The NJ Marlins came from behind to capture the 15U Gold Division title at the Summer Finale.
By Rich Bevensee
Sam Kentos absolutely hated being taken out of a championship game he was two outs from finishing.
Kentos, a right-hander for the NJ Marlins 15U club, sidestepped trouble in every inning and brought his team to the precipice of winning a Diamond Nation title when he reached his prescribed pitch count and a call to the bullpen was made.
Kentos begged, pleaded and protested to remain on the bump, but to no avail.
“I already had one out on the board and I was feeling good and I wanted to finish it because I still had juice in the tank,” Kentos said. “I hated leaving the game but I know my teammates are going to get the job done.”
Kentos needed all the faith he could muster because the potential tying and winning runs reached before the game was decided.
Not until Jace Cabello induced a bases-loaded groundout for the third out could the Marlins celebrate a 5-3 victory over Sportika Baseball Academy and the 15U Gold Division title at the Summer Finale at ‘The Nation’ in Flemington.
The Marlins, led by catcher Derek Thoms, named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, went 4-1 for the weekend and closed their summer season by claiming a Diamond Nation trophy.
“This is sad but at least we won,” said Thoms, a rising sophomore at Middletown North. “This is the happiest thing. Everybody is smiling and it’s great knowing we’re going to end on a good note.”
Thoms reached base safely in all but one at bat all weekend while collecting a double and four RBI, and he caught three of the five games.
“He tore it up at the plate, just timely hitting all weekend,” Marlins coach Jared Graziano said. “He cashed in when we needed him to and he was a dog behind the dish.”
“My secret is you have to stay relaxed up there,” Thoms said of his approach to hitting. “If your head is all over the place you’re never gonna get it done up there.”
Kentos, a rising 6-2 Edison sophomore, allowed three runs on seven hits and five walks in 6⅓ innings with five strikeouts.
The critical moment of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning with the game tied at 2-2. The Marlins led off the inning by loading the bases when Cabello and Kentos walked and Corey Zusack was hit by a pitch.
After Sportika reliever Mike Soriano induced a pop up to first, Mike Mendes laid down a perfect squeeze bunt on the left side and Cabello scored the go-ahead run.
If that play didn’t deflate Sportika, the next one did. Jake Liotti followed Mendes by hitting a slow roller in front of the plate and the throw sailed high over first base, allowing pinch-runner Mason Bonds and Cabello to score and give the Marlins a 5-2 lead.
Derek Thoms of the NJ Marlins was named MVP of the 15U Summer Finale-2.
But the drama wasn’t over.
In the top of the seventh, Kentos got a strikeout before walking Dom Kulbeck. Kentos was relieved by Ryan McHugh, who struggled to find the strike zone and walked three of the next four batters he faced. Pinch-hitter Michael Gerlicke earned the third walk to force in a run and he represented the potential winning run at first base.
Cabello relieved McHugh, and one batter later the Marlins were triumphant.
Graziano said he didn’t enjoy taking Kentos out of the game, but he was concerned for his pitcher’s health.
“It was a pitch count deal. A kid’s health is way more important than any banner or championship,” Graziano said “The kids have been playing baseball for a long time, so that was our thought process there.
He’s a competitor and he didn’t want to come out of the game. I respect that. He also challenged hitters. We preach no free stuff on the bases, just attack hitters and keep them off balance, and he did exactly that.”
In hindsight, Thoms said replacing Kentos was the right call.
“He was great but it seemed like the other team was timing him up,” Thoms said. “I was looking at the scoreboard, seeing his velocity going down every inning. In the last inning he was reaching 74 (mph) when he started off at 81. When you think about that, it’s a big jump. I feel like eventually they were going to smash one and it was going to be a close one.”
Two plays at the plate in the early innings would shape how intense this championship game would be.
In the second inning, Sportika’s Sterlacci hit a fly ball to right which Ethan Mecchi caught and fired home. It was a pinpoint throw which nailed Evan Treese at the plate. Sportika coach Joe Russo pleaded with umpires to call interference on Thoms, but the call stood for the third out.
A carbon copy of that play happened again in Sportika’s half of the third. Soriano doubled to center with one out and the relay throw was superb, nabbing Jackson Alexander at the plate. This time, however, the umpire ruled Thoms interfered with Alexander’s progress and counted the run for a 1-0 Sportika lead.
Treese figured into the scoring in the fifth when his perfect squeeze bunt scored Andrew Todaro from third to give Sportika a 2-0 lead.
The Marlins got both of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth. Liotti singled to left to drive in Shaun Wood and Mecchi walked with the bases loaded to bring home Liotti.
“I like how the boys fought the entire time,” Russo said. “A couple base knocks here and there and it’s a different baseball game, but I tip my cap to them all day.”