By Sean Reilly
When Tyler Scoblick gets command of his two-seam fastball, the pitcher has found his happy place.
That didn’t happen immediately on Sunday at Diamond Nation. But once it did, the right-hander from Baseball U Pennsylvania 18U-Reda was in quite a groove.
Scoblick allowed just one single over four strong, scoreless innings when Baseball U Pennsylvania 18U-Reda completed play at the 17/18U Wood Bat Championship with a 3-1 triumph over Wladyka National.
“As soon as I get my two-seam going, it gets me going,” Scoblick said. “First inning, I was all over the place. I was throwing the four-seam the most. The two-seam came in the second inning and I just went from there. They couldn’t hit it. It was usually weak contact when they did.”
Scoblick, a 6-3, 180-pounder who recently began his junior year at Valley View (Pa.) High School, finished with six strikeouts and two walks.
One of those walks was to Dennis Mulhearn, the first batter of the game for Wladyka National. Mulhearn went to second on an errant pickoff throw and wound up on third after a balk. But Scoblick got the third out with his second strikeout of the inning.
Baseball U had better luck in its half of the first inning, which began with Tate Pentasuglio drawing a full-count walk.
Pentasuglio moved to second on a wild pitch before No. 2 man Elijah Mead walked. A fielder’s choice resulted in a force out at second base, leaving runners on the corners. After a strikeout, Pentasuglio scored on a wild pitch with Reese Zalewski at the plate.
After that, the two starting pitchers -Scoblick and Nick Gilpin of Wladyka National – were in control over the next few innings.
Gilpin pitched a very strong 4⅔ innings, and the junior righty from Nyack (N.Y.) High School allowed no hits, with seven strikeouts and three walks.
The first hit in the game came when Enzo Gurijala of Wladyka National led off the fourth inning by legging out a ground ball to shortstop. But when the throw got past the first baseman, the runner was thrown out trying to advance to second. Scoblick then struck out the next two batters.
Wladyka National tied the game against Scoblick’s replacement in the top of the sixth.
Aidan Quinn walked on a 3-2 pitch with one out, and after a strikeout, Jackson Becker also walked. That sent up the top of the order, and Mulhearn hit a single to left field that brought in the tying run.
Baseball U won the game before the 1:50 game clock expired in the bottom of the frame.
John Grasso walked with one out, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch with Pentasuglio at the plate.
The count went full before a wild pitch allowed Grasso to hustle home with the go-ahead run. Pentasuglio also scored later in the inning just before the clock reached zero.
“I was trying to be aggressive on the bases,” Grasso said. “Once that ball kicked over his hand, I took off and didn’t stop.”
The win enabled Baseball U Pennsylvania-Reda to split its Sunday afternoon doubleheader and finish the tournament with a 2-1 record.
“It’s good to end with a win,” Grasso said. “We drove two hours for this, so we did not want to go home losing.”