Lucas Lynch drives an RBI single for Wladyka American in the Beat The Heat Tournament.
By Rich Bevensee
Aeden Riley has an alter ego on the days he pitches, and his name is Psycho.
On game days, he wakes up ultra-focused while eating his breakfast, doing his stretches and getting dressed for the game. At the ballfield, teammates know to leave him alone in the dugout. He sits on the end of the bench and talks to no one in between innings on the mound.
Riley’s emotions never waver no matter how he gets batters out. To paint a mental picture of Riley on the mound, imagine someone stone-faced and efficient. Intense is not a strong enough word.
“I’m psycho,” Riley said. “I feel like on gameday, the entire day all I’m thinking about is pitching. Nothing else.”
Riley’s alter ego took over a baseball game Saturday night, and the result was utter domination – a complete game one-hitter with 15 strikeouts and no walks.
His team, Wladyka Baseball American, provided him with a three-run insurance inning in a 5-0 pool play victory over the CK Cardinals Prospects in the 15U Beat The Heat Tournament Powered by Farah Nutrition at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Wladykla coach Anthony Genchi called Riley’s performance one of the best he has ever seen at that age level.
“He set the tone right from inning one,” Genchi said. “He threw a ton of strikes, worked ahead of guys, put pressure on them to swing the bat. He stayed on the attack. He was in command tonight.”
Wladyka has a doubleheader on Sunday to finish up pool play. They face Complete Performance Baseball Academy and Hustle Baseball. The Cards also have a doubleheader on Sunday against the same two teams.
Riley, a rising, 5-8, 155-pound, right-handed sophomore who is transferring from DePaul to Mountain Lakes, featured a smooth, compact delivery and was quick to the plate. His four- and two-seam fastballs ticked 80 mph and hovered in the mid to high 70s, while his low 70s curveballs and changeups kept Cardinals hitters guessing. Eight strikeouts were swings and misses, and seven batters were caught looking.
Riley and Genchi gave credit to the team’s two catchers, Josh Herman and Christian Sebastiano, for calling a solid game.
“I’m new to this team, so they haven’t been catching me for long, but I feel like they’ve adapted to what I like,” Riley said. “When a kid’s late, there’s no reason to speed his bat up with a curveball. I feel like everything was on today, mechanics, arm side run. Everything was tailing good.”
Michael Thomasino was one of only two Cardinals batters to reach against Wladyka’s Aeden Riley.
Genchi emphasized that Riley kept his emotions in check until he got the final out with his season-high 15th strikeout and the game was complete.
“Intensity contributes to his success on the mound,” Genchi said. “He’s locked in. He’s dialed in. In between innings he sits by himself. He wants to be great.”
Joe DiGregorio may not have been as dominant as his Wladyka counterpart, but the Cardinals ace was up to the task. Through four innings he gave up two runs – one earned – on four hits and two walks.
But Wladyka solved DiGregorio in the fifth. With Wladyka leading 2-0, Chase Reynolds opened the inning by reaching on an infield error, and Ollie LaLonde moved him to third with a single.
Leadoff hitter Ryan Puleo hit a Baltimore Chop just beyond DiGregorio’s grasp, allowing Reynolds to score. LaLonde scored on a double steal and Jeff Herroder doubled home Puleo for a 5-0 lead.
“I made some location mistakes, hung a couple curveballs,” said DiGregorio, a rising junior at Old Bridge High. “I’m pleased with how I threw, just not pleased with the outcome.”
Wladyka opened the scoring with an unearned run in the bottom of the first when Puleo scored on an infield error following a Chris Lalomia grounder.
In the fourth, Wladyka took a 2-0 lead on a Lucas Lynch RBI infield single. The ball was deep enough at third that Cardinals third baseman Nick Mahler couldn’t get Nate Van Note sliding into third or make the throw to first in time to get Lynch.