By Sean Reilly
The Grit 10U Black was minus three regular players when it took on the Flemington Raritan Baseball Red Devils on Sunday in the final of the Diamond Nation 10U Mid-Summer Classic.
With Declan Gill in the lineup, it didn’t seem to matter.
Gill, the Rockland County (N.Y.) team’s center fielder and cleanup hitter, made a huge defensive play in the top of the first inning, and then went 3-for-3, with an RBI triple, inside-the-park home run and bunt single as Grit gained an 8-2 victory for the championship.
“This was a fun weekend,” he said. “It feels great to win a Diamond Nation championship, especially with my team. We battled hard the whole weekend. I look forward to coming here every year. All of the fields are beautiful, and I love playing on turf. Plus, I get to wear my new turf cleats.”
Grit went 4-0 on the weekend, with a 41-14 run differential. Two players were unavailable due to Little League obligations, and a third was injured.
It was up to others to pick up the slack, and no one did so more than Gill, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
He went 11-for-13 during the tourney, with six runs and six RBI, with two doubles, two triples and two home runs. He also pitched a two-hitter with nine strikeouts and no walks in a 6-1 pool win over East End Baseball Academy.
The FRB Red Devils had a runner on second with two out in the top of the first when Dylan Fiorentino hit a full-count single to center field. Gill fielded the ball and threw a seed to catcher Christian Ekizian, who applied a tag on the sliding runner for the third out.
“I didn’t think I was going to get him at home,” Gill said. “I handled it and kind of fumbled it, but I chucked it home and we got him out. It felt great to help out in different ways.”
In the bottom of the inning, the first two Grit batters were retired before Ekizian singled to left field. Gill then hit an RBI stand-up triple to center. Nathan Alexander was up next, and delivered an RBI single to center.
Declan Gill of Grit 10U Black was named 10U Mid-Summer Classic MVP.
Grit scored five times in the second inning for a 7-0 lead.
Eddie Milano led off by hitting a ball past third base and into the left-field corner for a double. He went to third on a wild pitch with Nicholas Oliva at the plate.
Oliva hit a ground ball to shortstop, and a throw home was too late to get Milano. Alexander Kim then dropped a bunt single down the third base line to put runners on first and second for Dom Caldas.
Caldas hit a two-run double to left-center, and he went to third on a wild pitch with Jack Hartnett at the plate. Hartnett hit an RBI groundout to second base for a 6-0 lead.
After the next batter grounded out, Gill sent a ball into the gap in right-center, and circled the bases for his home run and a seven-run lead.
“The triple and the home run felt really good,” Gill said. “I just got the barrel on the ball and put it in the gap.”
The Red Devils scored twice in the fourth. James Bowen hit a run-scoring double to center field with one out. The next batter was Fiorentino, and he drove in Bowen with a double to center.
Grit scored its final run in the fourth, when Silas Pearson hit a liner that the third baseman couldn’t catch for an RBI single.
Pearson pitched all six innings for the victory. He allowed eight hits, with three strikeouts and one walk. Of his 15 non-strikeout outs, 11 came on ground balls, and his defense committed just one error.
Bowen and Fiorentino both went 2-for-2 for the Red Devils.
Aside from Gill, Kim finished 2-for-3 for Grit.