Diamond Jacks Super 13U won the Fall Brawl title to close out its first season on a 90-foot diamond.
By Rich Bevensee
At no time did Jairo Labrador – or any of the Diamond Jacks coaches at Diamond Nation – believe that the current crop of 13U ballplayers were unprepared for success when they made the transition to a 90-foot diamond this fall.
From the time they begin their tutelage in the program, young players are coached to be better and want more, sometimes in the face of difficult challenges, and on-field success is one of the many products of that desire.
But what Labrador and the Diamond Jacks Super 13U ballclub accomplished this weekend amounts to more than just desire. The Diamond Jacks reached championship status in two short months of learning all the subtleties of playing on the big field.
Led by Ryan Beardsley and Liam Schenkel, the Diamond Jacks concluded their fall season just like they ended their summer season – with a tournament title – after a 6-4, five-inning victory over the Disla Dukes of Florham Park in the 13U Fall Brawl final on Sunday at ‘The Nation’ in Flemington.
“I think it says we’re tough. No matter what gets in our way we’re always going to fight,” said Beardsley, who shared the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award with Schenkel. “We’ve been working really hard in practice and we pick up each other. It’s really fun to play with these guys. The lineup up and down is just awesome.”
This Diamond Jacks group closed out the summer by winning their final tournament of the season – the 12U Boys Of Summer event on the first weekend of August on Diamond Nation’s 50-70 field.
They took August off from tournament baseball and went back to work in September. Two months later it seems nothing has changed in terms of this team’s ability to win ballgames.
The Diamond Jacks went 3-0-1 this weekend and finished the fall with a 9-4-2 record.
Labrador said he was not surprised at the rate of success this team has enjoyed, and noted that the credit goes back to the community of coaches at Diamond Nation.
“The group that we have at the younger levels – Mark Crawford, Luke Crawford, Mike Raymond, Travis Anderson – really focuses on developing our kids the right way,” said Labrador, who just concluded his fifth year with the program. “I thought I was a pretty decent coach but I had so much to learn and I’m thankful I got to learn under those guys, watching them work with the little guys. We pour it all out. We don’t just go through the motions. We demand the best every time we’re out there.”
Labrador pointed out that so many of his players are willing to do most anything to help the team win, including play multiple positions, which is rare in this era of specialization.
Beardsley is a perfect example. This weekend he pitched and played second base, shortstop, third base and centerfield.
“You can tell when they stare at you, they give you that look, you can see when they are soaking it all up,” Labrador said. “I’ve been a teacher for 20 years and you can just tell when you get that look of, ‘Give me more.’ You want to give more. Up and down the roster you can tell they want to get better, and it makes you want to get better as a coach.”
In the game against Disla – a familiar opponent considering that these teams tied at 2-2 in the first game of pool play on Friday night – the Diamond Jacks trailed 4-0 after the Dukes’ second at bat in the top of the second inning.
Liam Schenkel, left, and Ryan Beardsley of the DJacks were named co-MVPs of the 13U Fall Brawl.
“We weren’t worried,” said Schenkel, who surrendered one run in three innings pitched. “We were focused on a 0-0 game and we were bringing the energy the whole game.”
Matthew Vannozzi cut the Diamond Jacks’ deficit in half in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run double to center.
The Diamond Jacks rallied for three runs in the third to take a 5-4 lead on one hit, three walks, a hit batsman and one error. Kwame Boachie-Agyeman (2-for-3) had an RBI single to bring his team within one, Hunter Davie walked with the bases loaded to tie the game, and Schenkel was hit by a pitch to force in the go-ahead run.
In the fourth, the Diamond Jacks added an insurance run when Caanan Crews bunted and Disla went home with the ball but was late to get a sliding Vannozzi.
“What I’m most proud of is, from winter to now, they have gotten so much better as a group,” Labrador said. “Our goal has always been, when we were over there (on a 50-70 field) to get them ready for here.”
Diamond Jacks righties Schenkel and Davie combined to permit one Disla run over the final four innings.
At the plate, Schenkel singled twice and drove in a run. Beardsley walked twice and reached on an error and scored once.
For the tournament, Schenkel was 5-for-9 with an RBI and a run scored. Against Disla he pitched three innings and allowed one run on two hits and three walks.
Beardsley batted 3-for-9 this weekend with a double, two walks and two runs scored. In a wild nine-inning win over the Lehigh Valley Flash in the semifinals, Beardsley pitched 5⅔ innings and allowed three runs (none earned) on one hit and two walks with three strikeouts. He also pitched a scoreless inning against Bucks County Generals Black-Newtown in pool play.
“When we were down 4-0 (against Disla), Schenkel came on and kept us in the game,” Labrador said. “Ryan is just a gamer, I don’t care what your stats are. You get a bunch of Ryans and Liams, you have a team of great baseball players.”
In the championship game, Disla built a 4-0 lead across the first two innings. K.J. Froehner had an RBI single and two batters later Luke Pollak added a two-run single in the first. Dylan Gamarekian tacked on an RBI groundout in the second inning.
For the tournament, Froehner went 5-for-11 with a triple and three RBI. Xander Soriano batted 5-for-9 with three doubles, a triple, four RBI and three runs scored.
The two 13U Gold bracket semifinals were extremely exciting affairs.
The Diamond Jacks outlasted the Lehigh Valley Flash, 7-6 in nine innings, but only after second baseman Nate Kayser made a game-saving play, snaring a grounder up the middle and throwing to first just in time for the final out.
The game was tied at 3-3 going into extra innings, and the tiebreaker rule was in effect – each team with the bases loaded, one out to begin the inning.
Mason Roman belted a two-run double in the top of the eighth to give the Diamond Jacks a 5-3 lead, but Lehigh Valley got two runs in the bottom of the inning and forced a ninth inning.
In the top of the ninth, Kayser’s two-run single to center forged a 7-5 Diamond Jacks lead. The Flash scored once in the bottom of the inning but Kayser’s smooth defensive work preserved the win for the Diamond Jacks.
In the semi, Roman went 3-for-3 with a double, triple, two RBI and a run scored.
In Disla’s 9-7, six-inning semifinal win over Locked In Baseball Expos Blue, the Dukes scored six runs in the top of the sixth to steal the win.
With the Dukes trailing, 7-6, Harrison Watt tripled to right to drive the tying and go-ahead runs, and he later scored on an infield error for the final count.