The Diamond Jacks Super 13U squad pitched four shutouts en route to the Mid-Summer Classic title.
By Rich Bevensee
After watching his pitching staff rip through tournament pool play without allowing a single run, Diamond Jacks Super 13U coach Chris Banos picked the right man to slam an exclamation point on the weekend.
Since the Diamond Jacks had not played in a championship game since late March, Banos chose Jordan Vesey, a tall righthander with a cool temperament, to start the big game.
Vesey responded with more than just the team’s fourth shutout of the weekend. He buzzed through Connecticut Gators Orange en route to a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts and propelled the Diamond Jacks to a 6-0 triumph and the Mid-Summer Classic 13U Blue bracket title on Sunday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Vesey, named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, allowed just three walks and hit two batters. By employing a fastball which hovered in the low 70s and ticked 74, as well as a devastating changeup and curveball, Vesey’s final nine strikeouts caught batters looking.
“Everything was perfect,” Diamond Jacks catcher James Cokeley said. “He was controlling his fastball perfectly and his curveballs were in the right spots.”
“He had good velocity, he had depth on his curveball and he worked fast,” Gators coach Bill Asermely said. “He did a lot of good things.”
Said Diamond Jacks teammate Ryan Jezorwski, the only player in the title game with two hits, “Jordan was awesome. That’s the best I’ve ever seen him pitch.”
Gator baserunners reached third base in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but Vesey was unshakable, as Gators hitters went 0-for-6 with runners on third.
“The good thing about Jordan is that his heart rate is pretty even keel,” Banos said. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted him to pitch this game. We knew these guys haven’t been in a championship game in a while so they were super excited, but he was really, really low key. His heart rate didn’t go up or down. There were a couple situations where it could have gotten away from him, but he was able to take a deep breath and that’s what good pitching is all about.”
Vesey, who said he threw three or four no-hitters on a 12U field, pitched his first no-no on a 90-foot diamond.
“I was expecting to just compete. I wasn’t expecting to throw a no-hitter,” Vesey said. “I knew I had a no-hitter and it was hard not to think about it, but I tried to keep my composure. I feel accomplished. It was fun out there. I liked seeing their swings and misses.”
Vesey capped a weekend that Banos had never seen from a 13U ballclub. In beating Bucks County Generals Black, Hustle Baseball Academy, the Milltown Padres and the Gators, the Diamond Jacks threw a big goose egg at the opposition to the tune of 26-0 runs differential.
“We have been pitching very well lately but I don’t know how much better you could possibly do than what we did this weekend,” Banos said.
The title was especially satisfying for Banos and his players because they had not celebrated on the last day of a tournament weekend since March 24 when the Diamond Jacks captured the Battle At The Turf title. That’s a stretch of eight tournaments in which the Diamond Jacks have played well – they were 21-9 at Diamond Nation going into the Mid-Summer Classic – but not at a championship level.
This weekend the Diamond Jacks pitchers raised their game. Mason Matis pitched a complete-game, seven-inning effort in a 3-0 win over Bucks County. Bryson Auten pitched a five-inning, 8-0 shutout against Hustle. And Hank Kusant handled all five innings in a 9-0 verdict over the Padres.
Diamond Jacks righty Jordan Vesey was named MVP after pitching a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts.
“Especially since we haven’t been playing up to our capabilities, I give the guys a lot of credit because they just beared down this weekend and didn’t give up a run the entire tournament,” Banos said. “The pitchers attacked, which kept the defense engaged because we’re not walking people, and we saw some of the best hitting in a long time.”
As usual, Diamond Jacks leadoff hitter Chase Hallett acted as the offensive spark plug. In the bottom of the fourth inning he ignited a rally in which the team’s first eight batters reached safely to feed a six-run splurge.
To that point, Vesey was locked in a scoreless battle with Gators righty Nick Capozzi, who faced just two batters over the minimum in the first three innings.
In the bottom of the fourth, Hallett scrambled for an infield single and eventually scored from second on an infield error following an Auten grounder for a 1-0 lead.
In such a close game, it turned out that the lefty-hitting Jezorwski had the biggest hit of all, working to a full count before swatting a two-run single to left. In his previous at bat, Jezorwski knocked a single into shallow left.
“In BP before the games I don’t try to overdo it and hit home runs in the cage,” Jezorwski said. “I just try to keep it simple and go opposite field. That’s my mindset when I go to the plate.”
Kusant followed Jezorwski with an RBI single into left. Jezorwski then scored on a wild pitch and Cokeley knocked an opposite field RBI single into right.
That was all the support Vesey needed to bring the Diamond Jacks their first Diamond Nation title in their last eight appearances. In that span they reached the final once, in the Williams Harley Davidson event in late April, and they qualified for the Mother’s Day Classic playoffs in mid-May.
After that, the Diamond Jacks had not qualified for a Diamond Nation playoff until this weekend.
“I challenged the guys before the tournament,” Banos said. “I told them this losing stuff is over, we’re going to win this tournament. They took it to heart and now obviously they accomplished it.”
The Gators showed tremendous grit on the final day of the tournament. They went 3-0 in pool play to earn the second seed for the playoffs, and the championship game was their third game of the day in which the result was win-or-go-home.
The Gators and PA Shockers were both 2-0 going into their final pool play game, with the winner earning a playoff berth. The Gators advanced with a 9-1 win. In the semis the Gators brushed off the Dirty Dozen, 8-4.
“It was really good to see the toughness in them come out,” Asermely said. “It was nice playing against this Diamond Jacks team which plays fast. We play pretty fast but they play a little bit faster, and it made our guys play faster. To be able to play a team like this and compete with them, I’m really happy.”