By Rich Bevensee
The most difficult part of Noah Feit’s weekend was not grinding through five baseball games in two days. It was not facing the Out Of The Park Cyclones, a nationally ranked 14U program based in Green Brook. Nor was it battling through two straight days of non-ideal weather which made every pitch, every play, an adventure.
No, the most challenging part of Feit’s weekend was the 2.5-mile walk along local roadways from his hotel to Diamond Nation in Flemington on Saturday morning.
Feit’s family was not having car trouble. Feit, the No. 3 hitter and first baseman for the Bulldogs Baseball Academy 14U Showcase squad, walked to the Nation with his mother because of a religious observation forbidding them from riding in a car on Saturdays.
“I wasn’t nervous about being ready for the game,” Feit said. “I was nervous because there was no shoulder on some of the roads, and there were some cars driving right next to us. That was scary.”
Feit performed well in his team’s 8 a.m. game that morning against Diamond Jacks White, going 2-for-2 with five walks and three stolen bases.
In fact, he was a major source of production for the Bulldogs the entire weekend. And that’s why, after Feit contributed an RBI double in the Bulldogs’ 9-2 victory over Wladyka American in the championship game of the Nation’s Grand Slam Powered By Cortes and Hay on Sunday, Feit was a clear selection as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“Being named the MVP means I was able to come out and be here for my team and win a really fun tournament,” Feit said. “This is probably one of the nicest tournaments, if not the nicest that we’ve been to. They have great fields here, OOTP was nationally ranked on PG (69th), and we played under the lights for a championship game. It was a really great experience to be out here.”
That victory by the Bulldogs, by the way, ended Out Of The Park’s incredible 43-game winning streak at Diamond Nation and a stunning nine straight championships.
In making the one-hour walk to ‘The Nation,’ Feit and his mother were observing Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest which begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. Driving – and riding – in a motor vehicle on Shabbat is generally prohibited. This is because the internal combustion engine in a car burns gas, which is considered a fire, and lighting a fire is forbidden on Shabbat.
Because tournament baseball obviously involves Saturdays, Feit said he’s become accustomed to the walking routine, arduous as it may seem.
“I’m getting more used to those walks,” said Feit. “Earlier when I started doing them I would be tired, but I’ve gotten used to it over time.”
Feit, properly rested for Sunday’s eventual three-pack of games, pitched against OOTP in his team’s first game at 8 a.m. and struck out 10 in 6⅔ innings while allowing two hits and a walk. He also smacked a two-run double.
“He’s a committed kid,” Bulldogs coach Steve Fugarino said. “He’s obsessed with baseball. He doesn’t know how not to play hard.”
Led by Feit and managed by Fugarino, the Bulldogs made their Diamond Nation debut by finishing the weekend 5-0 and improving their fall record to 10-1. They outscored five opponents 34-16.
The Bulldogs knocked off Diamond Jacks White, 5-4, N.Y. Prospects, 13-6, and OOTP Prospects, 3-1, to earn the top seed for the four-team playoff, then edged Slim’s Chance Bulldogs Black, 4-3, in the semifinals.
Fugarino said the Bulldogs have enjoyed this winning trend since spring baseball began. This summer the ballclub from White Plains, N.Y., won among many accolades, including the Greater Hudson Valley League title and a tournament title in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
“Our pitching rotation is really deep – we have four or five guys who can be an ace any given day – and we put the ball in play a lot,” said Fugarino, who with John Bivas founded the Bulldogs program. “Defensively we could be stronger, but we’re an athletic group and the kids really play really hard.”
Noah Feit of Bulldogs Baseball was named the 14U Grand Slam Most Valuable Player.
Speaking of pitching, Gio Giordano was marvelous on the bump for the Bulldogs. Even though slippery baseballs robbed him of throwing an effective curveball, Giordano relied on his fastball, changeup and knuckleball to allow two unearned runs on three hits and no walks while striking out seven over 6⅔ innings.
With two out in the top of the seventh and Wladyka runners on first and third, John Crowley relieved Giordano and got the final out to clinch the title.
“I had to switch out the balls a lot because it was super wet,” Giordano said. “I couldn’t get the grip on the curveball because of how wet it was and the seams weren’t very high. It was tough but it wasn’t impossible.”
Wladyka began the game with Bobby Chon and Cash Fletcher each getting a base hit and moving to second and third on an Aaron Bishop sacrifice bunt, but that was the closest Wladyka would get to scoring an earned run off Giordano.
“My fastball I had pretty good control over, I had a changeup which was throwing kids off, and toward the end I was throwing my knuckleball because I realized my curveball wasn’t working,” Giordano said. “Coach came to me in the fourth and asked me if I wanted to try my knuckleball. He’s seen me throw it but not in a game because I’m new to the team. I was very excited.”
“Gio’s a fastball-knuckleball pitcher,” Fugarino said. “He had trouble throwing his curveball in the rain but he was shoving it with the fastball. His ball moves and he throws a lot of strikes. He is a competitive kid who’s not afraid of the barrel. We tell the kids, ‘Pitch to contact,’ and he did that all night.”
Perhaps realizing third-seeded Wladyka was up to the task – it was 3-0-1 going into the final, having beaten second-seeded Baseball U-Philly in the semis, and it attacked Giordano early – the Bulldogs struck quickly with four runs in the bottom of the first.
John Olson scored on a throwing error on Brooks Gessa’s grounder. Feit doubled in Gessa and soon scored on an error on Kingston Lee’s grounder. And Billy Siegrist doubled to score Lee for a 4-0 Bulldogs lead.
Wladyka climbed back into the ballgame when the Bulldogs had some fielding troubles of their own. Anthony Romano scored on an error on Jake Freeman’s grounder, and Freeman crossed on an error on Ben Yanowitz’ grounder, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-2.
That’s where the Bulldogs stood firm and found their defensive footing. Starting with the last out of the second inning, Giordano retired 14 straight Wladyka batters.
Meanwhile, John O’Sullivan had an RBI single in the third. Feit added a sacrifice fly and Gessa scored on a wild pitch in the fourth.
And in the sixth, Gessa crossed again on a wild pitch and Crowley forced in a run with a bases loaded walk.