Nolan Mattatall slices a two-run single in the third inning to give the Capitals a 3-0 lead.
By Rich Bevensee
After enduring a humbling experience 24 hours earlier at Diamond Nation in Flemington, the CT Capitals Underclass 16U ballclub of Hartford, Connecticut, returned to the scene of the crime where it not only needed to exorcise some demons, but withstand knee-buckling heat as well.
High heat is expected in a New Jersey summer, be it the weather or fastballs, but the Garden State is enduring a three-day stretch, beginning on Wednesday, of near-100-degree temperatures.
The Capitals’ Michael Seabra had a simple answer for both the demons and the heat: Don’t allow a base hit so his teammates can retreat quickly into the shade of the dugout.
For six innings during Wednesday’s heatwave, the right-handed Seabra was the coolest customer on the field. He frustrated the Lower Bucks Minutemen with an array of off-speed pitches when his fastball eluded him, and the result was a six-inning no-hitter which lifted the Capitals to a 5-1 pool play victory in the Diamond Nation 16U World Series.
It was the first no-no of Seabra’s career. He said he came close once with a two-hitter in 12U ball.
“I really didn’t think about the heat too much,” said Seabra, a rising 5-9, 140-pound junior at Cromwell High in Cromwell, Conn. “I’m confident in my ability. I just focused on throwing strikes and let the defense do the rest.”
Unfortunately for Lower Bucks, it was the second straight game in which their ballclub got no-hit. On Tuesday, the Minutemen (0-2) were shut out by Dutchess Arsenal of Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
There is no playoff for this tournament. The top five teams will qualify for the Showcase Series event at ‘The Nation’ in mid-August.
Thanks largely to Seabra turning the Minutemen bats ice cold, the Capitals (1-1 in the Series) rebounded sharply from a 15-0 loss to Thunderwolves Baseball of western New York the day before.
“I forgot about it pretty easily but some other kids were holding on to it for a while,” said Capitals first baseman Nolan Mattatall, who had a key two-run single in the third inning. “You have to forget about it and play as hard as you can for the next game.”
“I was very honest with them yesterday,” Capitals coach Joe Serfass said. “Sometimes you have to humble young men, but then at the same time, it’s summer baseball, which is a time to learn. It’s a ‘next day’ mentality. You’re gonna’ get beat up sometimes and you have to bounce right back.”
The Capitals had already given Seabra a bit of a cushion to work with before his fastball went south in the third inning. The Hartford-based program scored its first run in the top of the second when Alex Oulendsen scored on the front end of a double steal. The Caps added three runs in the third thanks to Mattatall’s opposite field, two-run single and Alex Oulendsen’s bases-loaded walk for a 4-0 lead.
Matt Jones races to first base on a ground ball for the Lower Bucks Minutemen.
Mattatall, a rising 6-3, 200-pound junior at Wethersfield (Conn.) High, was a part-time varsity starter who said his hitting continues to improve after a solid spring season.
“My hitting’s been okay. I’m just trying to stay short to the ball,” Mattatall said. “I’m just trying to hit the ball. If you put it in play good things happen.”
The lone run Lower Bucks scratched off Seabra came in the bottom of the third inning when Seabra hit the first two batters he faced and walked the next. He escaped by allowing only a fielder’s choice RBI.
That third inning’s speed bump was when Seabra had difficulty locating his fastball. He relied chiefly on his slider while mixing in changeups and curveballs to escape the inning and took that approach the remainder of the game. He would allow just two baserunners, one on a walk and another on a hit-by-pitch, after his rocky third inning.
“I lost my fastball in the third and I was pretty frustrated but I knew my teammates behind me could get it done,” said Seabra, who earned the victory despite allowing four walks and three hit batsmen against five strikeouts.
“He was really gritty and tough today in tough conditions,” Serfass said. “Throwing strikes helps. He got himself into a jam where he lost the fastball a little bit and had a long inning, but he was able to find the breaking ball and got himself back in the groove and got us some big outs. Sometimes, for pitchers, conditions aren’t ideal. Sometimes you don’t have your best stuff, but it comes down to being tough and being able to make pitches and allowing your defense to do the work.”
Lower Bucks pitching didn’t allow the Capitals to enjoy a hit parade – they were held to four singles – but the Capitals made the most of their at bats, as they also worked 10 walks.
The Caps scored their final run in the sixth. Catcher Jordan Cruz singled, K.J. Koenig took over as a courtesy runner and moved to second on an Oulendsen walk. Parker Herman loaded the bases with a walk and Koenig scored from third on a wild pitch.
The Capitals more than made up for their one-sided loss on Tuesday and did so amidst the most challenging weather conditions ‘The Nation’ has seen so far this season.
“We try to instill the mentality of, ‘Yes it’s warm but we have to use some mental toughness.’” Serfass said. “Take care of your bodies. We’ve been preaching all week long that the day before is when you take care of your body the most. And also, we come from Connecticut where anybody knows we play when it’s very cold. So I told them you have to look forward to this because it’s better than freezing your tails off in March and April.”