Nikash Patel pitched a four-inning perfect game as Tri-State Arsenal National defeated Brooklyn Falcons 12U, 11-0, in the Super 12U Invitational championship game on Sunday at Diamond Nation.
Patel struck out eight and threw just 44 pitches in retiring all 12 batters he faced. Thirty-four of Patel’s pitches were strikes. His 69-70 mph fastball and off-speed stuff proved stunningly efficient tools in his pitching arsenal.
“Nikesh was terrific and Brady Guzzie was excellent in the semifinals,” said Tri-State Arsenal National coach Mike Spingler. “Our pitching was really good throughout the tournament.”
The Arsenal bats stood astride Patel in the championship game as Ethan McMenamin, Tyler Dukin and Patel himself each hit a home run to contribute mightily to the quick mercy rule victory. Brody Connors, JonLuca Gallina, McMenamin and Dukin had multi-hit games in the final.
Guzzie delivered the victory in the semifinal when Tri-State Arsenal National edged MA Show 12U National, 4-3. Guzzie limited MA Show to three runs over five innings while striking out five batters. That was impressive against a MA Show club that would outscore its tournament opponents 66-6.
“We have good Saturday pitchers who set us up to use our numbers one and two guys on Sunday,” said Spingler.
After an 11-0 victory over Syracuse Sports Zone in its Super 12 Invitational opener on Friday night, Tri-State Arsenal had to walk a bit of a tight rope to get to the championship game. It edged Hustle Baseball Academy, 5-3, on Saturday, before slipping past the Diamond Jacks Gold 12U, 5-4, early Sunday. Arsenal then got a quality start from Guzzie to reach the final.
“We did what we had to do,” said Spingler. “We grinded it out at the plate and got more pitching than anyone else.”
Tri-State Arsenal (5-0), which heads to a Perfect Game event this weekend at Branch Brook Park in Newark, outscored its Super 12 Invitational opponents 36-10. The Brooklyn Falcons 12U (3-2) were outscord by their opponents 55-35.
SUPER 16 INVITATIONAL
9ers Baseball Club 16U led a talented quintet of 16U teams that played a terrific Super 16 Invitational and qualified for Perfect Games’ 16U Super 25 Northeast Super Qualifier on June 18-22 in Clarksboro, N.J.
Joining the 9ers (3-0), which outscored their opponents 29-2, in advancing were the Long Island Titans (3-0, 29-5), 5Star NY 16U (3-0, 25-6), Bucks County Generals 2023 (3-0, 22-6) and TKR Reds (3-0, 18-6).