DJack Luca Catanzarite dives safely across home plate after hitting a triple in the fourth inning.
By Rich Bevensee
What started as a superb pitching duel concluded as a Diamond Jacks Super 16U fireworks display of extra base hitting that the ballclub hopes it can continue through the summer showcases.
Tall righty Owen Ehrenkranz was unhittable for three innings and his teammates took over from there, launching two homers and five more extra base hits over the next two innings as the Diamond Jacks closed out an undefeated weekend with a 7-4 victory over Northeast Pride ‘28 National in the Super 16 Invitational on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
The Diamond Jacks finished the weekend 3-0, beating Bucks County Generals Black and Body Armor Titans Quattrini earlier in the tournament. Northeast Pride closed the weekend 1-2.
The top five teams in the Super 16 Invitational qualify for the Super 25 Showcase Aug. 10-13.
Ehrenkranz, a 6-4, 195-pound righty and rising junior at Princeton Day, displayed impeccable command while throwing three shutout innings. He threw 28 pitches, 23 for strikes, while striking out four and allowing no hits and no walks.
“Ehrenkranz was absolutely unbelievable,” Diamond Jacks coach Walt Cleary said.
Matt Filiaci, a rising junior at Seton Hall Prep, hit a two-run home run in the fourth and Brogan Perreault, a rising junior at Liberty High in Bethlehem, Pa., smashed a three-run shot in the fifth to lead the Diamond Jacks offense.
Ehrkenkranz used a flurry of mid- to upper-80s fastballs and a sweeper as well as a new changeup to quiet the Pride. Not one batted ball left the infield.
“Throwing more pitches for strikes is something I’ve been working on – attacking the zone,” Ehrenkranz said. “It’s been working great for me and Coach Walt reinforces that. To me it’s just a mindset. Just attack and be aggressive and that’s all it is for me and it just flows together. It becomes strikes and eventually strikeouts with the stuff I have.”
Ehrkenkranz’ counterpart for Northeast, righty Walter McGinley, a rising junior at Mount Carmel High in Pennsylvania, was just as untouchable. He threw three shutout innings on just 27 pitches, striking out five while yielding one walk and no hits.
Once McGinley was removed for a relief pitcher, the Diamond Jacks pounced.
Luca Catanzarite, a rising junior at Immaculata and an interminably frustrating batter to face for opponents, led off the top of the fourth with a triple and raced home two pitches later on a wild pitch for a 1-0 Diamond Jacks lead.
Filiaci crushed a two-run homer to center and Connor Bresler doubled and later scored on a passed ball for a 4-0 lead.
Filiaci, a southpaw who considers himself a pitcher first, enjoyed a solid spring with Seton Hall, earning a 2.19 ERA over 22⅓ innings, fourth most on the team. But he also went 8-for-24 with three doubles as a designated hitter, showing he doesn’t have to be pigeonholed as a one-way player.
“I’m always hungry to hit,” Filiaci said. “Going outside with my dad (Steve Filiaci) and hitting every day, I just love hitting, probably the same amount as pitching. On the home run, I just like to hunt the fastball there on the first pitch and it worked out well today.”
The Diamond Jacks extended their lead to 7-0 in the fifth. Owen Rivenbark doubled, Jack Spitaleri tripled to center to drive in Rivenbark, and Perreault whipped a 2-2 pitch over the right field fence for a two-run homer. Perreault batted. 333 this spring for Liberty with nine doubles, two triples and a homer.
Matt Filiaci, front, and Brogan Perreault each hit homers for Diamond Jacks Super 16U.
Northeast Pride, a collection of talented players across Pennsylvania and New York, began to creep back into the ballgame in the fifth. Pinch-hitter Trey Mancini (no, not the Notre Dame grad and veteran Major Leaguer now with the Los Angeles Angels) doubled to lead off the fifth, stole third and scored on an error to break up the Diamond Jacks’ shutout bid.
In the sixth, Rudy Schouten, a rising junior at Port Jervis (N.Y.) High, crushed a three-run homer to get the Pride within 7-4.
After Ehrenkranz’ terrific outing, teammate Justin Nardi, a rising junior at Bridgewater-Raritan, pitched well for two innings, allowing one run on one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.
Jameson Bower, a rising junior at The Hun School of Princeton, closed out the game for the Diamond Jacks, going two innings and allowing three runs on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
When asked why Ehrenkranz was removed after pitching so well for three innings on just 28 pitches, Cleary explained that with ‘The Nation’ hosting the Super 17 Invitational this week and the Diamond Jacks preparing for two tournament trips to Georgia, the cautious approach was to spread out the work and save the arms so they last the summer.
“It’s a three game series and we have a lot of arms and we have a good amount of pitcher-only guys on this team,” Cleary said. “I am trying to get the guys to throw and get them to showcase in front of as many schools as possible and as many times as possible. Plus you want the pitchers to have as much longevity as possible.”
“I love getting three innings in for the team and I’m always hungry to pitch more but I have to keep it under control because what we’re really looking after is the events in Georgia,” Ehrenkranz said. “We’re a really good team. Once we get there we’ll let our guys loose.”
The Northeast’s Colin Fimbres was solid in relief of starter Bobby Grzenda, pitching around three walks to record two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.