GoWags 12U Black scored 41 runs in five games to wrap up the 12U Spring Swing championship.
By Rich Bevensee
Jake Stuart never started a championship game, but he got the nod Sunday even though GoWags 12U National coach Dustyn Solomon had a surplus of experienced arms ready for the final.
That’s how much confidence Solomon has in his pitching corps.
The untested Stuart proved his mettle for the big stage, throwing a complete game three-hitter to pace second-seeded GoWags 12U Black to a 4-1 victory over eighth-seeded NY Empire 12U National in the 12U Spring Swing championship game at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“After the second game coach told me I was on the mound for the championship,” Stuart said. “I was excited but I wasn’t nervous. It’s just a game. I just felt it, it came to me and I pitched it.”
“I like that he was able to compete in the zone, he limited his walks, made them hit and we played really good defense behind him,” Solomon said.
Stuart surrendered one hit and three walks and he struck out four in 83 pitches, mixing a fastball, changeup and curveball.
He gave up a run in the fourth on an RBI double by FDR Rotroff, and that was all Empire could muster until the sixth when the Manhattan-based group singled twice and had the tying run at the plate with two out.
Stuart struck out the final batter looking at a changeup to clinch GoWags’ second tournament title of the season. They won the Big Show Spring Fling two weeks ago in Leesport, Penn.
“We’ve played in some good tournaments so it was good to see him get a chance in a big game,” Solomon said. “We build our teams around pitching, so if somebody doesn’t have a day we can move someone else in. We had an arm warm should he be needed but I wanted to give him every chance to finish.”
GoWags, from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, just outside Harrisburg, improved to 10-2-1 overall. They rolled through five games unbeaten and reached the final by piling up 37 runs in four games.
In the Gold Bracket playoffs, GoWags overcame some unearned runs to slip past the seventh-seeded NY Prospects, 11-10, in the quarterfinals, and knocked off sixth-seeded Diamond Jacks Super 12U, 9-1.
GoWags was held to just six hits in the final, but Anthony Andrisano III stayed hot by going 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI. His two-run double in the first inning broke open the scoring and was all GoWags would need.
Jake Stuart, left, pitched a three-hitter and Anthony Andrisano had two doubles and two RBI to lead GoWags 12U Black in the Spring Swing championship game.
“Every practice we hit a lot. It’s pretty important,” said Andrisano, who went 5-for-12 with three doubles, three RBI and seven runs scored this weekend. “Last year we were really good at hitting, and the whole winter we just hit the entire time.”
“We’ve got a pretty good offense,” Solomon said. “We’re a pretty deep lineup. The top of our lineup carries us sometimes, and obviously the bottom needs to do its part.”
In the bottom of the first inning, Nick Melasecca doubled and Billy Messick was hit by a pitch before Andrisano drove them both home with a double to center. Stuart added an RBI groundout for a 3-0 lead.
Andrisano was in the middle of the scoring again in the third when he doubled and eventually scored on a Connor McCormick groundout.
Empire limited the damage in that inning when center fielder
Kaden Mirza caught Logan Preston’s fly ball for the second out and made a sensational throw home to nail Stuart trying to tag and score.
GoWags defense was equally as impressive. Shortstop Jax Solomon was errorless in three chances and was the pivot man on a 1-6-3 double play. Catcher Nick Melasecca cut down two runners at second.
Considering that GoWags mowed through four opponents to reach the final, Empire pitching did an exceptional job quieting that explosive attack in the final.
“That is kids being ready to compete,” Empire coach Chris Carrano said. “Understanding they had a shot to be on the bump and they didn’t shy away from the challenge.”
Nathan Sciaraffo pitched the first three innings and gave up four runs on five hits and two walks with one strikeout.
The smallest guy on the field, righty Mateo Ascunce, took over in the fourth and pitched two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, one walk and one hit batter.
“Definitely the smallest kid, powered by Skittles, except the purple ones, he always hands those to me,” Empire coach Chris Carano said. “Just a lot of guts. That’s what we look for.”
Empire’s journey to the championship game began as an unlikely one after getting hammered, 10-1, by the Chester County Bobcats of Chester Springs, Pa., in their first pool game.
Empire quickly rebounded with an 11-1 decision over Team Central and earned the eighth and final seed for the 12U Gold Bracket playoff.
In the playoffs, Empire knocked off top-seeded Diamond Jacks Gold, 9-5, in the quarterfinals, and blew past the fourth-seeded Boyertown Bears, 13-2, in the semifinals.
Going from getting blown out in your first game to an eighth seed to the championship game is an unlikely path given the level of competition at Diamond Nation.
“After our first game I told them to go play baseball like you always do,” Carrano said. “They’re 12 years old, that happens. Adversity comes. They were down because they thought they couldn’t win like they usually do. I tell them a lot, you take a step back or you put your head in the ring and go compete.”