Plewa helps Stafford Hitmen to strong showing at 13U Labor Day Blast

By DN WRITING STAFF | September 3, 2024

Seth Laprade of Berkshire Reign dives back to first base ahead of pickoff throw. 

By Sean Reilly

The first tournament of the fall season is a milestone event for any 13U team competing at Diamond Nation.

That’s because those teams are making the move up to the large-size fields they’ll be playing on for the rest of their careers. It’s a big change, manifested in multiple ways.

The Stafford Hitmen 13U have made the jump this weekend at ‘The Nation,’ and after enduring an initial speed bump, the results have been promising at the 13U Labor Day Blast, Powered By Cortes and Hay. 

Most notably, the Ocean County team swept two games on Sunday on Field 4, opening with an 8-0, five-inning, no-hit victory over the Berkshire Reign Elite 13U from Massachusetts to complete pool play. Then it followed with a 21-7 triumph over the LBC Sheepdogs from North Jersey in the playoff semifinals.

The Hitmen were set for a Monday afternoon rematch against Berkshire for the championship. The Reign beat the Connecticut Titans, 7-3, in the other semifinal.

In Sunday’s Stafford vs. Berkshire matchup, the Hitmen won on a combined no-hitter. Layden Masi pitched the first two innings, and Jacob Plewa worked the final three.

Plewa was also the only player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with two RBI, including a run-scoring ground out. 

“This was something I was definitely looking forward to,” Plewa said. “We had about 10 practices on the big field. It’s way different than the 50-70.” 

The Hitmen opened the tournament on Saturday with an 11-8 loss to the Sheepdogs, followed by a 10-2 win against the Titans. Berkshire swept the Titans and Sheepdogs on Saturday. 

Stafford beat Berkshire by scoring once in the first inning, before adding four runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to close out the game. 

Zando Kelly led off the bottom of the first with a single to left field, and continued to second on an error. He moved to third on a ground out from Andrew Finelli and scored on a wild pitch with two out. 

Nick Iodaci was hit by the first pitch in the fourth inning. He moved to second on a pickoff-throw error, and scored when Mason Rogalski singled to left field. Rogalski reached second on an error, and took third as Mason Germinario legged out a single on a ball hit to the right of the first baseman.

Zando Kelly scores on first-inning wild pitch for the Stafford Hitmen. 

Germinario stole second before R.J. Sledzik hit an RBI groundout to shortstop. John Malandro was up next, and a wild pitch during his at-bat scored Germinario for a 4-0 lead.

Malandro walked and stole second before Thomas DeStefano also walked. They advanced to second and third on a double steal, and Plewa followed with a run-scoring ground out to first base. 

Iodaci led off the fifth with a walk, advanced on a wild pitch and reached third on an error. After a strikeout, he scored on Germinario’s ground out to shortstop. 

Sledzik and Malandro followed with walks, and stolen bases placed them on second and third. DeStefano hit an RBI single near second base, and Plewa followed with a run-scoring single to right field to end the game. 

In combining on the no-hitter, Masi walked two and struck out none in his two innings. Plewa had one strike out and three walks. 

“It’s a lot more difficult to pitch on the big field,” Plewa said. “You have to really stride a lot more to get power out of your legs to make it to the plate.” 

As for hitting, that approach changes as well. 

“You have to wait on the ball,” he said. “You have to sit back to hit it as far as you can.” 

In the Hitmen’s semifinal win over LBC, Rogalski was 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI, while Iodaci was 2-for-3 with two runs and four RBI.

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Comments 1

  1. What a nice day at Diamond Nation. These fields are in top shape. It was a pleasure to watch the Stafford Hitmen and the other teams battle it out on the field. #WeNotMe

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