Tinton Falls Diamondbacks win twice at 16U Fall Harvest

By DN WRITING STAFF | October 21, 2024

Dom Golembieski follows through on RBI single for the Tinton Falls Diamondbacks.

By Sean Reilly

The Tinton Falls Diamondbacks played twice on Saturday, and the session didn’t begin particularly well. 

The Shore-based team was at Diamond Nation to compete at the 16U Fall Harvest, Powered By Cortes & Hay. They were retired in order in the top of the first against Complete Performance Baseball Academy, and then allowed three runs in the bottom of the inning. 

Dom Golembieski, outfielder and fifth batter for the Diamondbacks, wasn’t particularly worried. 

“We came out sloppy, but we’re a team that battles,” he said. “We learned that when we were younger. A lot of us have been together for a while, so we’ve learned how to fight.” 

Tinton Falls scratched back to win that game, 8-5, and then immediately followed with an 11-1, four-inning triumph over Iron Nine Baseball North White to finish the day atop its pool in Flemington. 

Golembieski finished 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored in the opener. He was then 1-for-1 with a walk and two runs in the second game. 

He also hit an RBI single for a 2-0 lead with two out in the bottom of first against Iron Nine. Tinton Falls added one more run in that inning, before erupting for eight more in the second. 

In the matchup against Iron Nine, starter Justin Cannon worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning by getting a fly ball to Golembieski in center field for the third out.

Josh Cannon, who pitched a two-hitter, scores on wild pitch for Tinton Falls. 

Ryan Romano led off the bottom of the frame by hitting a single to shortstop. He stole second, and moved to third as Skylar Garcia grounded out to second. 

Pete DeNicola was up next, and hit an RBI single to center on a 3-1 pitch. He moved up a base on a wild pitch, and reached third as Alec Kenny grounded out on a ball deflected off the pitcher and over to the second baseman. 

Golembieski was up next, and promptly singled on the first pitch to left field, scoring DeNicola for a 2-0 lead. 

“That’s my biggest thing,” he said. “I like to jump on the first pitch. I had three hits today, and two of them were on the first pitch.” 

Golembieski stole second, and scored as Zach Ercolino became the sixth-straight batter with a productive at-bat by lining a single to center. 

The game-breaking second inning began with Eli Gonzalez beating out a grounder to shortstop for a hit. Brandon Stio followed with an RBI triple to right-center, and he scored when Cannon singled to center. 

Donovan Hicks reached on an error that sent Cannon to third. Cannon scored on a wild pitch for a 6-0 score before Nick Minafo walked.

Eli Gonzalez legs out single to shortstop to launch eight-run second inning for Tinton Falls. 

A walk to Romano loaded the bases before the first out was recorded on a strikeout. DeNicola reached on a fielder’s choice grounder that scored a run and kept the bases loaded for Kenny. With the infield in, he grounded a two-run single to right field that scored two for a 9-0 lead, with an out recorded on a throw to get the trail runner trying to reach third. 

Golembieski and Ercolino drew walks that reloaded the bases, and after a pitching change, Hunter Oksen and Gonzalez also walked to account for the final two runs.

Iron Nine scored in the top of third, with Jonah Salz drawing a bases-loaded walk. The inning featured a single by leadoff man Jackson Babiarz, who went 2-for-2 to account for both hits by his team. 

Cannon wound up pitching all four innings for Tinton Falls. He totaled four strikeouts and four walks.

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