By Rich Bevensee
The Out Of The Park Cyclones 13U Prospects ballclub has emerged from winter conditioning with such a firm grasp of situational hitting, some onlookers may be doing a double-take, perhaps even confounded that they are really watching a team of 13-year-olds spending their first season on a 90-foot diamond.
Twice in the 13U Easter Extravaganza championship game, the Cyclones drove in runners in scoring position with an opposite field base hit. It was classic situational hitting at its finest.
This kind of performance does not come as a shock to coach Travis Zilg, who knows his players have much to learn but still holds them to the highest standards.
“We spent a lot of time on situational stuff in practice,” Zilg said. “Guy on third and hitting the other way, getting bunts down. For the common person it may seem hard to believe a 13-year-old can do that stuff, but for us, we’re not perfect but it is expected. We definitely preach it quite a bit.”
Those two RBI base knocks, authored by Christian Sierant and Matthew Krail, didn’t take anyone on the team by surprise, and those plays factored greatly into the Cyclones’ 10-2 victory over Flores Baseball Braves Red Scout and the 13U title on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“I think it comes down to confidence,” said tournament MVP Andrew Nolfo, the Cyclones catcher who batted .800 over four games. “This winter it was just practice, practice, practice in the batting cage. A lot of times twice a day. If you just keep your hands back and push it the other way you’ll get the job done.”
Nolfo went 3-for-3 in the final with an RBI single in the first and a two-run triple in the fourth. He finished the weekend with eight hits, including two doubles, three triples, nine RBI and five runs scored. He also caught all four games and threw out three baserunners.
“He was our catalyst,” Zilg said. “He was our guy that carried us. He was outstanding this weekend.”
Krail steered through all five innings after a somewhat rocky start. He allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Krail began the game by allowing two hits and two walks in the first two innings. The Braves scored twice in the second to cut the Cyclones’ lead in half at 4-2.
Krail righted the ship, however, and permitted only three baserunners over the final three frames.
“I just needed to stop aiming and to just throw and not think about anything else,” Krail said. “I was nervous but after the second inning I just thought about throwing.”
In the top of the fifth when the Cyclones sought to end the game via the mercy rule, the Braves’ John Macari led off with a triple and represented a run which would extend the game. Macari never left third, as Krail struck out the next two batters and coerced a groundout to end the game.
“He was a little shaky at first but he ended up settling in,” Zilg said. “His pitch count for the first two innings got to him a little bit, but he ended up settling in really well and I thought his last two innings were his better ones. He was awesome.”
The Cyclones situational hitting was not just about driving in a teammate. They were both executed in crucial moments in the game.
In the top of the second inning the Braves cut their deficit in half with a two-run rally to draw within 4-2. The Cyclones, looking to re-establish some breathing room, answered in the bottom of the third with Nolfo on third and Roman Ferry on second and one out. Following a perfect sacrifice bunt by J.B. Mullan to advance both runners, the right-handed hitting Sierant rifled the first pitch he saw from the Braves’ John Macari into the hole between first and second, driving in both teammates for a 6-2 Cyclones lead.
Cyclones catcher Andrew Nolfo batted .800 to earn Easter Extravaganza MVP.
While Krail’s pitching was keeping the Braves at bay, the Cyclones struck again with heady execution that mirrored Sierant’s hit.
Macari, pitching with two on and two outs and trying to keep his team within striking distance, faced the right-handed hitting Krail, the Cyclones leadoff hitter. Krail swatted a sharp grounder to the right side that Braves second baseman Joseph Pollio dove to stop but couldn’t recover in time as Krail beat out the throw. That allowed Ryan Dobkin and Ryder Alicea to score and give the Cyclones an 8-2 cushion.
“This week coming up to the tournament we put in a lot of work and we hit four times in two days,” Krail said. “I’m glad we could get it done for the team.”
So the Cyclones put their hitting and pitching on display, and defense was the third ingredient.
In the third, Cyclones shortstop Matthew Schmieder made an impressive play, charging Ryan Isenhour’s slow grounder and making a strong off-balance throw for the putout. In the fourth with one on and one out, Krail coerced a comebacker and began an inning-ending, 1-4-3 double play.
“We have flashed glimpses of the team we are, which is to be able to do all three phases of the game,” Zilg said. “In this championship game I thought we did all three well. We’re not a finished product, still working on a lot of things, but I can definitely say we have surpassed expectations at this point.”
The Cyclones, clicking on all cylinders this weekend, rolled through four games (two pool and two playoff) by a combined 39-7 score, beating TTBA Sweeney, FB Braves 2031, MC Oilers Carolina Black and FB Braves Red Scout.
The FB Braves Red Scout scored 36 runs in its first three games to go 3-0 before meeting the Cyclones. In the final, Lucas Barrientos belted a two-run RBI triple in the second inning.