By Sean Reilly
The Diamond Jacks 10U has had a fine season, full of fun times and noticeable player development.
The only problem along the way was that the team, while winning plenty of games, had not experienced the thrill of winning a tournament.
That changed on Sunday at Diamond Nation, when the DJacks won twice to complete a four-game weekend sweep to the championship of the 10U Father’s Day Classic, Powered By Pure Rush.
The capper was an 11-1, four-inning win over the Ghost Valley Dawgs from Pennsylvania in the final. It came immediately after a 12-4 victory over the Yorktown Huskers from New York City in the semifinals.
The DJacks, who are 21-11 on the season, had several tournament runner-up finishes this spring at ‘The Nation.”
But this tournament was different, thanks in part to Scott Tiger, who pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and four walks, and also went 2-for-2 with an RBI single and two-run double.
He was selected co-MVP of the tournament, along with catcher Brady Jezorwski.
“I owe it to my catcher and my teammates on the field behind me,” Tiger said. “Getting a lead in the first inning also made it easier. It makes me play better knowing that my team has me.”
Dads join the battery of Scott Tiger and Brady Jezorwski, named Father’s Day Classic co-MVPs.
“We work really well together,” said Jezorwski of his teamwork with Tiger. “The most important thing is that we have fun.”
The Ghost Valley Dawgs used a walk to Kellen Young, single by Jace Osowski and walk to Braxton Llewellyn to load the bases with one out in the top of the first. Tiger escaped the jam by striking out the next two batters.
The DJacks had better luck in the bottom of the inning, by scoring three times with two out.
John Lyons drew a one-out walk, and after a strikeout, Lucas Julian also walked. The runners then advanced to second and third on a passed ball. Tiger was up next, and he hit a single up the middle that was stopped by the shortstop, but scored Lyons. Julian and Tiger wound up scoring on wild pitches with Michael Botti at the plate.
After Tiger struck out the side in the top of the second, the DJacks added four more runs in the bottom of the inning.
Joe Sullivan tripled to right field with one out, and Will Crowley followed with an RBI single to center. Evan Pfitzenmayer walked, and a wild pitch scored Crowley before Christopher D’Urso walked.
Gavin Feehan hit a sacrifice fly to score Pfitzenmayer, and a wild pitch with Aiden Spisso at-bat scored D’Urso for a 7-0 lead.
Tiger ran his consecutive strikeout string to seven by getting the first two batters looking to start the third. Luke Grzenda then singled on a slow-roller to shortstop before Tiger got the third out on a pitcher-to-first grounder.
The DJacks added two more runs in the bottom of the third.
Lyons hit a leadoff single to center, and moved to third on two passed balls before Jezorwski walked. After a foul out to first base, Tiger ripped a two-run double to center.
After the first two Valley Dogs were retired in the fourth, Deklyn Ork walked and stole second before scoring on a single to right field from Marco Giamoni.
The DJacks ended the game via the mercy rule after scoring twice in the bottom of the inning.
Sullivan (2-for-2) led off with a single to second base. He stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Sullivan scored on a ball four wild pitch to Crowley.
Crowley moved to second when Pfitzenmayer grounded out, and the game ended when D’Urso hit an RBI single to center.
The DJacks ended the tournament with a 56-12 run differential. They also scored multiple runs in 14 of the 16 innings in which they hit, and totaled 41 hits. Among the offensive leaders was Sullivan, who went 7-for-9 over the weekend.
“Winning our first championship feels great,” Jezorwski said. “It’s something we waited for.”