Connor Byrne rounds third after singling in the third inning for Colossal Basesball Select.
By Rich Bevensee
It was roughly five years ago that Ben Weninger was fed up with his baseball swing and said enough is enough.
He has typically towered over teammates, but Weninger was having trouble at the plate even at the Little League level. Not only was he seeing mostly offspeed pitches, most likely because opposing teams wanted to avoid his power, but his long swing kept him from using his muscular body to barrel the baseball.
It was at that time a frustrated Weninger began watching YouTube videos to improve his swing. Combined with the advice of his coaches, Weninger quickly developed into the hitter he is today.
Coming off a sensational offensive campaign at Parkland High in Allentown this past spring, Weninger is now showcasing his talents for the club baseball crowd. On Friday evening, Weninger went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI to propel Rotten Boys Baseball to a 4-3 pool play victory over Colossal Baseball Select in the 16U School’s Out Tournament at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
With his team trailing 3-2 in the top of the sixth, Weninger roped his second RBI double of the game to score Chase Miller with the tying run, then scampered across the plate on a wild pitch to score what would prove to be the winning run.
Weninger, a 6-6, 235-pound rising senior, smirked when thinking about the hitter he was as a 10- and 11-year old.
“I haven’t always been a good hitter. A while ago I had a long swing, and as you can imagine I didn’t have a lot of success against better pitching,” Weninger said. “I was getting curveballs in the dirt and swinging over them. I started watching a lot of YouTube videos and I really listened to my coaches. And pretty much right away my swing got better. I would go to the cages the next day and start swinging and I’d start to feel good.”
Weninger produced an exceptional offensive campaign this past spring at Parkland, hitting .366 with 25 hits and 21 RBI.
This summer is beginning to heat up for the big slugger. After going hitless in his first two games with the Rotties, Weninger is 6-for-8 with two doubles, a triple, two homers and seven RBI in his last three games.
“I’ve seen a lot of curveballs and offspeed through all my years of playing baseball, so I’ve learned to keep my weight back and my hands tight,” Weninger said.
“He’s been in the program since he’s been young, and he’s a threat any time he gets into the box,” Rotties coach Jason Okken said. “It’s gonna be interesting to see what happens next.”
Colin Madison and Felix Reyes combined to throw five scoreless innings after Colossal sprung ahead, 3-2, with a three-run rally in the bottom of the second.
Reyes was a standout for the Rotties, based in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. After making a pair of running catches in center field, he was summoned to pitch in the fourth inning with his team trailing, 3-2. In his scoreless three innings of work he gave up three hits and one walk and struck out three.
Ben Weninger went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI for Rotten Boys Baseball.
In the bottom of the seventh, Reyes yielded a single and a walk to put the tying runs on base with two out, but he escaped danger with a strikeout to end the game.
“Getting to Felix, executing a lot of pitches, that’s what changes the tide of the game,” Okken said.
“You have to think like a batter sometimes and make them be aggressive,” said Reyes, a rising junior at Executive Education Academy Charter School in Allentown. “Just get the pitch there and locate it. I like those situations. I’m good with pressure. I don’t back off. I was just keeping it there in the middle, locating, and letting my position players do their job.”
Madison allowed three runs over three innings on four hits and two walks and he struck out three.
The Rotties claimed a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Weninger doubled in Chase Miller with one out, then stole home on the back end of a double steal with Michael Williams taking second. Williams finished 2-for-3.
Colossal, based in Berlin, N.J., took a 3-2 lead in the second when Nicholas Melograna, the team’s No. 9 hitter, roped a two-run double into the right center gap and scored one batter later on Aaron Capozzolli’s sacrifice fly.
For Colossal, Trevor Barna pitched the first three innings and yielded two runs on four hits and he struck out one. Anthony Fiorini threw four innings in relief and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Connor Byrne went 3-for-3 and Caleb Lopez singled twice.