OOTP Cyclones 16U Prospects concluded their season by going 5-0 and winning the Fall Harvest title.
By Rich Bevensee
What makes Vin Donofrio an effective 16U pitcher is that he possesses low 80s velocity and can throw multiple pitches for strikes.
What makes Donofrio an excellent 16U pitcher is his ability to maintain those tools while navigating through the most troublesome situations.
Donofrio, the lefty ace on the Out Of The Park Cyclones 16U Prospects staff, was asked to once again take on the team’s toughest test in a tournament weekend. The result was the same as it always has been.
While the Cyclones teed off against hard-throwing API Cavs righty Asher Shirlen, Donofrio weathered through some trouble spots in six sturdy innings in a season-concluding, 7-1 victory in the 16U Fall Harvest championship game on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Donofrio, named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, surrendered a run in the first inning and proceeded to strand eight runners – five in scoring position – in a six-inning, 108-pitch performance.
“Nothing really gets to him,” Cyclones catcher Andrew Schmeider said. “Catching Vin is really easy because he hits the strike zone with all three pitches. It’s just strikes non-stop, no matter what’s going on.”
Donofrio enhanced his MVP resume by batting .667 with three homers, two doubles, three walks, eight RBI and eight runs scored.
The Cyclones improved to 10-3-1 on the season while claiming their first title of the fall. More impressively, they are now 87-4-1 at Diamond Nation since this group moved to the 90-foot field, and 193-22-6 overall since the fall of 2023.
Donofrio struck out eight in six innings while allowing one run on four hits and four walks.
“Every time we lean on him in the biggest spots he just performs,” Cyclones coach Travis Zilg said. “That’s a really good team and they weren’t overwhelmed by any of his stuff. He had deep counts and a lot of traffic. That’s why the pitch count was so high. But he was controlling the emotions of his game and when things start to get a little shaky, he just dials it in and does a great job.”
The first batter Donofrio faced, Iverson Castillo, singled, took two bases on an outfield error and scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Casey Kraftician. That was all the offense the Cavaliers, a team of sophomores from Archbishop Spalding in Severn, Md., could muster.
Donofrio, a sophomore at A.L. Johnson in Clark, stranded a runner on third in the first and escaped bases-loaded jams in the fourth and sixth innings.
Vincent Donofrio allowed one run in six innings in the championship game and batted .667 with three homers to earn MVP honors for the Cyclones.
“A lefty throwing 80 to 83 in 16U baseball, throwing two, three pitches for strikes is gonna dominate any level of freshman, sophomore baseball,” API coach Pat O’Farrell said. “He did a really good job mixing all three pitches, he pounded the zone and didn’t give us anything free, so he did a great job.”
Donofrio made his last stand in the sixth after hitting a batter and walking one to load the bases with two out. He was at 105 pitches when Zilg made a mound visit.
“I went out to check on him, No. 1, but also to calm the nerves a bit,” Zilg said. “Remind him if a back pick was available to bail us out of the jam, to keep his eyes up for the sign. And just to let him know, either way that was his last batter.”
It was his last batter. Donofrio got a strikeout swinging, and Alex DePierro pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief.
Donofrio received all the offense he needed in the top of the first inning as the Cyclones jumped on Shirlen, a 6-7 righty who reached 87 mph on the radar gun.
Gianni Cenicola led off by reaching on an error and Donofrio walked before Schmeider doubled to left center to drive in both. Nicholas Yacykewych followed with a triple to center to bring home Schmeider, and Andrew Schmidt added an RBI single for a 4-0 Cyclones lead.
“Our guys are not intimidated by those types of arms,” Zilg said. “He was electric, he was good, but we’ve been there before. We’ve been challenged so much. This group has been playing up for so long and we’ve seen that before, whereas most 16U teams don’t see that. We couldn’t have had a better first inning. Very good response from our guys.”
The Cyclones added a run in the third when Schmeider walked and Yacykewych reached on an error with two out. Shirlen was relieved by Reece Rosko, and Schmidt jumped on Rosko’s first pitch for an RBI single.
Shirlen pitched 2⅔ innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on three hits and four walks with two strikeouts.
“In the first inning Asher just fell behind,” O’Farrell said. “His fastball was working very well – he’s got plus velo for a 16-year-old – but you gotta be able to command the zone. If it’s 85-88 but right down the middle it’s not gonna make a difference.”
The Cyclones tacked on two more runs in the seventh when DePierro walked and eventually scored on an error on a Lucas Bolton grounder, and Bolton scored on a wild pitch.
For the Cavaliers, Rosko threw 2⅓ scoreless innings, gave up one hit and no walks and struck out two. Logan Rich pitched the final two innings and surrendered two runs (none earned) on one hit and two walks with two strikeouts.