By Rich Bevensee
Maybe getting a taste of winning translates into knowing how to succeed in the most trying situations. It’s only a theory, but the Keystone Baseball Club 14U Phillies have shown in three short weeks that the theory may be based in fact.
Just two weeks after winning a Cal Ripken Baseball tournament in Aberdeen, Maryland, the Phillies drove into Diamond Nation in Flemington and began their weekend on a lukewarm note, splitting their first two pool play games.
The Phils rebounded to win their semifinal game the next day and reach the championship round, where, after building a four-run lead, saw the New Jersey Riot rally to get the tying run on third base with two outs in the seventh inning.
“To win one and lose one after driving here an hour and 45 minutes, it’s tough to come back. It’s not where you want to be,” said Phillies relief pitcher Austin Crowley, “but to come out and compete the next day was big. It showed us all what we can do.”
After the Riot scored two runs against him and placed the tying run 90 feet away, Crowley got the final Riot batter looking at a fastball for strike three, and the Phillies earned their second title in three weeks with an 8-7 victory in the Silver Bracket of the 14U Home Run Classic on Sunday at The Nation.
“This is very special to win with a great group of guys,” Crowley said. “For us to come out on top was big. Your best players may not be doing what they should be, but that trust is really big and key to winning these games.”
Crowley was exceptional in relief of Phils starter Mason Santoro, who surrendered four runs in three innings and left with his team trailing 4-2.
Sparked by an Ethan Santoro two-run double, the Phillies scored six runs in the bottom of the frame for an 8-4 lead, and it was Crowley’s time to shine. He limited Riot to one run on three hits and struck out six through his first three innings of work.
Crowley was facing first and third with one out in the fourth and had already given up one run. But he got a pair of strikeouts to end the inning and gave his team an emphatic fist pump while storming off the mound.
“I was trying to keep momentum on our side,” Crowley said. “We just scored six runs to take back the lead and I was trying to get them going a little bit, to get them to score some more runs.”
The Riot figured out Crowley’s 80 mph fastball in the seventh, however. Joey Rodriguez singled sharply, Valin Townsend reached on an error and Drew Augusto – 0-for-2 going into his seventh inning at bat – roped a two-run double to bring the Riot within a run with one out.
Augusto promptly stole third before Crowley got a strikeout for the second out. Crowley then ended the drama when he pumped a fastball for strike three and the third out.
Austin Crowley, left, pitched well in relief and Ethan Santoro had a key two-run double for the Phillies.
“It was all about trusting my defense,” Crowley said. “My stuff was working – fastball, off-speed, changeup – it was all working and I trust my catcher, too. If it gets hit, it gets hit and I trust my defense.”
The Riot squad, based in South Jersey, is to be commended for reaching the championship game after a rough start to the weekend, a 9-0 loss to Diamond Jacks Super 14U that was more lopsided than the score.
The Riot rebounded by scoring 26 runs in its next two games, beating Locked In Baseball Expos Black, 11-4, and North Jersey Diamondbacks Prime, 15-1, to earn a berth in the final.
“They have heart,” Riot coach Dave Fraley said. “We just came back together after everybody played in high school. Now that high school is over they came back to be a family and this is kind of like our fresh start for the year. From here? We have heart, we have grit and we’ll get better.”
Mike Yankoski was one of the Riot stars. The tall right-handed pitcher and first baseman threw 2⅔ scoreless innings in relief and struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth. From his first base post, he made a diving catch of a short popup in front of the mound in the second inning to help cut short a Phillies rally.
Also for Riot, Santino Viturello doubled twice and drove in a run, and leadoff hitter Jackson Fraley had two hits.
Keyed by a two-run double by Mario Mastil and Viturello’s RBI double, the Riot built a 4-0 lead in the second inning.
The Phillies inched back in the bottom of the second when Brady Van Note sliced an opposite field single into right for a two-run knock.
Ethan Santoro’s two-run double in the third tied the game at 4-4, Chase Griesser gave the Phillies the lead for good with his RBI groundout. Patch Hannon added an RBI single, and Griesser (pinch running for Hannon) and Dhilan Chopra scored on an infield error for an 8-4 lead.
The Riot fought back with a run in the fifth when Yankoski scored on an error. With the game clock ticking down close to two minutes, Yankoski struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth and guaranteed the Riot would have one more at bat.
Phils starter Mason Santoro went three innings and allowed four runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Riot starter Rodriguez lasted 1⅓ innings and surrendered two runs on four walks and he struck out one. Matt Dacierno pitched two innings of relief and yielded six runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
The Phillies’ march to the final began with a 10-0 win against Untamed Blue and a 5-4 loss to the KMS Barnstormers. A 6-0 victory over Centercourt Baseball-Mejia in the 14U semis pushed the Phils into the championship game.
“We have a really good group of kids and they push themselves every week in practice,” Phillies coach Steve Van Note said. “Whether we win a tournament or lose a tournament, at the next practice they’re going to be pushing themselves. It’s a really competitive group. They push themselves at every practice and every game, kind of like what you saw tonight.”