Anthony Paladino takes a cut for the 9ers in 13U Mid-Summer Classic.
By Rich Bevensee
A pair of unheralded relievers were two of the biggest reasons why a tie game felt like a triumph on either side of the diamond.
Tyler Stirk faced just one batter over the minimum in three shutout innings while preserving a deadlocked game for Connecticut Gators 13U Blue.
The 9ers’ Eddie Talucci danced a little closer to the fire than Stirk did, having to escape three straight innings with the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.
Both young men were exceptional under pressure on Saturday, and that’s why their coaches were singing their praises after the Gators and 9ers finished their Mid-Summer Classic pool play game in a 1-1 tie at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“Is today’s tie a good tie? Absolutely,” Gators coach Bill Asermely said. “One of the things we talk about is playing good baseball, inning by inning. They played great defense, filled up the strike zone, and we had guys on base. We just couldn’t get one more hit. Even though it’s a tournament and we want to win the tournament, it’s more important to play good baseball.”
Both teams are 0-1-1 in the 13U White pool with one game remaining on Sunday. The Gators take on Bergen Crush-Justin while the 9ers will face Wladyka American.
The Gators claimed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on P.J. Fallot’s two-out RBI groundout.
Talucci entered in the bottom of the fourth after his team tied the game at 1-1 thanks to a Jack Rutkowski RBI single in the top half of the inning. The fourth was Talucci’s easiest inning, as he pitched around a two-out walk.
From there, Talucci walked the proverbial tightrope in each of the final three frames. But he also stranded six runners, four of which were in scoring position.
“It’s pretty stressful,” said Talucci, who employed a four-seam fastball and changeup. “You know you have to pound the zone and you know you can’t give up any walks. I was really nervous. I had to step off a lot, take some time and some deep breaths to calm down.”
Stirk began working in the top of the fifth and rolled through a scoreless 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts.
The Gators loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a pair of two-out errors. But Talucci induced an infield popup to escape.
“It’s tough pitching in that situation but it’s nice to get out of that inning knowing that we got through it,” Talucci said.
Stirk, using his fastball and curveball, got two strikeouts in the sixth before yielding a two-out walk, but he ended the inning with an infield fly.
In the Gators’ half of the sixth, Max Yeater led off with a ringing single and advanced to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Ralph Lewis. Yeater got no further, as Talucci induced a fly ball and a line drive to escape danger.
“Eddie’s our workhorse. He’s our closer,” 9ers coach Nick Belka said. “Whenever he comes in you know he’s going to fill up the strike zone. It’s just a matter of if our offense is going to help him out and our defense makes some plays behind him.”
Stirk pitched a perfect seventh with a strikeout and two groundouts and handed off to his teammates one last time in hopes of finding Talucci’s weakness.
“It’s tough pitching when you know you can’t make a mistake, but you have to trust the infield and the outfield,” Stirk said. “I was a little nervous. I just tried to throw strikes. It’s a lot of fun being able to play here against good teams.”
“He’s actually our No. 4 guy,” Asermely said, “but he pitches better and better as he goes.”
In the bottom half, Jack Errico led off by reaching on an infield error and advanced to second on a balk with one out. Talucci actually battled Stirk, hitting in the No. 12 hole, for 10 pitches before retiring his counterpart on a fly to left. Talucci then induced a soft grounder for the final out.
“At the end of the day I know my defense is behind me and I leave it up to them to make plays,” Talucci said.
Belka, reminded that this team finished the season winless two years ago, was thrilled with Saturday’s result.
Belka said the team was continuing to build on last week’s performance, when it gave up 20 runs and lost its first two games in the Diamond Nation Youth World Series but won its next game after he implored his players to work hard for each other.
“They’ve come a long way,” Belka said. “What’s nice about this group is they’ve stuck together for the past three years. They have good chemistry. They feed off each other and the strides that they’ve made, it’s pretty fun to watch.”
For the 9ers, James Fahrion pitched the first two innings and gave up one run on two hits and three walks with one strikeout. Tyler Morton pitched a scoreless third inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.
For the Gators, A.J Darillo worked three scoreless innings while giving up one hit and no walks and striking out one. Aldo Maninno surrendered a run in his one inning of work on one hit and two walks.