Danny Trentacosta pitched five scoreless innings for the NJ Marlins.
By Sean Reilly
Like most pitchers, Danny Trentacosta knows when he has his good stuff and when he doesn’t.
His performance at an event last weekend left him less-than satisfied.
That made Trentacosta eager for his start for the NJ Marlins on Friday night against the Morris County Cubs White at the Diamond Nation Super 17U Fall Invitational.
This time, the senior right-hander from Marlboro High School went home happy.
He allowed three hits over five scoreless innings when the Marlins won, 7-1, in Flemington.
Trentacosta, a 6-1, 220-pounder, also finished with eight strikeouts and three walks for the Marlins, who ended the night with a 1-0-1 record after playing to a 4-4 tie against the OOTP Cyclones Prospects afterward.
“Last weekend, I didn’t have my greatest performance,” he said. “I was kind of shaky and wasn’t really feeling anything, so this was a great bounce back for me.”
It didn’t take long for Trentacosta to realize that he had his game working against the Cubs. In the bottom of the first, he retired the first batter on a comebacker, before striking out the next two, one of them looking. He followed that by pitching a 1-2-3 second inning.
“The fastball was there today, for sure,” he said. “I felt pretty confident in that. The slider was there, I got good swings and misses on that. Honestly, I felt like if they couldn’t catch up to the fastball, there was no reason to get away from it.”
The Marlins took a 3-0 lead by scoring three times in the fourth inning.
Gavin Arieno, who ended 2-for-2, led off with a walk and then stole second with Anthony Eckerson at the plate. Eckerson followed with an RBI single to left field.
Patrick Connelly (2-for-3) hit a single to left which sent Eckerson to third, and Eckerson alertly stole home after a throw back to the pitcher during Ryan Koman’s at-bat. The third run scored on an error off a ball hit by Justin Fabbricatore.
Gavin Arieno takes off on steal of second base for the NJ Marlins. He eventually scored for 1-0 lead.
The Marlins added another run in the fifth. Cody Lewis walked with one out, stole second and scored on an Arieno single to left field.
The final three runs came in the sixth and final inning. Connolly singled to third base and Hunter Kreybig walked, and both scored when Fabbricatore hit a standup triple to center field. Redsy Klein then drove in Fabbricatore with a ground out to shortstop.
The Cubs scored in the bottom of the inning. Andrew Guffanti walked, Danny DiCarlo reached on an error and Daniel Cosmi followed with a sacrifice fly.
The Cubs had threatened earlier, putting runners on second and third with one out in the third and loading the bases with two out in the fourth. Each time, Trentacosta buckled down and got the necessary outs.
“I got out of jams and kept myself composed,” he said. “When I keep my tempo, I can get rolling. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”