By Sean Reilly
Joe LoPresti felt a bit sentimental when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning on Sunday afternoon for the Diamond Jacks Super 12U in the championship of the Diamond Nation 12U August Showdown.
The matchup against Team Elite Liberty 12U was the final game of the season for Super 12U, which meant it was likely to be his last-ever at-bat on a small field.
The next time LoPresti and his teammates play, it will be on the large-size 60/90 diamond that they’ll compete on for good after aging up to the 13U level.
But there was more. Not only was it his farewell to the small-sized Field 2 at ‘The Nation,’ where he’s played dozens of games, it was an opportunity that wasn’t certain to happen. LoPresti recently returned to the lineup after missing three months with a broken elbow.
So what happened during that fourth-inning at-bat? LoPresti crushed the first pitch for a two-run home run over the left-field fence that ended the game, giving the Super 12U a 14-4 mercy-rule victory.
LoPresti also hit a two-run home run for a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first, as the DJacks completed a 4-0 weekend for their fifth Diamond Nation championship of the year. The team went 46-11-1 in 2024.
“It was crazy, because I had been out for three months,” he said. “All I wanted to do was to come back and perform. It was great to go out this way.”
The New York-based Team Liberty Elite, which outslugged the Diamond Jacks 12U Gold, 14-9, in the semifinals, kept up its hot hitting by scoring twice in the top of the first in the final. Alex Lin hit an RBI single to third base, and an error on the play scored another.
It didn’t take long for the DJacks to take a lead that they would maintain for the remainder of the game.
Alan Pena hit a home run to left field with one out in the bottom of the first. After Nate McGann singled to third base, LoPresti homered well beyond the fence in left field.
Joe Lopresti hit five home runs on his way to earning the 12U Aug. Showdown MVP.
“That felt great, to do that and help my team in a championship game,” he said.
Lopresti went 6-for-8 on the weekend. He hit five home runs, with at least one in every game. He also had 12 RBI. It was a performance that earned him the tournament Most Valuable Player award.
The DJacks extended their lead to 6-2 in the second inning. Tim Donahue led off with a walk, stole a base, advanced on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch. Logan Koziupa reached on a strike three wild pitch and scored on a single by Ryan Beirne. Luka Manfredi walked and scored on a Ryan Nigro ground out.
Team Elite Liberty scored twice in the third, on an error and RBI single by Jaden Godette, but the Diamond Jacks countered with four runs in the bottom of the frame for a 10-4 lead. Tyler LaGanga reached on an RBI fielder’s choice and scored the eighth run on a wild pitch before Donahue and Rocco Gaeta added RBI singles. Those hits scored Ian Peros and Drew Pietrowski, who both hit singles.
The Diamond Jacks sent up the top of the order in the bottom of fourth, needing four runs to end the game via the mercy rule, and that’s exactly what happened.
Nigro started the inning with a single to center and advanced on a wild pitch before Pena walked and took second. McGann, who ended the game 3-for-3 as part of a 5-for-9 weekend, hit a two-run single to center.
LoPresti was up next, and his no-doubt-about-it blast on the first pitch ended the game, the season, and put an exclamation point on his personal comeback.
“It was awesome just to come back,” he said. “I’ve been on this field for a while, but I’m happy that I’ll be going to the big field to play older ball and experience what older people play. On that last at-bat, I was looking to get the first pitch and go yard. It felt great to connect on it. It felt like butter.”