E.J. Perez stroked a first-inning double for CT Capitals Underclass in the 16U Blue Chip.
By Rich Bevensee
For five innings, Connecticut Capitals Underclass right-hander Jacob Holmberg owned the stage.
At times he dominated, and other times he danced his way through trouble. But Holmberg, normally a spot reliever, provided one of his best outings of the summer with five shutout innings.
When the page turned for the sixth, however, Titans Cooney of Long Island took over the performance. Against Capitals relievers, the Titans rallied for four runs over the next two innings, a dramatic comeback capped by Luke Howard’s two-out, game-tying single in the bottom of the seventh with the game clock at zero.
That’s how things concluded at Diamond Nation in Flemington on Thursday afternoon, as the Capitals and Titans tied 4-4 in a pool play contest at the 16U Blue Chip Prospects Tournament.
“I was very proud of my teammates. That was a really good comeback,” Howard said.
It was a bittersweet ending for the Titans (3-0-1) who were pleased with the late rally, but disappointed that the tie marred their opportunity for a perfect record in pool play and earn a berth in one of two playoff brackets.
The Titans were hunting for a second tournament championship, following the one they won in late June at the Connecticut Sportsplex in Branford, Conn.
“Northeast baseball is just good quality,” Titans coach Tyler Cooney said. “We won earlier this summer and if a couple things went our way this week we may have had a chance to win this one, too. There were 64 teams here so it was quality baseball. I’m super proud of the boys. We can always build on what we’ve done here.”
The Capitals (2-1-1) left ‘The Nation’ disappointed to see their four-run lead evaporate in the late innings, but Holmberg gave them plenty to think about going forward.
Capitals coach Matt Rondinone said Holmberg texted him before the tournament to ask if he could start a Blue Chips game. Rondinone was more than happy to grant his request in the Capitals’ final tournament of the season.
“We don’t really lengthen him out like that, but being thin on arms at the end of the tournament, we gave him a shot,” Rondinone said of Holmberg. “He’s been our end-of-the-game type of guy. He’s normally our shortstop, he’s our Steady Eddie. But he texted me before the tournament to ask if he could pitch and I told him it was already in our plans this week.”
The Titans rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an RBI single from J.J. Perez and a bases-loaded walk by Anthony Morelli, and entered the seventh trailing 4-2.
Facing Capitals reliever Chris Parlante, who pitched two days prior, Mason Nasta led off with a double and scored on a one-out, pinch-hit RBI single from James DeLucia.
Parlante induced a flyout for the second out and leadoff hitter Nick Bevetto reached on an infield error, bringing up Howard, who drilled an 0-2 pitch up the middle for a base hit.
DeLucia charged around third and headed home. Capitals center fielder E.J. Perez made a perfect throw home but the sliding DeLucia kicked the ball out of the glove of Capitals catcher Paul Virdokian and scored the tying run.
“I’m thinking just put the ball in play, because even if it’s not a great hit, if it still does the job, then it does the job,” said Howard, a 5-6, 130-pound rising junior at St. Anthony in Huntington Station, Long Island. “The approach doesn’t change. Just hit it hard because you can’t always get a hit, but you can always have a good at bat. I was nervous but I got my finish and put up a run so it was pretty cool.”
Holmberg, a 5-10, 150-pound rising junior at Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, Conn., was just plain steady in keeping the Titans off the board during his five innings of work. He used his fastball, slider and cutter with an occasional changeup to scatter five hits and one walk while striking out seven.
Capitals first baseman Nate Zito beats the Titans’ Anthony Morelli to the bag.
It was an impressive piece of work for a young man who normally pitched two innings at a time this summer.
“In the offseason I worked really hard to get my arm strength up, and in high school I gained confidence with all my pitches,” Holmberg said. “So I figured, the last game of the season I wanted to start and see what I could do.”
The Capitals staked Holmberg to a 4-0 lead with a run in the second inning and three more in the third with a two-out rally.
Greyson Beaghen doubled to lead off the second and Marco Fortuna drove him in with a triple to dead center field to open the scoring.
In the third, Perez walked and later scored on a Ben Stokes’ RBI single. Nate Zito was next up and he stroked a double into the right field corner to score Stokes. P.J. Mirabelli made it 4-0 for the Capitals with his RBI single.
For the Capitals, Alex Rastelli faced three batters and allowed two runs on two walks. Parlante pitched two innings and yielded two runs on five hits and one walk and struck out two.
For the Titans, starter Dom Hauser went five innings and yielded four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. Anthony Morelli pitched two scoreless innings while giving up one walk and striking out one.