Jackson Fitzgerald of Hauss Powwa slides home to beat the tag of Wildcats catcher Zac Williams.
By Rich Bevensee
If Saturday’s performance was indicative of what Blake Simon can do on a pitcher’s mound when he’s 70 percent healthy, the Jersey Shore Wildcats 14U ballclub is going to be nearly unbeatable when Simon reaches 100 percent.
Simon, still recovering from patella tendonitis, took the ball for the Wildcats’ game against Hauss Powwa of Westport, Mass., and delivered an abbreviated sample of how special his talent is.
“I know he’s got a lot more in the tank, but I also know he did very well for 70 percent,” said Wildcats catcher Zac Williams. “He was phenomenal.”
While his teammates broke out of a brief slump by matching a team high for runs scored, Simon faced just two batters over the minimum and threw three shutout innings in leading the Wildcats to a 15-1 decision over Hauss Powwa in pool play at the 14U Summer Finale at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
The Wildcats (1-1) rebounded nicely from a 3-2 loss to Northeast Pride National of Beach Lake, Pa., earlier in the day to split their Saturday doubleheader.
Hauss Powwa (1-1) also split on Saturday. The Boston-area club defeated Elite Per4mance of Long Island City, N.Y., 9-7.
The 14U playoffs begin Sunday with quarterfinals at 9 a.m. The semifinals are at 1:15 p.m. and the championship game is slated for 3:15 p.m.
Blake, entering his freshman year at Seton Hall Prep, said he first felt discomfort in January, and added that it’s been an arduous road back to health. He said he still feels some discomfort when he pitches and it has a direct effect on his velocity with not only his fastball but his curveball and changeup as well.
“I can’t really throw as hard with it, and it takes a strain on my arm, too,” Simon said of his injury, which involves the tissue connecting the kneecap to the shinbone. “It was frustrating to miss so much baseball. I decided I have to push through it. Rehab is going well. It’s gotten better since it started in January.”
Hauss Powwa batters probably would not have guessed that Simon was inhibited at all. Aside from a second-inning walk to Jose Martinez, Simon was near perfect through his three innings of work. Two batters reached in the first inning on infield errors but were left stranded, as was Martinez in the second.
Simon, on a prescribed pitch limit according to Wildcats coach Mike Condon, delivered 38 pitches.
“We knew we were going to be short with him today,” Condon said. “We’re just trying to take care of his arm and build him back up. He did a good job. He took care of the baseball and threw strikes.”
Williams said he called pitches for Simon with the knowledge that his pitches were somewhat affected by his lack of full power. And still, Wiliams came away impressed.
“This is probably his best outing since his injury,” said Williams, a rising freshman at Wall. “He didn’t use his curveball that much. I didn’t call it that much because I saw the hitters were a lot more out in front and I thought they might have seen his curveball a little better and sat there and bombed it. But he located his changeup very well today and that’s why we stuck to it.”
As special as Simon was on the mound, the Wildcats offense was just as impressive, and the 15 runs tied their season high.
The Wildcats’ Austin Condon avoids the tag of Jack D’Angelo at first base.
The Wildcats recently enjoyed a seven-game winning streak in which they averaged nearly 10 runs per game. That streak was followed by a two-game slide when they scored a total of six runs.
One of those games was a 3-2 loss to Northeast Pride National earlier on Saturday. So the 15-run explosion later in the day was a welcome return to the kind of offense they’ve become accustomed to.
“We had a break after our first game (against Northeast Pride) and I got in the car and said to my dad (George Williams), ‘I didn’t have much fun in that game,’” Williams said. “It was a good game but it just wasn’t fun. I love playing baseball but that game wasn’t fun. We had a lot of opportunities but we didn’t get it done. This game was a blast. When we hit, it’s fun. Hitting makes baseball fun.”
The Wildcats carried a 1-0 lead into the top of the third when they posted big crooked numbers the next three frames. They scored three runs in the top of the third for a 4-0 lead, and four runs in the fourth for an 8-0 lead.
Hauss Powwa broke up the shutout in the bottom of the fourth when Zander Prisco singled in a run. Prisco had two of his team’s four hits.
The Wildcats really broke out the bats in the fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs on five hits and three walks.
No. 8 hitter Joey Malfettano drove in three runs to lead the team. Tyler Gryzwinski slammed a two-run triple. Mason Monday had an RBI double. Zac Williams went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Michael Keefe singled twice and drove in a run.
Austin Condon was nearly as effective as Simon in two innings of relief for the Wildcats, allowing one run on three hits and one walk.