Zoned RedHawks 18u went unbeaten in capturing the Diamond Nation High School Fall League title
By Rich Bevensee
Going simply off statistics, Anthony Russo may have been the least likeliest candidate to start a championship baseball game.
Russo pitched less than three innings all season, and yet, based on faith – and to a lesser extent a very small but effective sample size – Zoned RedHawks 18U coach Anthony Feltre gave him the ball for the Diamond Nation High School Fall League final.
In spite of his inexperience, Russo was equal to the challenge, limiting the mighty Whitehouse Post 284 lineup to three hits in a fantastic complete-game effort and propelling Zoned to a 3-1 victory and the league championship on Wednesday evening in Flemington.
It was the first league title for second-seeded Zoned, which finished unbeaten at 9-0-1, the only blemish being a 5-5 tie with Flemington Post 159 on Oct. 14.
Top-seeded Whitehouse, vying for its second straight title and eighth overall, finished 9-1.
Russo, a junior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after surrendering one run on three hits and three walks and striking out five in the first seven-inning complete game of his baseball career.
“It was definitely new for me,” Russo said with a laugh. “I’ve never gone a full seven. Usually it’s one or two out of the pen. After the fourth inning tonight I knew it was my game and I thought I gotta keep going.”
His longest stint on the Scotch Plains JV team last spring was two innings, and he once went three innings for Zoned this summer.
This fall, Russo made three appearances in nine games for Zoned and pitched 2⅔ scoreless, no-hit innings while striking out five and allowing one walk.
That resume – and the fact that hard-throwing righty ace Jack Edwards had pitched for Zoned in the semifinals against Out Of The Park Cyclones 18U earlier in the evening – was enough for Feltre to place his faith in Russo.
“He’s been very successful in short stints this fall and he just went out there and was that crafty lefty,” Feltre said. “Whitehouse is a great hitting team and he got them out in front a little bit. I like that he stayed within his game – a lot of off-speed and getting them in front. The changeup is not a sexy pitch but it’s an effective pitch. I had no concerns with starting him. He had my full confidence.”
Zoned catchers Will Oldham, who caught the first three innings, and Daniel Jentsch called all of Russo’s pitches. They agreed that the most important aspect of Russo’s performance was his location.
“He commanded his pitches very well,” Jentsch said. “It was all him tonight.”
Russo actually had a no-hitter going through four innings, an unthinkable prospect going into the final considering Whitehouse averaged over 10 runs per game in seven regular season games.
“They do a lot of things we do, but if you can’t get guys on base, you can’t do those things,” veteran Whitehouse coach Steve Farsiou said.
MVP Anthony Russo pitched his first 7-inning complete game for Zoned in the championship game.
Zoned provided all the offense Russo would need in the fourth inning. Luke Barry and Colton Lyerly were hit by pitches with one out by Whitehouse starter Henry Kusant before Daniel Jentsch drove in Barry with a single through the hole at short. Kyle Malchiodi, a senior at Piscataway Magnet, then drilled a two-run double into the left field corner for a 3-0 Zoned lead.
“Both Danny and Kyle came through with some big RBIs there, that’s why they’re 3-4 in the order,” Feltre said.
“I do take a lot of pride in my hitting,” said Malchiodi, who led Zoned with nine RBI this fall. “I have to thank my teammates for getting on base and giving me those opportunities.”
Pitching with a 3-0 lead, Russo didn’t surrender his first hit until the bottom of the fifth on a Luke Schenkel two-out single.
Whitehouse rallied briefly in the sixth and scored on an RBI single by leadoff hitter Matty Dalfonzo, but Russo stranded the tying runners on base with a swinging strikeout.
Russo closed out his championship gem with a 1-2-3 seventh.
“I thought I located my fastball well,” Russo said. “Walks have been a problem and today I thought I kept that under control. I thought I made the big pitches when I needed to. After the fourth inning I thought I had it going pretty well.”
Even Farsiou could see Russo’s confidence growing.
“I give him a lot of credit,” Farsiou said. “He fought, fought, fought and once he had us no-hit for a few innings, you saw his energy and focus get even better. We had no intel on him. We don’t scout in the fall but if he’s playing for Feltre you know he’s well-coached.”
Zoned entered the championship game on an emotional high, having beaten the Out Of The Park Cyclones 18U club in the semifinals, 7-6, just a couple hours earlier on Lylerly’s safety squeeze in the final at bat of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Malchiodi thought that result played an important role for Zoned coming into the championship game against Whitehouse.
“I think we showed tenacity,” Malchiodi said “And it showed we carried over the tenacity to another low-scoring game and we persevered. I’m really proud of our team. We did a good job of staying together. I think camaraderie and staying together was a big reason why we were able to get on a roll.”
For Whitehouse, Kusant, a sophomore at Hunterdon Central, went five innings and surrendered three runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts. L.T. Parillo, a sidearming senior at Hunterdon Central, pitched two scoreless innings in relief, striking out five and walking one. Parillo also closed out a tense, 4-2, semifinal victory over Montgomery Superior.
Farsiou wondered aloud before Wednesday’s semifinals how his team’s pitching would line up with two potential games on tap. But Whitehouse received a huge lift in the semifinals from Niko West, a Gill St. Bernard’s senior righty. West worked 6⅔ terrific innings in the victory over Montgomery Superior. Oh, and West also drove in the winning runs with a very long tie-breaking, two-run home run.
“Did you see what Niko did in the first game today?” Farsiou said. “He’s going to be a special player as he continues to get better and better.”
Farsiou clearly enjoyed the fall with his new group of Whitehouse players.
“These kids played really well this fall. A lot of our guys were able to elevate their game. What we want to accomplish is for our guys to understand the game better. I think they showed we did that.”