Cole Magro singled twice and drove in two runs for the Body Armor Titans 13U.
By Rich Bevensee
The way the Body Armor Titans 13U ballclub plays such clean baseball, two assumptions come to mind. Either the roster is loaded with generational talent, or they’ve been playing on the 90-foot diamond longer than just this one season.
Neither assumption is true, but the Titans have certainly figured out how to generate a solid product when they step between the foul lines.
The Titans checked all the boxes on Sunday in clinching first place in their pool and a berth in the 13U August Showdown championship game. Christian Trani surrendered just three hits and no walks in six shutout innings, the defense played an errorless game and the team received RBI production from the top, middle and bottom of the order in a 7-0 victory over the SFX Huskies of Brooklyn at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“We’re just a good team that’s been playing well all year,” said Titans leadoff hitter Cole Magro, who singled twice and drove in two runs. “Our bats are good, fielding, pitching. Pitching, especially, has been a major strong point.”
“Clean baseball is what we’re about,” coach Travis Quattrini said. “Good situational at bats – especially in the first inning where we moved some guys over and got some guys in – and Christian threw a ton of strikes. Nothing to complain about.”
The Long Island-based Titans improved to 3-0 in their August Showdown 13U Black pool and 41-2 on the season. In the championship game they’ll be aiming for their fourth straight tournament title. They won a Ripken Baseball event in Maryland, a Perfect Game title in Albany, N.Y., and a Blue Chip Prospects trophy in Long Island.
Quattrini said there’s no secret to the team’s success, just good old hard work.
“It’s a lot of practice and a lot of commitment from the players and their families,” Quattrini said. “We practice every day and that’s how you do it.”
The first season on a 90-foot diamond can be a challenging one for many talented players, even the ones who were bigger and stronger and excelled as 12-year-olds. But the Titans have taken it to another level.
Only one Huskies base runner reached third base – Jacob Lyakhovesky, who singled, took second on a wild pitch (Trani’s only one of the game) and third on a groundout. The rest of the day was about keeping the routine plays routine, and Trani struck out six to ease the load on his defense.
Dan Lascala pitched a scoreless seventh with one walk allowed. He was the beneficiary of that solid defense which turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the game, and even that looked effortless.
“Good coaching, commitment and work ethic gets us wins,” Trani said. “We just practice a lot and practice pays off.”
Balanced production from the batting order enabled the Titans to scratch out runs in five of their six at bats. Magro knocked in two runs, No. 3 hitter Dan Lascala had a groundout RBI, No. 6 man Logan Kirwin poked an RBI single, and No. 8 and 11 hitters Jacob Abran and Matthew Madia contributed run-scoring sacrifice flies.
Magro was asked how the team avoids walking onto the field without arrogance despite their talent and impressive record.
Titans first baseman Jacob Abran leaps to snare a throw to erase the Huskies’ Jake Beaver.
“We’re playing for each other,” he said. “Everyone on the team has a major connection on the team, we all get along and we love each other as a team. So we don’t worry about the other team. We just focus on our game.”
Lascala got the Titans started in the first inning with an RBI groundout. In the third, Chase Eichner scored on a balk and Magro knocked in Masia with a single to left for a 3-0 lead.
Kirwin drove in Mason Terrana in the fourth with an RBI single. In the fifth Masia added a sac fly and Magro tacked on his second run-scoring hit. And in the sixth, Abran lofted a sac fly to score Terrana.
For the Huskies, Julian Shore pitched three innings and allowed three runs on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Scott Mantes-Goldberg pitched three innings in relief and allowed four runs on three hits, three walks and two hit batsmen with one strikeout.
Lyakhovesky, Clint Wilson and Shore were the only Huskies to get a hit off Titans pitching.