Joseph Timpanelli drove in a run in the first inning for Clutch Baseball.
By Rich Bevensee
The South Jersey Sand Sharks Elite 11U squad has built a reputation for scoring runs in bunches. The Sharks began building that rep in the spring and did not ease off the gas pedal the entire calendar year.
One thing the Sharks are not used to is falling behind early, but apparently that doesn’t bother a team which has become accustomed to producing runs as easily as humans breathe air.
The Sand Sharks spotted Clutch Baseball a five-run lead, then went about doing what they do best – scoring. The Galloway, N.J.-based ballclub scored 14 unanswered runs over the final three innings to claim a 14-5, five-inning pool play win in the 11U Fall Harvest on Saturday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“It’s pretty hard to stay confident when you’re down by a lot of runs, but we came back anyway,” said Zahcary Park, whose three-run triple in the fifth turned a two-run lead into a 10-5 cushion. “If you’re down by a lot of runs you have to keep the confidence up and keep the motivation up.”
The Sand Sharks (21-7) made a clean sweep of pool play, having beaten NJ Pride, 20-6, earlier Saturday. They have won four straight and six of their last eight games by scoring in double figures each time out. In that stretch their average margin of victory is 13 runs.
Clutch, which entered the tournament averaging more than eight runs per game, lost its third straight and fell to 13-5.
Both teams entered the Harvest event with Diamond Nation trophies on their resumes. The Sand Sharks won the 10U Father’s Day Classic this past June, and Clutch won the 11U Slugfest title last month.
The Sand Sharks began to chip away at their five-run deficit in the third inning with patient at bats, scoring one run at a time to climb within 5-4.
Ryan Mooney, Breydan Goetz, Leo Tocci and Zachary Park drove in multiple runs for the Sand Sharks.
The fourth inning was more of the same. Aside from Zachary Park’s bases-loaded triple, every run came in the form of an RBI single as the Sand Sharks rallied for eight runs on eight hits and one hit batsman.
“That’s honestly been one our focus points at practice – being patient and waiting for your pitch,” Sand Sharks coach Mark Park said. “We make sure they’re thinking about what you can hit and what you can hit well. Is it in the zone? Can you be patient? And when you get your pitch, put everything into it. Stay back and hit the heck out of it.”
The Sand Sharks offense was incredibly balanced. All 10 batters reached safely, all 10 scored at least once, and all but one notched a base hit. Six players drove in at least one run.
Sharks southpaw Leo Tocci made all that offense stand up with some impressive pitching. Coming on in relief to start the second, Tocci pitched four shutout innings on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
“It was hard to pitch when we were down because I didn’t want to make a mistake and let my team down,” Tocci said.
That thought never entered coach Park’s head.
“Leo’s been one of our aces the entire season,” Park said. “Every time he comes to perform. He throws strikes, keeps the ball down and we have a good defense to back him up. When he’s on the mound, there is not a guy in the field I don’t trust that can back him up on that.”
For the Sand Sharks, Park (the coach’s son) finished a home run short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a double, triple and four RBI.
Breydan Goetz was 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI. Tocci helped his own cause by going 2-for-3 with two RBI. John Senese singled, doubled and drove in a run. Ryan Mooney singled and drove in two runs.
Williams Solano and Matthew Panarello each had two hits and Luca Provanzano tripled. Jack Bruno added an RBI single. Harry Godfrey forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk.
Clutch forged its five-run lead entirely in the first inning on two hits and four walks. Joseph Timpanelli had a fielder’s choice RBI, and both Sebastian Camacho and Angelo Arnone walked with the bases loaded.
Innocenzo Rizzo, Ryan Cresci and Cameron McCormack handled the pitching for Clutch.