Dylan Holmberg cranked a clutch go-ahead three-run double for Takeover Baseball.
By Rich Bevensee
Sharing information was Takeover Baseball’s solution on how to solve Luca Scarangello.
Scarangello was pitching a two-hitter through four innings for the Richmond County Baseball Club Ghost 13U Americans. But during that time the Takeover players were taking notes and sharing with the class, so to speak.
In the fifth inning the information sharing paid off. Takeover loaded the bases and scored the tying run before Dylan Holmberg launched the biggest hit of his summer, a bases-clearing double which lifted Takeover to a 5-2, six-inning victory over RCBC in 14U Summer Bash pool play on Saturday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“It makes me feel really good, finally getting a hit like that, getting some runners in and helping us win,” Holmberg said.
“His biggest hit of the season, without a doubt,” said Takeover coach George Petrie, whose team improved to 3-0 and more than likely clinched a berth in Sunday’s 14U playoffs. The semifinals are at 4:30 p.m. and the championship game is at 6:30 p.m.
Holmberg, Takeover’s No. 11 hitter, fell into an 0-2 count before he clubbed an eye-high fastball into the left center field gap to clear the bases.
“I was just trying to get my guys in, take the lead and not strike out,” said Holmberg, who is reclassing as an eighth grader at DePaul Catholic this fall. “When I got up there I wasn’t nervous. At 0-2 I was just trying to put the ball in play.”
He said he normally doesn’t swing at a pitch that high, so why now?
“I guess I felt like I could do some damage with that pitch,” he said.
Petrie said he was pleased to see the bottom half of the lineup come through in the late innings. The fifth inning rally began with Takeover trailing, 2-1. The No. 6 and 7 hitters, Colten Lyerly and Jason Mann, had base hits, and No. 8 hitter Ty Kane executed a textbook bunt down the third base line to reach safely and load the bases.
Then Trey Lylerly checked his swing at a Scarangello pitch and dumped a blooper into shallow right for an excuse-me base hit which tied the game.
Ty Kane contributed a sacrifice fly for Takeover Baseball.
Scarangello got a strikeout for the second out before Holmberg’s clutch double.
“That was absolutely a huge at bat,” Petrie said. “Our lineup is not top-heavy. We have a lot of confidence up and down our lineup to make contact. For Dylan to be down 0-2 and take that bases clearing double, I couldn’t be prouder, couldn’t be happier, because he just wants to go out there and compete.”
Scarangello, a rising freshman at St. Joseph By The Sea in Staten Island, N.Y., had allowed just one run on two hits before the treacherous fifth inning. He was doing so against a team which had scored 25 runs in its first two games.
“Their pitcher, hat’s off to him,” Petrie said. “He did a great job mixing speeds, changing location, keeping our batters off balance.
“What I think helped us is our guys came together. They started talking to each other, what they were seeing, communicating, going up there with a better mindset of what to look for, not expanding the zone, taking the walks, and timely hits. I’ve been with these guys since they were 11, and to watch these guys grow and mature, it’s been fantastic. They play like a high level varsity team, the way they bond and play for each other.”
Takeover’s Justin Brown, a rising sophomore at Piscataway, was outstanding in relief of starter Kyle Malchiodi. He pitched three scoreless innings while allowing one hit and no walks and he struck out one.
“My guy Kyle was done dealing but I trusted my guys and pitched to contact and that was it,” Brown said.
“Justin did a great job coming in and throwing strikes,” Petrie said. “He’s one of our leaders on the team. I’m glad he was able to come in and give us a shot to come back in this game.”
Brown, spinning a four-seam fastball, slider, circle change and curveball, entered in a high leverage situation. RCBC had two on and no out in the top of the fourth, and a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Second baseman Trey Lylerly made a tremendous diving grab of a soft liner off the bat of Angelo Regina which surely would have resulted in at least a run if not two if it had gotten through.
“Our defense is pretty stellar,” Brown said. “That’s all we focus on is pitching and defense. As our coach says a lot, that’s all you gotta do to win.”
RCBC leaped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second when Vincenzo Novello and Kaydn Salfarlie scored on wild pitches.
Takeover answered with a single run in the bottom of the second on Ty Kane’s bases-loaded fielder’s choice.
Andrew Bena added more insurance to Takeover’s lead in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.
For Takeover, Malchiodi allowed two runs on two hits and six walks with five strikeouts.
Earlier in the tournament, Takeover defeated Diamond Jacks Gold, 12-2, and the Union County Troopers, 13-1.
RCBC, which lost three players to injury in its first game, a 4-3 loss to MAD Baseball National on Saturday morning, was playing with nine players against Takeover after drafting a player from one of its two teams playing in the 13U pool. RCBC will complete pool play Sunday against the Ocean State Makos of Rhode Island.