By Rich Bevensee
Throwing strikes and two-out hits.
Luke Crawford and the Diamond Jacks Super 13U coaches are trying to simplify things for the young men navigating their first spring season on the 90-foot diamond. So, that’s what they preach.
In the 13U King Of The Diamond tournament championship game, right-handers Richie Adamczyk and Nick Penna did an exceptional job with location and allowing their defense to make plays. George Antivachis and Noah Komline produced clutch at-bats which changed the game.
Those four young men propelled the top-seeded Diamond Jacks to their first tourney title of the season after a 7-3 victory over Ascent Athlete Scout of Garnet Valley, Pa., on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
The Diamond Jacks went 4-0 for the weekend and plowed through their first three opponents by a combined score of 56-5 heading into the final. Last week in their season tournament debut, the Diamond Jacks (7-1) bowed to the Flores Baseball Braves in the semifinals of the Battle At The Turf.
This weekend, Antivachis batted .600 (6-for-10), led the team with 10 RBI and earned the win on the mound in the semifinals to earn tournament Most Valuable Player honors. He belted two doubles and a triple and scored five runs in the Diamond Jacks’ undefeated run through the tourney.
“In the fall, I hit .100 so all I did in the fall and winter was hit, hit, hit,” said Antivachis, who credited Diamond Jacks coaches Walt Cleary and Jairo Labrador for his improvement. “I worked on staying back, not jumping on my front foot and staying on my back leg. My hitting is five times better now.”
Antivachis, who went 2-for-3 in the final, notched his biggest hit in the bottom of the third inning with the bases loaded and the Diamond Jacks clinging to a 3-2 lead. He launched a deep, two-out fly ball to center that was misplayed for an error. Antivachis coasted into third, three runs scored and the outlook of a previously tight game completely changed.
“Antivachis killed that ball. It got in the windstream and kept going,” Crawford said.
In the fourth with two outs, two more batters came up big. Julian Mendez tripled down the right field line and Komline crushed a double to right to score Mendez.
“Two-out hits are great for us,” Komline said. “A lot of our runs were from two out hits. If we can keep that up it’ll be a great season.”
“That’s massive,” Crawford said. “We tell our kids all the time to choke up and put something in play, and especially in 13U spring, good things happen.”
Komline is another Diamond Jack who worked tirelessly in the batting cages this winter and is earning immediate results. He batted .857 for the weekend with a double, six RBI and six runs scored.
George Antivachis batted .600 to earn MVP honors in the 13U King Of The Diamond.
“What we do here is hit and it just translates,” Komline said. “I just try to have an approach, catch barrels and hit line drives up the middle.”
The pitching was just as effective for Crawford’s crew. Adamczyk went 2⅔ innings and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with one strikeout. The only damage he sustained was a solo home run by Bohdan Wisniewski in the first, and an RBI single by Liam Wallace in the second before working out of a bases loaded jam.
Nick Penna came on in relief with two out in the third. With two runners in scoring position, he issued a walk to load the bases and then got a strikeout to escape damage.
Penna finished with one run allowed in 3⅓ innings, permitting one hit and one walk while striking out six.
“Pitching was unbelievable,” Crawford said. “When you have guys who can throw strikes consistently in the low 70s, it’s a very big plus to have. They were awesome.”
Crawford pointed out that were it not for the pitching efforts of Antivachis in the semifinals, Adamczyk and Penna may not have been available for the final. Antivachis allowed two runs on four hits and five walks with one strikeout in a 13-2 victory over the Connecticut Wolfpack.
“George saved our pitching so we could have two of our big dogs for the final,” Crawford said.
Ascent starter Nick Gollatz allowed three runs on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts in two innings. D.J. Mouldon gave up four runs, one earned, on three hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Zyaire Wise pitched the final 1⅓ innings and allowed no runs on two hits and no walks with four strikeouts.