, sometimes in different parts of the country.
In the case of Andrew Crowley, a member of the Diamond Jacks Gold 16U and a student at Pingry School, it’s a chance to focus on practice and mechanics during the week, and letting loose in game competition over the weekend.
That’s exactly what he did Friday through Sunday, as he was among the leaders when the DJacks Gold 16U were dominant in four games at Diamond Nation to capture the 16U Fall Fury championship.
After winning their three pool games by a combined score of 25-2, the DJacks earned the No. 1 playoff seed and corresponding slot in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
The outcome of the title game was an 11-1, four-inning victory over the Warehouse Dust Devils Black.
Crowley was 2-for-2 in the game, with a walk, one run and three RBI. For the tournament, he went 5-for-8 with four walks and six RBI.
“I was seeing the ball really well out of the pitcher’s hand,” he said. “Since it’s not really summer anymore, I’m putting in a lot of work during the week. I don’t have another sport to play, so this is fun for me. I’m doing it because I love it.”
While the Dust Devils ran short of pitching in the final, which was their third game of the day, the DJacks were playing only once on Sunday. That was because the DJacks played their first two pool games on Friday night, and drew the top seed in the three-team playoff through their superior play after winning again on Saturday.
The DJacks began the tournament with a combined no-hitter on Friday, with Tristan Ovalle throwing five innings and T.J. Dally pitching the last two in a 4-0 victory over the Warehouse Dust Devils Purple.
The remaining three contests featured complete-game pitching efforts, with Jack Caulfield going all four innings in a 12-2 win over the NJ Rising Rebels 16U on Friday and Andy Ruppe pitching all five frames in a 9-0 triumph over the LIB Expos Blue on Saturday.
In the final, Max Syryca pitched a four-hitter, with no strikeouts and one walk.
The Dust Devils entered the final game full of momentum, after a 12-11 semifinal win over Wladyka American, in which the Dust Devils scored five times in the bottom of the fifth for a 9-9 tie, surrendered two runs in the top of the sixth and final inning, and then scored three times in the bottom of the inning to win it. A.J. Sicinski hit a two-run game-winning single.
Andrew Crowley went 5-for-8 with four walks and six RBI for the Diamond Jacks Gold 16U.
The Dust Devils took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second in the final. Josh Carreras drew a leadoff walk and stole second. He moved toward third on a groundout to third, and scored after an errant throw from first across the diamond.
After that, it was all Diamond Jacks, beginning with a three-run third inning.
With the bases loaded and one out, Crowley walked on a 3-1 pitch to score Michael Schiaretti with the tying run. Schiaretti led off the inning with a bunt single.
Ruppe followed Crowley by getting hit by a pitch to score Dally, who had walked, with the go-ahead run. Brett Meyers hit an infield single to score Ovalle, who had singled, with the third run.
The game ended when the DJacks scored eight more runs for the 10-run lead in the fourth inning.
The inning featured a two-run single from Crowley, a two-run double from Antonio Padilla and game-ending RBI single by Matthew Hauck.
“It was amazing to have my work pay off,” Crowley said. “Usually there’s something I feel like I need to change, but right now I’m feeling really comfortable.”