Anthony Sanchez of Giac Squad dives back to first base to avoid being doubled up on a pop up to first base. Sanchez had broke on a steal attempt. That’s Baseball U. Pa. pitcher Jordan Jagger covering.
Baseball U. Pa. brought hot bats, a stout arm and a sturdy defense to a Super 17 Invitational battle that proved very much one-sided thanks to that lethal combination of baseball musts at Diamond Nation on Wednesday.
Jordan Jagger tossed a five-inning two-hitter and clean-up hitter Anthony Yerka led a nine-hit attack as Baseball U. won its first game of the second week of the heavily scouted Invitational in Flemington.
Baseball U. struck for four runs in the bottom of the first inning and five runs in the third on the way to a 10-1, five-inning mercy rule victory over Giac Squad. Yerka was in the middle of three Baseball U. rallies in the first three innings while Jagger was stifling the Giac Squad from Wantagh, N.Y.
There is no playoff for the Super 17 Invitational. It is a Showcase Series Qualifier, with the top five teams receiving an automatic bid to the Showcase Series August 10-13 at Diamond Nation.
Jagger carried a no-hitter through three innings before surrendering his only two hits and only run to Giac Squad in the top of the fourth. Baseball U. had carried a 10-0 lead into Giac Squad’s fourth at bat.
“I was throwing a lot of fastballs up,” said Jagger, coming off a high school season at Mountain View, Pa., in which he posted a 1.89 ERA and struck out 116 batters in 60 innings.
Anthony Yerka (2-for-2, 2 RBI) fouls one back during a third inning at bat in which he drew a walk.
But Jagger came out a bit stale in the fourth after his teammates batted around in the third inning, making him wait to get back to work. The righthander walked Giac Squad’s No. 11 hitter, Lucas Eagleston, to start the inning before Matt Grimpel followed with a soft single to left field. A wild pitch moved the runners up and Anthony Sanchez’s infield single scored Eagleston from third.
The interruption in what had been a seamless performance, seemed to annoy Jagger, who proceeded to retire the final six Giac Squad batters in order. He got the three outs of the fourth on a pop out to first base, a strikeout and a grounder to second base. He then struck out the Giac Squad side in order in the fifth to end the game.
“I was a little fired up in that last inning,” said Jagger. Two of the strikeouts came on curveballs. “I started working in my curve to keep them off balance.”
Jagger struck out nine and walked two in his mostly tidy effort. And he had quite the buffer beginning in the first inning courtesy of the lethal bats of Baseball U.
Brayden Green started it for Baseball U. with a one out single to center field and, after Andrew Martinez was hit by a pitch, Green would score on Yerka’s single to right-center field. After Lucas Rarick walked, Dylan Hunter singled in the second run of the inning and Chris Heyer followed with a single to left that brought two more runs home for a 4-0 lead.
“The pitcher threw four straight balls (to Rarick) so I was just sitting fastball,” said Yerka of his at bat that produced the first run of the game. “He threw a breaking ball for a strike that I took, but I stayed on the fastball and got one away.” Yerka sliced the offering into right-center for a run.
Yerka singled in another run in the second inning, this time with two outs and runners on the corners. “We had a runner in scoring position and I didn’t want to go deep in the count,” said Yerka, looking to be aggressive and make something happen. “I like to jump on a pitch early in that situation.” He did, driving a hard shot through the left side to easily score Connor Tirney from third.
Jordan Jagger of Baseball U. Pa. 17U Prospects threw a five-inning two-hitter with nine strikeouts.
Tirney had reached on an infield error with one out, took second on an errant pickoff attempt and tagged and moved to third on Martinez’s fairly deep fly ball to right field.
Baseball U.’s five-run third inning came after two were out and no one was on base. Hunter did lead off with a walk, but was cut down by catcher Joseph Rotondaro trying to steal second as Heyer struck out. But the rally was reignited when Garrett Yakimowicz and Eli Acosta drew walks and No. 10 hitter Alex Feliciano singled to center to score Yakimowicz for a 6-0 lead.
A misplayed fly ball hit by Tirney into right-center produced two more runs before Martinez’s high pop landed just inside the right field line to score another run. The fifth run of the inning came home when the relay back to the infield got away.
Green reached all three trips to the plate on a single, hit by pitch and a walk and he scored two runs. … Hunter had three good at bats, too. He singled in a run in the first inning, walked in the third and got robbed of an extra base hit in the fourth on a terrific running catch in right-center by center fielder Eagleston.