By Sean Reilly
Jackson Hornick was looking for a breaking ball, and he got it.
Hornick turned that pitch into a game-ending single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, to give the Diamond Jacks Super 16U a thrilling 5-4 victory over the BC Cyclones 16U Red for the championship of the Diamond Nation 16U Grand Slam, Powered By Cortes & Hay, on Sunday night in Flemington.
The line drive by Hornick into right-center field came on a 1-2 pitch, and scored Tyler Corales with the clinching run. The eighth and ninth innings were played under the tiebreaker format in which each frame begins with the bases loaded and one out.
Hornick had a two strike count before fouling off the next two pitches. He then took a pitch for a ball before winning the game.
“I had to do a job,” he said. “I was just looking to make contact. He was missing the fastball a lot, so I was expecting a breaking ball. I saw it, and drove to right-center field and got my team a win.”
Hornick was far from the only hero for the Diamond Jacks, who concluded the weekend 4-0 with a 54-8 run differential. The showing included a 5-2 win over the same Cyclones team in the final pool game earlier on Sunday.
Most notable on that list was Elijah Dawes, who was named tournament MVP. Dawes pitched the final 4⅔ innings, allowing no hits and two unearned runs, with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Dawes got out of the first tie breaker inning with a strikeout looking and ground out to third.
The top of the ninth brought additional Diamond Jacks into the spotlight.
With the three runners on base to start the inning, the leadoff man hit a fly ball that was caught by Jackson Staples in right field. The lead runner tried to tag up, but the throw was cut off by first baseman Chris Jerla, who threw to catcher Jacob Lilienthal for an inning-ending double play.
Hornick’s hit followed soon after, ending the nine-inning game completed in a still brisk 2:40.
“The team played awesome,” Hornick said. “And a play like that one made me want to lift up my teammates.”
Elijah Dawes of the Diamond Jacks Super 16U was named the 16U Grand Slam MVP.
When Dawes took the mound during the fourth inning, he figured on closing out the game. He didn’t know it would take two high-leverage extras to complete the task.
“I went in there, and I knew I was going to shove,” he said. “That’s my mindset all of the time. In the tiebreaker innings, I’m just looking to throw strikes and walk off the field with a win.”
The BC Cyclones took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. With two out and runners on first and second, Josbaldy Santos hit a two-run double to left field. It scored Lucas Suarez and Andres Polanco, who had both reached on walks.
The Diamond Jacks went ahead with a four-run fourth inning. The inning began with walks to Staples and Dawes. Nikolas Holot followed with an RBI double to the left field corner. Justin Labrador then hit a first-pitch double to left which scored Dawes and Holot for a 3-2 lead.
After a pitching change, the next two batters were retired while Labrador stole third along the way. Nick Do then hit a grounds rule double to left to score Labrador.
The Cyclones tied the game in the sixth. Eric Lora was hit by a pitch with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored as Sebastian Santana reached on an error. That at-bat started a string in which four consecutive Cyclones batters worked full counts. The next man struck out before Taishi Yamamoto walked. An error scored Santana for a 4-4 tie.
Yamamoto, who went 2-for-2, was the only player in the game to finish with multiple hits.
Suarez was outstanding in relief for the Cyclones. He pitched 4⅔ innings, allowing two hits with seven strikeouts and four walks. When the Diamond Jacks had a chance to win the game in the first tiebreaker inning, he responded with two strikeouts, the second of which came on a called strike three on a full count, after falling behind both 2-0 and 3-1 during the at-bat.
In addition to his pitching performance in the final, Dawes cemented his MVP credentials by going 3-for-4 during the tournament, with seven runs scored and two RBI.