By Sean Reilly
The GBG Hawks Northeast 12U came from their home in Massachusetts to Diamond Nation over the weekend having established a reputation as a power-hitting team.
Nothing happened during their stay in Flemington to change that reputation, as the Hawks slugged 11 home runs in five games at ‘The Nation’ to earn the championship of the 12U Memorial Day Classic, Powered By Savo Schalk.
The final three blasts came during a 13-4 victory over the North Colonie (N.Y.) Bison Blue 12U in the title matchup on Monday night.
The GBG Hawks Northeast 12U went 6-0 in the tournament, outscoring their opponents, 60-11.
Many of those runs came on hits which cleared the fences around the complex, including nine of the runs in the final.
It started quickly, as Charlie Bills led off the game with a single to center field, and tournament MVP Owen Barry followed with his third homer of the weekend, over the fence in right.
“That’s how we normally do it, hitting a lot of home runs,” Barry said. “They were a really good team, so it felt good to hit one right away to get us motivated.”
For the tournament, Barry went 5-for-12, with four walks, seven runs and eight RBI. He also pitched a three-hit shutout in a pool play win on Sunday.
“This was a good tournament,” he said. “I hit well, and pitched well, and we had a good time.”
North Colonie, which took a 4-0 record with a 39-1 run difference into the final, scored in the bottom of the first after Matthew Carroll led off with a single to center, stole second, went to third on a ground out and then scored on a wild pitch.
The GBG Hawks blew the game open in the second, which began with a base hit to center from Luke Gatewood, followed by a single to left from James Pallotta. Cody Raymond supplied a bunt single to load the bases and Kyle Fernandes kept the train moving with a one-run single to right field.
Up next was Sean Connor, and he hit a grand slam to right field for a 7-1 lead.
Owen Barry of the GBG Northeast Hawks was named 12U Memorial Day Classic MVP.
GBG added another run in third, with Jack Garth drawing a leadoff walk before scoring on an error.
North Colonie closed to 8-4 in the bottom of the third, with Ryan Sorrentino hitting an RBI single with one out and Kyle Wesley delivering a two-run home run to center with two out.
GBG scored its other five runs in the fifth.
The inning began with a single to shortstop from Phil Schell. Bills reached on a hard single to first, and the runners wound up on second and third after the ball deflected out of play. Barry walked to load the bases.
After a strikeout, Charlie Gould hit a two-run double to right-center. Luca Miller followed with a three-run home run to center.
The GBG Hawks had to earn their place in the final, after beating the Zoned Red Hawks 12U Elite, 5-4, in a semi that immediately preceded the championship.
Bills was hit by a pitch with the two out in the bottom of the fifth to score Raymond and break a 4-4 tie. Then, with a man on first and two out in the top of the sixth, catcher Gatewood threw out the runner trying to steal to end the game.