By Sean Reilly
When the FB Braves 14U-Cross took a big lead into the bottom of the sixth and final inning of the King of the Diamond 14U Gold tournament championship on Sunday night, the only real question was whether or not pitcher Anthony Minyetty could close out a complete game.
He came one batter short of that goal, which was perfectly fine given the score and early date on the baseball calendar.
Besides that, his line was still worthy of a summertime effort. He scattered four hits, with 11 strikeouts and no walks, and his two runs allowed came in the sixth as the FB Braves defeated the South Jersey Young Guns, 8-2, for the title in Flemington.
He threw 79 pitches, 55 for strikes, before yielding to Anthony Accurso, who struck out the only batter he faced for the clinching out.
Minyetty has seen prior action this season, when the Braves traveled to Houston in late February and also at ‘The Nation’ earlier in March.
“I was in a groove,” he said. “That’s what I usually do. Hum fastballs until they show something else. Once they did, and my arm started feeling a little fatigued, I started throwing curveballs first pitch. That happened around the fourth inning.”
Having the curve work also made his fastball more effective.
“I really like that, because it makes my fastball more dominant,” he said. “I also love pitching with the guys playing behind me. They’re a great group of guys, we all work hard together and love playing together.”
Anthony Minyetty of FB Braves 14U-Cross was named the 14U King Of The Diamond MVP.
Indeed, the Braves played strong fundamental baseball both at the plate and in the field.
As proof of that, the Fairfield-based team took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, with both runs scoring on sacrifice flies. The first was from Jaiden Turi on a ball to right field with runners on the corners with nobody out, and the other was from Mason Dorset on a fly to left, with men on second and third.
The Braves also loaded the bases with two out in third, and Colten Lezette was hit by a pitch for a 3-0 score.
The Braves added two more runs in the fourth, with Justin Mahoney hitting a two-run single to center with two out and a 1-1 count.
The Braves used a double by Lezette and a single left from Dorset to put men on first and third with one out in the fifth. Jack Buccola reached on an error to load the bases, and a Joshua Natal bunt in front of the plate scored Lezette on a fielder’s choice. Minyetty followed with a walk on four pitches to score another run for a 7-0 lead.
Mahoney reached on a single to left to start off the sixth. He moved to third on two separate pickoff throw errors and scored when Turi hit his second sacrifice fly, this one to left field.
The Young Guns got a single from Aiden Siitonen to start the bottom of the sixth. Gabe Depoder walked with one out, and Miller Shipp hit an RBI double to left. Austin Degener then had a RBI ground out to first.
Mahoney, the cleanup hitter, ended the game 3-for-3 with a walk for the Braves.
The Young Guns reached the final with a very impressive 10-9 win over the Diamond Jacks Super 14U.
The Young Guns trailed 8-1 before getting closer with a four-run bottom of the fifth. The DJacks scored once in the top of the seventh, but the Young Guns won the game with a five-run bottom of the seventh.
CJ Morales walked on a full count for a 9-9 tie with nobody out. After a strikeout, Jack Ercolani hit a grounder that scored Brett Obermeier with the winning run.