Gionna Amodeo leads off third for Five Star National as Jack Coleman delivers pitch for Hawks.
By Sean Reilly
The sixth inning was a special one for Hawks Select on Wednesday at Diamond Nation.
The Philadelphia-area team had two games to play at the Super 17 Invitational, Powered By Victus.
In the 8 a.m. opener, Hawks Select overcame a one-run deficit by scoring four times in the top of the sixth in a 4-2 victory over Five Star National Metro 2026.
Coming back at 12:15 to face the Diamond Jacks Gold 17U, Hawks Select broke a scoreless tie by scoring six runs in the top of the sixth in what became a 6-1 triumph.
The sweep moved Hawks Select to 2-1 in the tournament, with one game remaining on Thursday against the Mid Atlantic Hurricanes.
“We have a lot of trust in each other,” said Johnny Sitler, who singled in the tying run in the opener and then supplied a leadoff single to launch the big inning in the nightcap. “We pass the bat onto the next guy and have trust in him.”
In the Hawks Select game against Five Star National Metro, from Fishkill, N.Y., the game was scoreless through four innings, as both starting pitchers – Jack Coleman of Hawks Select, and Wyatt Scofield from Five Star – were sharp.
Five Star took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Yonadsan Vargas led off with a single, and Patrick Apmann was safe at first after his grounder resulted in a force at second base. Dylan MacDonald then hit an RBI triple to right-center.
Hawks Select, which had one hit through five innings, sent 10 to the plate during its four-run sixth. All of the scoring came with two out.
The inning began with walks to John Weaver and Owen Lockhart. Enrico Iannaccone was safe on a fielder’s choice which forced out Weaver at third. A ground out to second moved the runners to second and third.
Hawks pitcher Jack Coleman gets out after first after taking toss from 1st baseman Jack Keenan.
Sitler then hit a single to right field which scored Lockhart with the tying run.
“He kind of hung a curveball,” Sitler said. “When you see that, you have to take advantage.”
William Ward followed that hit with a walk to load the bases, and after a pitching change, Jack Keenan walked on a full count for a 2-1 lead.
Daniel Matthews was the next batter, and he lined a first-pitch delivery into center field for a single that scored Sitler.
The bases remained loaded for Michael Falcone, and his full-count walk scored Ward to make it a 4-1 game.
Five Star got a leadoff double in the seventh from Michael Joerger, and he scored on a one-out groundout from Ivan Marrero.
In Hawks Select’s win over the DJacks Gold, the first four batters in the sixth produced hits which accounted for the first three runs.
Sitler’s single to left field was followed by Ward’s single to right which sent Sitler to third. An error on a pickoff play during Keenan’s at-bat scored the second, and Keenan followed with an RBI single to left for a 2-0 lead. Matthews then hit an RBI double to right field.
Martin added an RBI groundout and Patrick Vezza drew an RBI base on balls before a passed ball scored the final run in the inning.