By Sean Reilly
Billy Messick has two major roles for the Ascent Athlete Dust Devils 11U.
The first is to reach base from the leadoff spot. The other is to, when called upon, throw strikes from the pitching mound.
He was extremely successful in both aspects over the weekend at Diamond Nation, and it resulted in two things.
One, it helped his Ascent Athlete Dust Devils 11U team capture the 11U Williams Harley Davidson tournament championship.
The other was that it enabled Messick to head home to Pennsylvania with not only a first-place medal, but also the tournament Most Valuable Player award.
After going 5-for-6 with four walks and eight runs scored in the first three games, he pitched a five-inning four-hitter in a 10-1 championship victory over the Morris County Cubs 11U Navy on Sunday in Flemington.
The final game moved along quickly, with the Dust Devils scoring six times in the bottom of the fifth to end it via the mercy rule. The 73-minute game concluded with a two-run home run by Luke Herley.
The Dust Devils finished the weekend 4-0 with a 65-8 run differential.
Billy Messick of the Ascent Athlete Dust Devils was named 11U Williams Harley Davidson MVP.
Messick threw 80 pitches in the final, 48 of them strikes.
“I was just trying to throw hard and throw strikes with my fastball and curveball,” he said. “It helps when the game moves fast. It helps keep me going, especially when we have the lead. It gives me extra confidence.”
The Dust Devils scored four times in the bottom of the fourth for 4-0 lead.
Miles Morelli hit a one-out single to left field, and Herley followed with an RBI double to left field. Jake Weaver was safe on a grounder to shortstop to place runners on first and third. Tanner Holdren singled to left field to score Herley. Nicky Melasecca was the next batter, and a wild pitch scored Weaver with the third run before his groundout to third brought in Holdren.
The Cubs got a run back in the top of the fifth. Solomon Baron and Colin Scudilla drew consecutive walks with one out. They advanced on a wild pitch before Walter Smith hit a high pop up that fell amongst the second baseman, shortstop and center fielder for an RBI hit.
The Dust Devils ended the game in the bottom of the inning, which began with a double to center field from Justin Andris.
After a pop out to the pitcher, Jaxon Arner singled to center, with Andris moving to third.
With Messick at the plate, an error on a pickoff throw to third brought in Andris for a 5-1 lead. Arner wound up on third before Messick walked and stole second.
Jax Solomon reached on an error which scored Arner and moved Messick to third. Morelli hit a two-run single to center before Herley hit his two-run home run to right-center to conclude the game.
It was the second tournament championship of the spring for the Dust Devils. And according to Messick, it was also his best pitching performance thus far.
“I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” he said. “Pitching with a lead was huge. It gives you extra confidence. And this was the best I’ve pitched so far this year.”
Herley ended 2-for-3 with three RBI while Arner was 2-for-2 for the Dust Devils.
Smith went 2-for-2 for the Cubs.