Bryson Jack of Maine Lightning lines up a pitch in the sixth inning.
Maine Lightning was in the driver’s seat against an older and talented Philly Bandits 17U Black squad yesterday afternoon at Diamond Nation but the gritty squad from New England forgot to close the door before it left for dinner.
Leaving a door open even in a quiet Maine town may not be a great idea, but it certainly is not on Field 4 in the seventh inning of a contested Super 17 Invitational game in Flemington, N.J.
Reliever Hunter Holst had pitched two scoreless innings and opened the top of the seventh inning by inducing Brody Stump to fly out deep but not dangerously to center field. The Lightning’s 4-2 lead was looking pretty snug at that point.
But, as can happen in the competitive world of travel baseball, the wheels came off from there. Holst and Marshall Rogers didn’t get another out, walking six and allowing a single to the next seven batters as the Bandits obliged by taking a 6-4 lead.
Alex Myers and Alex Peterson drew one-out walks before Justin Jandrisitz blooped a single into shallow center field to load the bases. Alex Erespe walked to draw the Bandits within a run and ended the day for Holst. Rogers took the mound and walked Aiden Knodt to tie the game and walked Zack Remus and Rylan Jarman to put the Bandits ahead, 6-4.
Alex Myers of the Bandits takes secondary lead after drawing a one out walk in the top of the seventh. Lightning’s first baseman Ryan Harder holds the bag.
The bleeding didn’t end until a third reliever, Mason Amergian, entered and quickly got a strikeout and an infield pop-up to end the merry-go-round.
“You have to play smart there,” said Remus, who drew the decisive walk, “and have your head in the game.” It would be easy to be aggressive in that spot with the bases full, but Remus stayed calm. “It got to 3-1 and I was going to make sure it was a perfect pitch for me to swing at.” It wasn’t and the lead had literally slipped away from the Lightning.
Remus had come in relief of starter Jimmy Clark and pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings, adeptly keeping the Bandits within a pair runs.’
“Remus did a hell of a job,” said Bandits coach Perry Faccenda. “He kept us in the game. We had no energy early then we decided we wanted to play.” Remus stranded a runner in the fifth and two runners in the sixth, allowing one hit, striking out two and walking two.
Remus throws quite an assortment of pitches, including a curveball, changeup and slider, along with his fastballs, but it was the slider that got him through on Tuesday. “The slider was working well today,” said Remus. “I was getting outs with it.”
The Lightning still had one last at bat to heal their self-inflicted wound, but closer Alex Myers came on fired up, filling the zone with mid-to-upper 80s fastballs.
“He came in flying,” said Faccender. “He was ready.”
Myers struck out the first batter he faced and surrendered an infield single to Drew McKenny before getting Amergian on a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. The Bandits improved to 3-0 in the tournament with the victory.
Maine, 1-2 thus far in Week 2 of the Super 17 Invitational, jumped in front with two runs in the bottom of the first inning without the benefit of a hit.
As Faccenda confirmed, “It was a weird game.”
Lightning’s Hunter Holst delivers a pitch to Bandits’ Justin Jandrisitz in the fifth inning.
Amergian drew a leadoff walk after the Bandits butchered a foul pop between home plate and first base. But a strikeout and fly out to Jimmy Amplo at the left field wall got two quick outs for Clark. The righthander then hit Bryson Jack with a pitch and walked Nate Conner to load bases. Clark then uncorked a wild pitch that easily scored Amergian and Jack scored as well when the throw back to the plate got away.
Clark looked electric at times but was his worst enemy. He permitted four runs on just two hits, struck out seven, walked five and hit a batter in four innings of work. He, in fact, struck out five straight batters from the last out of the first inning to the first out of the third.
The walks got Clark in trouble again in the third. Despite a strikeout and groundout to start the inning, the righty walked Josh D’Andrea and Ryan Harder as D’Andrea promptly swiped second and third base. That gave Bryson Jack an opportunity and the Lightning’s center fielder took advantage, sending a booming two-run double into the right-center field gap for a 4-1 lead.
The Bandits got a run back in the fourth when Stump tripled to the gap in right-center with two outs and Myers followed with a hard single through the left side to score Stump and draw the Bandits within two runs.
Cooper Bucci had a nice start for the mostly 15 year-old Lightning, giving his club four strong innings in which he permitted two runs on two hits, struck out two and walked one.
The game was playing at an easy and breezy one hour and 30 minute pace heading into the top of the seventh, but that changed quickly. … Myers, in addition to his seventh-inning close, drew a pair of walks, singled home a run and scored twice. … Nate Connor reached base all three trips to the plate for the Lightning, bracketing a pair of walks around a double down the third base line in the fourth inning. … Jack was hit by a pitch in the first inning and later scored before delivering his two-run double in the third.