By Rich Bevensee
It would have been enough for any team to begin folding its tents after seeing an opponent launch two impressive solo home runs in the top of the first inning. That kind of power display has bad omen written all over it.
Joe Vigeant’s Eastern Elite NE 15U ballclub is not one of those teams.
Eastern Elite, hailing from Coventry, Rhode Island, not only responded with some high-powered offense of its own, it produced a pair of rallies which completely altered the momentum of the game.
Aiden Riley smacked a two-run home run and collected four RBI in the first two innings, Colton Simas blazed around the bases for a two-run, inside-the-park homer, and Eastern Elite ran away with a 12-5, four-inning victory over the New York Prospects of Staten Island to claim the 15U White bracket title of the Week 2 Summer Finale on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“I have ultimate faith in them, I really do,” Vigeant said. “Up and down the lineup we put the bat on the ball, so I wasn’t really overly concerned. Thankfully there was no one on base when they hit those home runs and it was early in the game. We still had seven chances to hit so I had faith in our guys, and the bats came alive and that’s that.”
Vigeant’s crew, which scored five runs in the first inning and six more in the second, improved to 16-7-1 after winning its first title of the summer.
Riley, a rising sophomore at Coventry High, hit his first homer of the summer in a pool play game on Saturday before going deep again on Sunday. He said the team never lost faith despite the early deficit, and it also drew some motivation from the Prospects’ home run celebrations.
Garret Cruz and Sean Mezzasalma both rocketed solo homers in the top of the first to give the Prospects a 2-0 lead.
“When we heard both those kids screaming they had never done that before – hit two homers in the same inning – it lit us up,” Riley said. “We figured if they’re going to be like this, we have to respond. They got quiet pretty quick.”
Those two homers were all the damage the Prospects would do for a while. Eastern Elite righty starter Mason Hunt hit a batter after Mezzasalma’s homer, then retired the next seven while his team went to work, scoring 11 runs in the first two frames.
Anthony Burt, a rising sophomore at West Warwick, was named by Vigeant as Eastern Elite’s Most Valuable Player of the season. Burt earned the victory in the team’s first pool play game against the Bonnies, a 2-1 win, by striking out 12 in five innings.
“Once we started hitting we found out the pitcher wasn’t that intimidating on the mound, and hitting is contagious,” Burt said. “We pick each other up all the time. We picked up Mason. Once he started throwing strikes and getting guys out in the second we knew we were fine.”
Hunt, a rising sophomore at West Warwick, said he was furious with himself after allowing a two-homer inning to start the game, but he found a way to calm himself down and quiet the Prospects lineup for a while.
“I was trying to control my emotions after the home runs, which was pretty hard,” Hunt said. “I was mad, but I used that to throw strikes the next inning. I took a lot of speed off just to get the contact, and I tried to change my mindset. I had to calm myself down, not let anything bother me and throw strikes.”
Hunt retired seven straight before tiring in the fourth, when he yielded three runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman. But it was his calm demeanor on the mound between the first and fourth innings which gave his team a chance to get back into the game.
Eastern Elite’s NE 15U’s Anthony Burt was named MVP of the 15U White Summer Finale.
“He’s one of the guys I don’t get too concerned about regarding his emotions,” Vigeant said. “He looks the same at all times. He came into the dugout after the first and I said to him, ‘Nothing to be concerned about,’ and he said, ‘I know, coach.’ If it could have happened to anyone on my team I’d want it to happen to him.”
Another highlight in the 11-run blitz which bridged the first and second innings was Simas’ two-run spin around the bases, his second inside-the-park trip of the summer. It gave Eastern Elite a 7-2 lead.
Simas is reclassing as a freshman and transferring from Bishop Hendricken in Warwick, R.I., to Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
“Rounding first I knew I had a shot,” Simas said. “Once I see that I put my head down and keep running. I’m watching my third base coach but I’m just blazing around the bases.”
Riley Wheeler jump-started the Eastern Elite offense in the first inning with a one-out RBI single. With two outs, Aiden Riley sent a liner through the middle for a two-run single and a 3-2 Eastern lead. Griffin Frenze roped an RBI triple into right field, and he soon scored on a throwing error following a Christian Terrizzi ground ball.
In the second Simas, Eastern’s leadoff hitter, lasered a shot to dead center to generate his two-run trip around the bases. Bronx DiScullio scored on an infield fielding error and Wheeler crossed on a wild pitch before Riley walloped his two-run bomb for an 11-2 Eastern Elite lead.
“They definitely had my back, getting hits at the right time and scoring runs,” Hunt said.
Braeden Geer added another run for Eastern Elite in the third by scoring on an infield error. Of the 12 runs the Prospects yielded, six were earned.
The Prospects showed some life before bowing out with a three-run rally in the top of the fourth. Lucas Nunez and Andrew Griletti both had RBI singles and Anthony Garofalo had an RBI groundout.
Frenze came on in relief of Hunt in the fourth and retired all three batters he faced to end the game. First baseman Riley chipped in with a defensive gem for the third out, diving to his right to stop a Vincent Guiffredo grounder and tossing to Frenze to get the out.
J.P. Nicolaou, Cruz and Garofalo each pitched two-thirds of an inning for the Prospects, and Giuffredo pitched the final inning for the Prospects, which entered the final 3-0 in pool play.