By Sean Reilly

Brooks Bennett was full of trust on Sunday afternoon at Diamond Nation. 

He had faith in himself on the pitcher’s mound, and also a firm belief that his PA Shockers would back him against the Diamond Jacks Super 12U in the championship game of the 12U Super Fall Invitational, Powered By Victus. 

Bennett pitched a five-hitter, with four strikeouts and one walk, as the Shockers captured the title with an exciting 2-0 victory in Flemington. 

Bennett was selected tournament MVP, after a weekend in which he went 6-for-14, with all of the hits going for home runs. He had 12 RBI, as the Shockers went 5-0 with a 59-9 run differential. 

“We did really well,” he said. “We pitched well and our hitting was tremendous.” 

The defense was also exceptional, especially in the final, to silence a DJacks team that entered 4-0 with a 37-7 run difference. 

The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth. Cole Hopkins led off the inning for the Shockers by hitting a single to center. Brayden Brandt followed with a hit to center. He was thrown out trying to stretch the play into a double, but Hopkins kept running and scored ahead of a throw, preventing what would have been a very unusual double play. 

More importantly, the single resulted in a 1-0 lead, which was almost lost in the bottom of the inning. 

The first DJacks batter in the fourth struck out, but Chase Samuelson followed with a walk. That sent up the top of the order, and Noah Komline legged out a single to shortstop. 

Komline used his speed again when Luke Manfredi hit a grounder near second base. The lone true play would have been a throw to second, but Komline got there too quickly for a throw. 

With runners now on first and second and the heart of the order coming up, a grounder to shortstop on a 2-1 pitch was fielded by Bryson Mizdail, who threw to second baseman Hopkins, who fired to first baseman Sam DiGiacomo for a crucial inning-ending double play. 

“That was crazy,” Bennett said. “It was great. We really needed that in that situation. It’s so nice having a team where you can throw a pitch knowing they can make plays like that.”

Brooks Bennett of the PA Shockers was named Super 12U Fall Invitational MVP.

It was still a one-run game in the bottom of the fifth, when the DJacks got a single to center by Alex Wheeler. The Shockers tried to throw him out at first, but the throw skipped past the base and into dead-ball territory, which sent Wheeler to second. Brycen Davis was safe on an infield error that sent Wheeler to third. Davis then stole second. 

With two men in scoring position, the next batter flew out to Michael Fischer in right field, but the lead runner remained at third. 

Bennett then had his biggest moment of the game. After getting two called strikes on the next batter followed by a foul ball, he got another called strike to end the inning. 

“That was a hype moment,” he said. “I was just hoping I wouldn’t give up a run. I didn’t change. I just kept throwing fastballs. Some games you have to mix it up, but this wasn’t one of them.” 

The Shockers added an insurance run in the top of the sixth. 

Carter Burns led off with a double, and after a strikeout, he scored when Fischer hit a single to right field. 

Richie Adamcyzk pitched the first five innings for the DJacks, allowing one run on four hits, with four strikeouts and no walks. 

Bennett’s power display over the weekend consisted of at least one home run in each game prior to the final, including three, with seven RBI, in a pool-play win over the Mid Atlantic Crew on Saturday. He also hit a two-run homer earlier on Saturday, when the Shockers overcame a five-run deficit to beat the New Jersey Nationals, 11-6, in their tournament opener.