By Rich Bevensee

Every Morris County Cubs Navy player suffered some stomach-churning feelings three weeks ago after losing a championship game in extra innings and watching the victors celebrate with a dogpile on the pitcher’s mound. 

Duncan Erne said it was horrible. Shane Romeo described it as devastating.

This past week, Erne, Romeo and their teammates decided to use that loss and those awful feelings as fuel in practice and left nothing to doubt for this weekend’s tournament. 

The Cubs rocked three pool play opponents by scoring 50 runs combined, then treated the Diamond Jacks 10U in the same fashion in the championship game by securing a 13-1, four-inning victory and the 10U Spring Classic title on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.

“The feeling last week was just horrible because we thought we were going to win and we let up on that team,” Erne said. “So it felt really nice this game because it felt like we got it back. We felt so horrible after that loss that we came back and fought really hard this time.”

Three weeks ago here at ‘The Nation,’ the Cubs met the Westchester Giants in the 10U Williams Harley Davidson final and owned a four-run lead with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Giants rallied to tie the game and won in the seventh. 

“After the game we asked them, are you enjoying what you’re seeing? Do you like watching them celebrate? Because they didn’t beat you, you gave it to them,” Cubs coach Jeff Fortunato said. “The kids took it to heart. It’s all they could talk about all week, coming back and getting a championship. They were saying they felt the other team didn’t earn it and that no one should beat them here at Diamond Nation.”

Erne’s two-run home run to dead center – his fourth of the season – was the impetus for the Cubs offensive showing Sunday. It gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and they never looked back. 

“It felt really good off the bat,” Erne said. “I thought I barreled it, and seeing it go was really nice.”

Romeo, who allowed only four hits in four innings, got into the run production game in the third with a bases-loaded, two-run single. Dominic Pietrodangelo scored on an infield error on the play, giving the Cubs a 6-1 bulge.

In that inning, the Cubs batted 13 players and scored eight runs on four hits and two errors to turn a two-run ballgame into an 11-1 affair. 

“That hit felt really nice. I felt like we needed more runs that inning and I needed to get a big RBI,” Romeo said. “It was devastating when we lost in the championship game because we had a big lead and we blew it at the end. This week we came back fighting and we wanted to finish it and win it all.”

Romeo did not allow a single walk and struck out three in his four innings of work. The hard-throwing Romeo and a defense which committed just one error were big factors in keeping the Diamond Jacks in check. The hosts entered the final with gaudy offensive numbers similar to the Cubs, having outscored three pool play opponents 51-6.

Brandon Lee gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead in the second with an RBI single. Evan Pfitzenmayer had an RBI groundout in the bottom of the second to get the Diamond Jacks within 3-1, but that’s as close as they would get to the Cubs.

In the third, Matt Gentile followed Romeo’s two-run single with an RBI groundout. Lee then added an RBI double. Jase Cherouvis and Lee scored on an infield throwing error, and Mikey Laporta swiped home on a double steal for an 11-1 lead.

“This week we were practicing with that loss in our minds, so we would come back this weekend and get the win,” Erne said.

The Cubs picked up two more runs in the fourth, as Phoenix Pitts scored on a wild pitch and another run scored on an outfield error. 

Sebastian Perez was the hitting star for the Diamond Jacks, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored.