Team Americans defeated Team Nationals in a nailbiter to secure the 13/14U All-Ripken title.
By Sean Reillly
No matter what happens going forward in his baseball career, Michael Gamboa Ordini will always remember the week he spent at Diamond Nation participating in the All-Ripken Games.
The first three days were already a fun-filled experience, taking part in player evaluations, games, and competing with new teammates that he’d otherwise never meet, all at a first-class facility he’d never visited before.
All of those things were special enough. But then came the ultimate moment — a Thursday afternoon at-bat on Field 1 at ‘The Nation.’
It was the championship game of the 13/14U bracket, there was one out in the bottom of the sixth and final inning, and Gamboa Ordini stepped to the plate in a pressure situation — the bases were loaded, and his Team Americans squad was trailing Team Nationals by a run.
The tying run scored on a balk. Gamboa Ordini, a Mercer County resident who plays travel ball for USA Prime, then sent a single to right-center field to give his team a 10-9 victory for the championship in Flemington.
“This whole week was amazing,” he said. “And that hit was probably the best feeling of my life.”
Team Americans went 5-0 during the week, outscoring its opponents 65-15. That included an 18-1 victory over Team Nationals in their prior meeting on Tuesday.
The championship matchup between the teams was very different. Team Nationals led for much of the game, and took a 9-8 advantage into the bottom of the sixth, which was the last inning due to the expiration of the 1:50 play clock.
The comeback couldn’t have happened without clutch at-bats from the bottom three hitters in the lineup: one-out singles by Evan Koshy, Antoine McCrory and Gavin Finer which loaded the bases.
“That was a great job for them to get on base,” Gamboa Ordini said. “They were clutch when they needed to be.”
Those hits sent up Gamboa Ordini, who had been hit by a pitch and flied out to center and also to right in his three prior at-bats. He had also been 3-for-6 prior to that in the tournament.
The balk changed the complexion of the at-bat. It changed his hitting approach, and also forced the infield to play in. The defensive positioning didn’t matter, however, on his hit into the gap to score McCrory with the winning run.
“At first, I was trying to hit a ball into the gap,” Gamboa Ordini said. “Once the balk tied it, I was trying to hit it to the right side. There was also less pressure.”
Team Americans rolled through its first four games, but this one was quite different from the start. Team Nationals scored four runs in the top of the first, on a pair of two-run doubles — one near the left-field line by Mack Chiavarone, and the other near the right-field line by Charlie Mahoney.
Team Americans got two of those runs back in the bottom of the frame, when Mason Matis reached on a throwing error to first on a grounder with men on second and third.
Team Americans went ahead, 5-4, in the bottom of the second. Koshy led off with a walk and McCrory reached on an error.
That sent up Tyler Cerutti, who hit a three-run inside-the-park home run to center field. It was part of a 3-for-3 championship game, and 7-for-11 tournament, with hits in his final six at-bats, for Cerutti.
“He gave me a first-pitch curveball,” he said. “I laid off of it, because I knew he would eventually give me a fastball. When I saw that fastball, I jumped on it, thinking right-center field to make sure I didn’t pull my head off it or foul it off. Once it got past the center fielder, I was on my horse trying to round the bases. It was super-exciting.”
Cerutti visits Diamond Nation often while competing for his travel team, the Morris County Cubs.
Cerutti also had a great time at the All-Ripken Games, including the fact that he was teammates with four members of the rival Diamond Jacks.
“It was kind of weird playing with the Diamond Jacks players, because normally I’m trying to beat them. It was nice to play and meet so many great players. Everyone on our team was really good. It was a really fun experience.”
Team Nationals bounced back after the home run by scoring four times in the fourth for an 8-5 lead.
Mahoney singled in the tying run with one out, Rocco Scerbo hit an RBI base hit over shortstop and into left field for the lead, Jakob Sung drew a RBI walk and Henry Castillo had a run-scoring hit on the left-side of the infield, between pitcher and shortstop.
Team Americans scored three in the bottom of the fifth for an 8-8 tie. Andrew Wheeler hit an RBI double to right-center and scored when Nick Stangota reached on an outfield error. He then scored on a base hit to center by Connor Lahey.
Team Nationals, however, took a 9-8 lead in the top of the sixth. Scerbo tripled to center with two out, and scored when Jackson Allen followed with a single to center. Allen finished 2-for-2 with a walk, and also threw out a runner trying to steal third for the third out in the Americans’ three-run fifth.
The game was decided, though, by Gamboa Ordini’s heroics in the sixth.
“The experience of all of this is great,” he said. “We had a lot of fun. Everything that we did, from the first moment, we bonded. Playing the game of baseball is so much fun, and playing here was really nice.”