By Sean Reilly
The Hudson Baseball Center Crushers 10U were in the midst of a fun spring season, but had been unable to experience the thrill of winning a tournament championship.
That changed over the weekend, when the Union City-based team came to Diamond Nation, and went home with first-place medals after taking the 10U Memorial Day Classic, Powered By Savo Schalk.
The capper to the experience was a well-played 3-2 championship win over Flood City Elite-Miller 10U from Johnstown, Pa., on Monday afternoon in Flemington.
The HBC Crushers went 5-0-1 on the weekend, with a 53-24 run differential.
Jack Grant, the tournament MVP, took a perfect game into the fifth inning before winding up with a two-hitter for the Crushers.
Jameson Spitaleri supplied the big hit, a two-run double with two out in the top of the third inning for a 3-0 lead.
“It was really fun,” said Grant, who credited a mix of speeds for helping him succeed. “It feels really good. We’ve played 21 games in all of our other tournaments and made it to finals and lost, so this is great.”
The Crushers scored all of their runs in the third.
With two out and C.J. Daley on first after a fielder’s choice, leadoff man Christian Del Vecchio was hit by a pitch. Grant then walked to load the bases.
A huge hustle play then occurred, as Henry Carthew hit a grounder near third base. The fielder made a run toward third hoping to get an inning-ending force out, but Del Vecchio ran full tilt and barely beat him to the bag. As a result, Daley scored the first run of the game.
It also kept the bases loaded for Spitaleri, the cleanup hitter. He slugged a first-pitch double to center which scored Del Vecchio and Grant.
“It was a fastball,” Spitaleri said. “I used all the mechanics my dad taught me and just drilled it. It felt really good to get a big hit.”
Grant, meanwhile, was in control against a Flood City team that won its five previous games over the weekend, scoring a whopping 63 runs along the way.
Jack Grant of the Hudson Baseball Center Crushers was named 10U Memorial Day Classic MVP.
He retired the first 14 batters, striking out four. He was helped by solid defense, which included a superb play by second baseman Carthew on a grounder for the third out in the fourth.
Flood City’s first hit, with two out in the fifth, was a long one. Cleanup man Camden Keith worked the count full before sending a ball over the left field fence.
Grant, however, was not fazed and struck out the next batter.
“I gave up the hit,” he said. “But it didn’t matter to me because we still had the lead.”
Grant, who threw 78 pitches (51 for strikes), navigated through a challenging bottom of the sixth by never losing his composure.
Niko Swink led off for Flood City. He walked, and took second on a passed ball. Gibson Hoover then reached on a single to shortstop, and a throwing error scored Swink as Hoover took second. Gabe Meese followed, and was hit by a pitch.
Grant bore down, and struck out the next two batters looking. The next batter grounded out to shortstop to end the game and set off a Crushers’ celebration.
“My heart rate was up,” said Grant, who totaled eight strikeouts. “I had to try to calm down. I was thinking to just throw strikes, no matter how hard I pitched.”
Grant, who went 2-for-2 with a walk, was also the only player in the game to finish with multiple hits.