Aiden Riley of Eastern Elite NE handles throw from shortstop Colton Simas for an out.
By Sean Reilly
Griffin Frenze was denied once in a key hitting situation on Saturday morning at Diamond Nation.
He was determined for it to not happen again, and he succeeded in a major way.
Freeze delivered a game-winning triple with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Eastern Elite NE 15 a 2-1 victory over Bonnies 15U in a very well-played game at the 15U Summer Finale White Division tournament, Powered By Victus, in Flemington.
His hit, a hard shot past shortstop which found the gap in left-center field, scored Aiden Riley, who led off the final half-inning of the game with a walk for the team from Rhode Island.
Frenze’s prior at-bat came with runners on first and third with two out in the fourth, with his team trailing, 1-0. He was denied by a split-second at first base due to an exceptional fielding play and throw by Bonnies shortstop Elliot Ross. He also struck out in an earlier at-bat.
Aiden Riley approaches the plate with winning run on Griffin Frenze’s game-winning triple.
“Not much was going right,” said Frenze, a Class of 2026 player from Coventry High School. “I was trying to figure out what was happening, but my teammates kept me up, and then I walked it off with a triple.”
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning. Jake Pratt reached on a one-out error for the Brooklyn-based Bonnies. Aaron Gonzalez walked, and after a strikeout, Ross delivered the only hit of the game for his team, a single that dropped into right field to score Pratt.
Eastern Elite NE was denied on the two-out play by Ross in the bottom of that frame, and the third out in the bottom of the fifth came on a throw to the plate when a runner tried to score from second after an infield hit by Anthony Burt.
Eastern Elite NE had better luck in the bottom of the sixth. Christian Terrizzi led off by legging out a single to shortstop. Colton Simas was hit by a pitch, and the runners advanced on a wild pitch.
The next batter hit a foul pop to the first baseman before Riley Wheeler hit a sacrifice fly to left field for a 1-1 tie.
When Frenze came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, he had a definite plan.
“I was looking for a fastball there,” he said. “I was going to adjust on an off-speed pitch, but I got one right on my hands, and I like those, and hit a triple. This was a great win. It’s electric.”
Other than the ending, the story of the game was the exceptional pitching on both sides.
Burt, a Class of 2026 righthander from West Warwick High School, pitched the first five innings, allowing the one hit and unearned run. He struck out 12 and walked one.
Shortstop Elliot Ross was a force on the field and at the plate for Bonnies 15U.
His initial reliever walked three before being replaced with one out in the top of the sixth. Mason Hunt then took over, and responded with a strike out looking and ground out to second. Hunt, who also plays at West Warwick, then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, with two more strikeouts.
Penn Jurgensen was strong in defeat for Bonnies 15U. He went the distance, allowing four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
Eastern Elite NE followed that win by gaining a 12-2 victory over the North Penn Cannoneers. Brett Knight was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a triple and one RBI and also pitched a four-inning three-hitter. Riley went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI.