Mother Nature cooperated for a change as SteelSharks Baseball nailed down the first tournament championship of both the spring season and on Diamond Nation’s brand new turf.

The SteelSharks, from Bethlehem, Pa., rode Parker Bednar’s complete game three-hitter and an 11-hit attack enroute to a 6-1 victory over the Twin Town Warriors of Taborton, N.Y. for the 10U Spring Invitational championship.

During a crisp but dry Saturday and a warm and breezy Sunday, the six 10U teams got the first taste of the facility’s new turf.

“I know the boys really enjoyed the new turf,” said SteelSharks’ coach Jake Collins. “It was fantastic. The facility looks great.”

Weather has been quite a challenge throughout the winter as Diamond Nation endeavored to resurface six of its seven fields. And as anyone who has been raised in the Northeast will concur, winter construction plans can easily be derailed by either bitter cold or snow.

Well, both of those unfavorable conditions continually disrupted the project this winter, but, when SteelSharks and the rest of the six-team 10U field arrived on Saturday, they discovered they’d be playing on two of three completed fields in what amounted to a soft 2025 opening for the newly turfed complex.

The spring-opening tournament has had its challenges over the years, due to weather, but the first weekend of 2025 proved very agreeable, which was a nice reprieve from what the facility witnessed from November to late February.

“It’s been a challenge all winter to get the project completed for the start of our spring tournaments,” said Diamond Nation’s executive vice president, Nick Massari, “but we’ve made a lot of headway in the last month and we are getting close to having all of the fields done.”

Fields 1, 2, 3 are the last to go and Field 1 is nearly complete. Field 2 is undergoing grading in preparation for the turf and Field 3 is the lone field where work has not yet begun. Fields 4, 5 and 6 are completely re-turfed and Field 7 was newly constructed just three years ago.

Diamond Nation’s newly re-turfed Field 6 was a hit at the Spring Invitational this past weekend.

More importantly, the Spring Invitational went off without a hitch as Diamond Nation prepares the facility for the 50-team Battle At The Turf tournament and a more ceremonial spring opening, beginning on Friday.

Bednar and his SteelSharks teammates put forth a tidy and impressive effort in which they displayed excellent pitching and defense and a potent offensive attack. While the Warriors (3-1) played the SteelSharks even in innings two-through-six, the team from the Albany, N.Y. area could not overcome a big five-run first inning by the Pennsylvania squad.

The righty Bednar, who struck out five and walked none, retired the first nine Warriors in order before Grant Matheke, the team’s No. 10 hitter, ripped a hard single through the middle to open the fourth inning.

“My fastball and changeup were working for me,” said Bednar, named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “And my defense played great. We’ve been playing together for three years and know each other well.” The one run Bednar allowed in the fourth inning was unearned.

The Warriors never appeared out of the game, but the SteelSharks’ five-run bottom of the first did put the visiting team on its heels.

Bednar retired the side in order in the top of the first on back-to-back grounders to shortstop and another to second base. The SteelSharks’ bats then went immediately to work in the bottom of the inning.

The big blow was a three-run triple by R.J. Rivera that staked SteelSharks to a 3-0 lead. That table had been set on one-out singles by Logan Collins and Lambros Dontas and a hit-by-pitch by Bednar. Brady Collins, Johnny Shireman and Marcus Stuart (RBI) also singled in the six-hit inning.

Here’s a glimpse at Field 1 during grading and prior to the new turf going down.

The Warriors would get their lone run after Matheke’s leadoff single triggered a threat in the fourth. Ethan Monk, who reached on a fielder’s choice, later scored on the back end of a double steal attempt. The SteelSharks, however, got a big out at the plate on Callaway Sansone’s 5-2 groundout to third baseman Shireman. Shireman shut down the threat one batter later when he made a diving catch toward the line on a shot off the bat of Gavin Tedesco.

Brody Collins (2-for-2, 2 runs) led off the bottom of the fourth for SteelSharks with a shot into left-center field that went for a triple. Shireman followed with a single to center to bring in Collins with an insurance run and a 6-1 lead. Warriors pitcher Sansone made a terrific play on a slow roller down the third base side to strand two more runners in the inning.

Caleb Yakuboski put the Warriors in business in the fifth when he led off with a towering triple to straightaway center field. But Bednar, perhaps dealing at his best, induced a pair of comebackers before he struck out the next batter to extricate himself from the jam.

Sansone was terrific in relief for the Warriors. The righty came in to start the second inning and held the lethal SteelSharks to one run on five hits over their final four at bats. He struck out three and walked none. Incredibly, not a single walk was issued in this tidy and easy-on-the-eyes 10U championship game.

Brady Collins was also in the MVP mix for SteelSharks, pitching well in his team’s 18-1 victory over the Morris County Cubs on Saturday and in a 2-1 victory over NJ Select on Sunday that sent his team to the championship game. His two hits in the final epitomized his prowess at the plate all weekend.

Parker Bednar of the SteelSharks was named the 10U Spring Invitational Most Valuable Player.

“It was our first time here,” said Brady. “I did really good hitting and pitching and we really liked the new turf. I love playing on turf.”

Coach Collins said he team has played together the past three seasons and has been put together from Lehigh Valley area Little Leagues.

“We played phenomenal defense this weekend,” said Collins. “They make all the plays. Colin Kelly has been great at shortstop and our outfielders catch everything.”

As Bednar mentioned, the team’s familiarity with each other is bearing fruit.

“Our offense has been really consistent hitting the ball and we are aggressive on the bases,” said Collins.

Tedesco made an excellent catch, diving to his left, to snare a Kelly liner for the game’s first out.