The Diamond Jacks’ Julian Mendez ducks back to first base with the Braves’ Spencer Mongale manning the bag.
By Rich Bevensee
There are teams which need a few games, days or even weeks to shake off the rust after taking a month hiatus from the baseball field, and then there is the Diamond Jacks Super 14U squad.
Coach Luke Crawford allowed his players to take batting practice but asked them to rest their arms completely.
And yet nothing looked out of sync as the Diamond Jacks entered pool play in Diamond Nation’s Slugfest on Friday evening in Flemington.
Noah Komline and Nick Penna each had two hits to lead an offense which saw all 10 batters reach safely at least once, and right-hander Richie Adamczyk was as dependable as usual, permitting just two hits and one walk over his four innings of work. The result was an 8-1 Diamond Jacks victory over the Flores Baseball Braves in both teams’ fall season debut.
The Diamond Jacks completed a Friday doubleheader sweep by beating the South Jersey Young Guns, 6-1, later on Friday. They will complete pool play with a game against Locked In Baseball Expos Black on Saturday.
The 14U Slugfest semifinals are on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. and the championship game is at 6:30 p.m.
Against the Braves, the Diamond Jacks had seven players with base hits and five players who drove in a run. Penna and Luca Agosto both contributed two-run singles.
“Catching the barrel after not doing it in a long time feels amazing,” Komline said. “We’re a really good team and I don’t think we’ll ever lose our edge.”
“Doesn’t matter how much time this group takes off, the bats will always be there with these guys,” Crawford said.
Despite, or because of, resting his arm all of August, Adamczyk struck out six in his fall opener thanks to his usual command of his fastball, curveball, changeup and slider.
“I love that he can locate those two big pitches, his curveball and his fastball,” Crawford said. “When he has both of them he’s a scary pitcher. I would not want to face him.”
Because this is the Diamond Jacks’ second year on the 90-foot diamond, Crawford has asked Adamczyk to expand his pitch selection by starting batters with offspeed pitches, so as not to be predictable.
“He gets a little comfortable getting ahead with the hammer, but especially when we see bigger and better kids, we need to start them out with that curveball and work that fastball in later,” Crawford said.
Adamczyk said he has no problems with changing his mode of attack and steering away from first pitch fastballs.
“I am pretty comfortable that I can throw most of my pitches for strikes,” Adamczyk said. “I think throwing offspeed first would help me throughout the game.”
Tino Guidicipietro usually catches Adamczyk and said he agrees with Crawford that changing the pitch selection will help his teammate become even more effective.
“I always tell him I have his back and he loves the curveball so we throw that a lot,” Guidicipietro said. “His curveball was great, the fastball is always on, and we’re working on his two-seam. And if he can throw his changeup a lot more he’ll definitely be a threat. I would trust him with every single pitch.”
Luca Agosto drills a two-run single in the first inning for the Diamond Jacks.
Chase Samuelson threw the fifth and final inning for the Diamond Jacks, steering around two infield errors and a hit batsman to chalk up a scoreless frame with one strikeout.
Because Crawford gave everyone the green light to keep hitting during their late-summer break, Komline said he spent countless hours doing tee work in his garage with his dad, Brian, offering advice.
Komline also has the benefit of being able to seek counsel from a big brother who plays college ball. Kellan Komline recently graduated from Bridgewater-Raritan and now plays for Division 3 Babson in Wellesley, Mass. Kellan’s summer highlight was hitting a game-winning solo home run for Whitehouse Post 284 to beat Fairfield, Calif., 3-2, in the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C.
“I consider him one of my closest friends,” Noah Komline said. “I ask him about everything. He’s only pitching in college but I’m a pitcher, too, so we talk about that a lot.”
The Braves opened the game by scoring a single run in their first at bat, when leadoff man Jalen Bridges tripled and scored on a passed ball. But the Diamond Jacks broke the game open with a four-run bottom of the first and never trailed from there.
Julian Mendez singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch, Samuelson walked with the bases loaded and Agosto singled to left to drive in two and give the Diamond Jacks a 4-1 lead.
The lefty-hitting Penna roped a single to right to drive in two more runs in the second as the Diamond Jacks led 6-1.
An RBI double by C.J. Scheier and a run-scoring single from Diamond Jacks newcomer Jace Hernandez in the third inning pushed the lead to 8-1.
“I knew they’d be able to swing it,” Crawford said. “A lot of these guys get in work on their own all the time. I’m not going to stop them from hitting. I thought we ran the bases awesome, which is a big improvement from the summer.”