M.J. Lombardi launches a homer for Team Victory in 11/12U All-Ripken play.
By Rich Bevensee
The Golden Age of baseball enjoyed the prodigious hitting of the New York Yankees’ M&M boys, Maris and Mantle, in the early 1960s. Diamond Nation and the inaugural All-Ripken Games unveiled the latest version of the M&M Boys on Tuesday morning, and the young men arrived just in time to save the day.
Playoff possibilities looked bleak for Team Freedom until Matthew Nunez and Mateo Peralta vaulted the team back into the 11/12U playoff picture with a pair of monstrous home runs which fueled an incredible comeback.
Nunez’ three-run homer in the fifth inning put Team Freedom in front after it spotted Team Victory a five-run lead, and Peralta’s sixth-inning grand slam was the exclamation point his team needed as Team Freedom enjoyed a 16-8 victory at ‘The Nation’ in Flemington.
Team Victory led 5-0 through three innings before Team Freedom began its comeback in the second half of the game, scoring four runs in the fourth, five runs in the fifth and seven runs in the sixth.
“When we were down 5-0. We didn’t really have that much confidence, not that much energy,” Nunez said. “But once we scored four runs in the fourth inning and cut down the lead to one, that gave us more confidence.”
With Team Freedom trailing 5-4 in the fifth with two on and one out, Nunez blasted a three-run shot to left which easily cleared the fence and gave his team its first lead. Peralta scored on a throwing error and Jason Muransky scored when Ryan Hoppe reached first on a dropped third strike, giving Team Freedom a 9-5 lead.
It was Nunez’ 10th homer of the summer after hitting nine for the North Rockland Bulldogs. He went 2-for-2 in the game.
“We were very down,” Peralta said about trailing Team Victory 5-0. “We didn’t think we’d have a chance to come back at all. We all really thought we were going to lose. Matthew’s home run really bumped us up a lot, gave us a lot of energy.”
The offensive onslaught didn’t stop there. In the top of the sixth, Tyler Dockray singled in a run and Chris Fassnacht drilled a two-run double before Peralta hammered a ball well over the center field fence for his second grand slam of the summer. Peralta hit his first granny back in June for the Morris County Cubs.
“I just knew it was gone right away, I was so excited,” said Peralta, who finished the game 2-for-3. “That felt really good, getting that off my chest because I really wanted to hit one. And doing it for the team felt really good because it made me feel like more of a leader.”
Jason Murawski scores for Team Freedom in the fourth inning.
The win gave Team Freedom a 1-1 record with two more pool play games remaining, against Team Guardians and Team United on Thursday. Team Victory (2-1) will play Team Patriots on Thursday. The top two teams meet for the title at 12:30 p.m.
Team Victory entered the game with a 2-0 record and began the game clearly brimming with tons of confidence. In the first inning, M.J. Lombardi had an RBI single and Liam Buksar had a two-run single for a 3-0 lead.
In the third, the lefty-hitting Lombardi hammered a two-run homer to left for a 5-0 Team Victory lead. It was Lombardi’s second homer of the Ripken event; he hit a leadoff homer against Team United in a 13-7 victory earlier in the morning.
Neither Nunez nor Peralta had an explanation for why it took the team so long to respond with their bats. But Peralta had a perfectly reasonable explanation for the team scoring 16 runs in the latter three innings.
“Once more people start hitting, it gives you more confidence that you can definitely hit the pitcher that’s throwing,” Peralta said.
Bash brothers Matthew Nunez and Mateo Peralta hit clutch homers for Team Freedom.
Team Freedom began its comeback in the top of the fourth when Murawski scored on a wild pitch. Michael Mallery stroked an RBI single and Jackson Slater scored on an ensuing throwing error. Soon after, Mallery scored on a wild pitch to bring Team Freedom within a run.
Tyler Dockray, Hoppe and George Brophy each pitched two innings for Team Freedom. Brophy went 2-for-2 with a double and a walk, Murawsky was 2-for-3, and Fassnacht went 3-for-3.
For Team Victory, Dylan McConway and Blake Dean each pitched two innings. Buksar pitched one-third of an inning, Lombardi went two-thirds of an inning, Jack Schottlander pitched one-third of an inning and Jaxon Baker pitched the final two-thirds.
Offensively for Team Victory, Lombardi and Derek Steele went 2-for-3 and J.R. Hollingsworth hit a double.