By Sean Reilly
The fall season is the perfect time to work on areas in need of improvement, which is exactly what Mason Patience had in mind upon joining the 9ers 2027 Prime last month.
“This is a new club for me,” he said. “It was great, and really good to meet the guys. We did well at a tournament in Florida, and it was fun.”
One of his objectives was to increase his power production.
“I was looking to get more extra base hits,” he said.
He did well in that department, right through the final game of the season.
That came on Sunday night at Diamond Nation, in the final of the 16U Pool C-D Halloween Mash, Powered By Victus.
Patience went 2-for-2 with a walk, hitting a three-run triple and finishing with four RBI, as the 9ers beat the Mustangs Baseball Club from Marlboro, 8-7, for the championship.
The game had more drama than anyone in a 9ers uniform liked. After the 9ers built an 8-0 lead, the Mustangs scored three times in the sixth and four times in the bottom of the seventh, and the game ended on a fly ball to deep left-center with the tying run on first.
“I got a little nervous there,” said Patience, who was selected the tournament MVP.
Patience helped the 9ers open a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Chase Cannan led off with a single to right field and moved to second on a ground out. Cannan took off for third as Patience singled to center, scoring easily as a result.
The 9ers then scored six in the third for a 7-0 lead.
After the first batter grounded out, Landon Hoyle reached on an error, Myles Ulaky was hit by a pitch and Cannan walked to load the bases.
A wild pitch scored a run before Tyler Garbooshian walked to reload the bases. That’s when Patience delivered a bases-clearing triple to the gap in right-center for a 5-0 score.
Casper Billington was up next and walked. A wild pitch scored the next run, and Jett Sevilla singled off the pitcher to drive in the final run of the inning.
The other 9ers run, which turned out to be very important, came in the top of the sixth. Miles Nessan led off with a standup triple to center, and he scored when Brayden Harmata hit a one-out sacrifice fly to center.
The Mustangs needed to score a run in the bottom of the inning to avoid a mercy rule finish. Instead, they struck for three.
Mason Patience of 9ers Baseball Prime was named the 16U CD Halloween Mash MVP.
Michael Capaldo reached on a one-out error, and Chase Sussman got aboard via a strike-three wild pitch.
Anthony Bavaro was up next, and drilled a two-run triple to left-center. He scored on a ground out from Liam Corbett.
The bottom of the seventh began with a walk to Mark Risi, before Casey Daignault reached on a fielder’s choice error and Dan Lavan singled to shortstop.
That loaded the bases, but the next batter struck out.
With the top of the order now up, Capaldo worked the count full before drawing an RBI walk. Susman was retired on a pitcher-to-first ground out that scored another run. With runners on second and third, Bavaro followed up on his prior at-bat by hitting a two-run single to center to get the Mustangs within a run.
The game then ended on the well-struck fly out to center field.
With the season now complete, Patience can get some rest while also thinking about what awaits in 2025.
“I want to get stronger and faster during the off-season,” he said.
Sevilla (2-for-3) was the only other 9er to finish with multiple hits. Aside from Bavaro’s 2-for-4, four RBI effort, Lavan ended 2-for-3 for the Mustangs.