By Sean Reilly
Nate Moseley had plenty of time to prepare for his pitching start on Sunday at Diamond Nation, and it helped produce excellent results for himself and his Prime Time Aces-Meyers team.
The right-hander knew for almost 24 hours that he’d be the starter for his Virginia club in the final of the 16U Pool A-B Halloween Mash, Powered By Victus. That’s because a two-game sweep on Saturday clinched a first-place Pool A finish and corresponding berth in the final.
He readied himself accordingly.
“I spent all last night prepping for it,” he said. “I went to bed early instead of staying up late and watching the World Series game, which would have been really nice. But a good night’s sleep is always a smart move. Knowing I’d be pitching in this game also let me lock in, knowing that I’d have to give it everything I’ve got.”
Moseley did exactly that. He was masterful for all seven innings, pitching a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter as the Prime Time Aces beat the Monmouth Liberty 16U, 4-1, for the championship in Flemington.
The title was the team’s first of the year, and came in its final game of 2024.
“We made it to a couple of finals, but hadn’t won,” Moseley said. “It feels great to win, I can’t be happier.”
To take home the commemorative Victus championship bat, Prime Time had to defeat a Liberty team that entered the final with a 3-0 weekend record and 28-1 run differential.
Prime Time took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Connor Stehn led off with a single, and was sacrificed to second by Sam Wolff. Cameron Trail hit a single to right field that moved Stehn to third.
An unusual play then occurred. Trail attempted to steal second. With the first-and-third situation in play, the second baseman caught the throw away from the bag. Thinking he still had a play at Trail, he flipped the ball toward the shortstop, who was closer to the base. But the toss failed to connect, and it resulted in an error which scored Stehn from third.
The Liberty tied in the bottom of the frame. Catcher Joe Ciammaruconi hit a one-out single to third base, and his courtesy runner was forced out on a grounder by pitcher Thomas Lee.
Lee was replaced by courtesy runner Jack Russo, who moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when Tyler Alweiss singled to right field.
Moseley struck out the next batter, starting a string in which he allowed one hit the remainder of the game, striking out 10 along the way.
“Everything was working today,” said Moseley, who threw 82 pitches, 61 of them for strikes. “Four seams, two seams, splitters, curves. After I gave up that run in the second inning, and I locked back in during the third and started cruising, I was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’ve got this.’”
Still, Prime Time had to reclaim the lead.
That happened in the top of the fourth. Heath Butler led off with a triple to center field. Jack Dobbie walked and Stehn hit a sacrifice fly to left field.
Prime Time also presented Moseley with two insurance runs with two out in the top of the seventh.
After the first two batters were retired, Elliott Sagana singled to right before advancing on a wild pitch.
Alexander Glick, who went 3-for-4 out of the leadoff spot, followed with an RBI triple to right, and he scored on a James Akiyama single to right.
“That was so nice for my team to back me up in the seventh,” Moseley said. “It gave me the insurance runs that I needed to go out there and be confident to finish out the game.”
A difference in the game was the offense provided by the top of each team’s batting order. Prime Time’s first four hitters were a combined 7-for-14, led by Glick, as well as Butler’s 2-for-3 showing out of the cleanup spot.
Moseley limited the first four Liberty hitters to a 1-for-9 showing, with six of those outs by strikeout.
All in all, it was the perfect way to head into the off-season.
“It’s great,” Moseley said. “Winning the last game of the year feels so good.”