Bell Ringers’ Nico Cappello takes a big cut against Yorktown Huskers in Home Run Classic.

By Rich Bevensee

Justin Giglio and his Yorktown Huskers 14U ballclub found it incredibly frustrating to warm up for their tournament game and then sit for two hours in the dugout while waiting out a rain delay.

Such is spring/summer ball in the northeast.

Luckily, this Huskers team from New York has been together for some time now – most of them played in Cooperstown two years ago – so they know how to keep themselves entertained. 

And what better way to break up the boredom and frustration of a lengthy rain delay than to play tic-tac-toe with the other team, Bell Ringers Maroon of Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. The teams threw a baseball back and forth between dugouts and filled in the squares to pass the time. 

Once it was game time – again – Giglio refocused his energies and battled through challenging conditions to limit the Bell Ringers to three hits over four innings and lead the Huskers to a 9-1, five-inning pool play victory in the Home Run Classic on Saturday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington. 

“The rain made it worse because I had to sit for two hours and then had to warm up again and pitch in heavy rain,” Giglio said. “But you can’t control the weather. I just had to pitch the best I could.”

The Huskers’ Gabe Pena dives back to first with the Bell Ringers’ Tyler Noone holding the bag.

Giglio, a freshman at Yorktown HIgh who played freshman and JV ball this spring, allowed one run over four innings on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts on 74 pitches. Alex Busch retired one batter in the fifth and A.J. Marcello finished off the game.

Even after the storm delay was over, the teams played in a steady rainfall for the first four innings. Not until the final inning did the rain dissipate. 

“To pitch in those conditions has to be the hardest thing to do in baseball,” Yorktown coach Josh Wolfson said. “Justin couldn’t really feel his curveball but he was able to throw the fastball for strikes early in the count and get ahead. He figured out a way to get through four innings. He battled through those conditions so I was proud of him.”

Offensively for the Huskers, Will Wolfson sliced an opposite-field, two-run triple which broke the game open in the top of the fifth. He also stole home and made a terrific sliding catch in center field in the fourth. 

Carlo Palumbo went 2-for-2 and singled in a run for the Huskers, Ryan Ciamei had an RBI double, and Brennan MacDonald drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Yorktown also took advantage of three unearned runs. 

Yorktown, which enjoyed a fabulous summer last season and finished 30-6, is off to a 7-0 start this season. Most of the players have been together since 8U, Josh Wolfson said.

“We’ve been playing together for a long time and we’ve known each other for years, so we have good chemistry as a team,” Will Wolfson said. “It’s pretty difficult to get ready twice for a game because you’re all warmed up and about to start and your energy is high and you have to sit and then get back to that. But we were having fun in the dugout. We just had to stay active, stay excited.”

“In the dugout it was like we were all back in Cooperstown again with the bunks and stuff,” Josh Wolfson said. “Keeping them occupied is a pain in the neck but they worked it out. I told them we drove two hours, we waited two hours, and now we have to play for two hours so give it everything you’ve got.”

Yorktown seized the lead in its first at bat when leadoff hitter Palumbo singled and soon scored on an outfield error after a single by Gabe Pena. MacDonald then drove in Pena with sac fly for a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Ciamei drove in Busch with a double to left center and later scored on an infield error for a 4-1 cushion.

The Bell Ringers managed their only run off Giglio in the second when he surrendered a triple, a walk and a hit batsman and he walked Tyler Noone with the bases loaded. 

From there, Giglio gave up two hits and no walks over his final two innings. 

Yorktown catcher Brennan MacDonald congratulates Justin Giglio on another well-pitched inning.

“The rain would make the ball slip and the ball would be wet every time it hit the grass,” Giglio said. “The fastball was working after the rain stopped. My changeup was working very well today. The curveball is usually one of my best pitches but wasn’t today, but the change was working well. 

“Since I didn’t have my curveball I just threw other pitches and I found the zone. That’s what I usually do. I start early in the count and keep throwing strikes. That’s very important.”

Yorktown picked up a run in the fourth on a Palumbo RBI single, then put the game out of reach with a four-run fifth.

Tommy Braig singled in a run, Wolfson cranked his two-run triple into the left field corner and stole home one batter later.

For the Bell Ringers, Nolan Robl pitched the first inning and allowed two runs, one earned, and Giacomo Commerci pitched two innings and also surrendered two runs, one earned. Samuel Greco allowed five runs, four earned, over the final two frames. 

Ryan Raftovich tripled for the Bell Ringers while Greco and Reid Forster were the only other players to pick up a base hit.