Underground Vipers claimed their second Diamond Nation title by winning the 14U Beat The Heat.

By Rich Bevensee

Joey Arroyo could feel his legs wobbling as the game drew to a close. Matteo Negrotti could barely stand up from his crouching position when the tournament was over. 

But these two ballplayers, part of a unique group which has played together on a national stage and been together for several years, couldn’t dream of letting down their teammates. That’s the effect chemistry has on a baseball team. 

Arroyo finished a brilliant four-hitter and Negrotti caught all but two innings for the entire tournament to lead Underground Vipers 14U to its first – and only – championship of the summer after closing out a 7-2, six-inning victory over Dodgers Nation Select Team Byrnes in the final of the Beat The Heat Powered by Farah Nutrition on Sunday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington. 

The Vipers, many of whom have been playing together since Little League and who competed in the 2024 Little League World Series as Council Rock Newtown, Pennsylvania, went 5-0 in the tournament and closed out their spring and summer seasons with an impressive 32-10-4 slate. 

The Vipers have now won a Diamond Nation tournament in each of their first two seasons on a 90-foot diamond. Last fall they won the Slugfest title in September. This past June the Vipers reached the Home Run Classic final only to bow to Diamond Jacks Super 14U. 

“I am a lucky man,” Vipers coach Brad Hamilton said. “I get to coach boys who want to play baseball, that love the game and they want to learn.”

Negrotti was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for catching 29 of 31 innings and pitching the two innings he didn’t catch. While calling pitches, Negrotti was a major factor in the Vipers defense allowing seven runs in five games. 

“I was exhausted. Everything was tired,” Negrotti said after the final out. “I wanted to go home and go to bed. But I fought it out and we got a good win for the team. I’d do it again, though. I love playing every second of it. I always want to be behind the plate.”

Negrotti, a rising freshman at Council Rock North in Newtown, was forced into full time catching duty when another Vipers catcher was forced to sit out the entire weekend with a non-baseball related injury. 

“We had one catcher injured and I have two other guys who can catch, but one’s my shortstop and one’s my right fielder, and they don’t catch a lot,” Hamilton said. “When Matteo came out of that last game (against Zoned Red Hawks Elite in the semifinals), I could see he was tired. He struck out twice and they weren’t competitive strikeouts, just all arms. I think he really thought, it’s not who does the best in one game, it’s what you give on the field, and I wanted to reward that.”

The left-handed Arroyo endured a bumpy start to his six inning of work, but pitched four shutout innings after allowing the Dodgers two runs on four hits across the first two innings. He gave up a ringing double on the first pitch of the game to Gianni Palmato.

“I thought, uh oh, I’m in for a ride,” Arroyo said. “I know they’re a hitting team. I didn’t know how I would come out of it but I was able to handle it.”

Arroyo, who will begin his high school career at Conwell Egan in Forest Hills, Pa., in the fall, threw 102 pitches and – like Negrotti –  was visibly exhausted after the final. He allowed four hits and two walks while striking out six with a fastball, curveball and changeup. 

“My curveball was the one I got most of my strikeouts on,” Arroyo said. “I was feeling better as the game went on until the last two innings when my legs started giving out on me. When that happens you really just have to find the extra drive.”

“Joey was excellent. He started to trust his stuff, when you trust your stuff, you will be effective,” Hamilton said. “If I asked him to go 17 more innings he’d go, ‘Okay coach,’ and I genuinely love that mentality.”

Was Arroyo prepared to go 17 more innings? 

“I probably couldn’t throw 17 innings but I’d try,” Arroyo said. “I love the game of baseball. It’s what I do.” 

After yielding a run to the Dodgers in the bottom of the first – Palmato doubled and later scored on a wild pitch – the Vipers went to work in support of Arroyo. 

In the second inning the Vipers scored three runs to take the lead and never trail again. With two out, Dean Hamilton scored from third on a throwing error to second base and Tyler Neeld singled to center to drive in two runs for a 3-1 lead. 

The Dodgers made it a one-run game in the bottom of the second when Gunnar Nelton singled and scored on a Matty Neumann base hit to left. 

From there, Arroyo was in charge, allowing only two more batters to reach over the final four innings.

“Joey was phenomenal,” Negrotti said. “He was locating his fastball really well. The outside corner was huge for him today. Their team was struggling, rolling over on it a bunch. He was painting right there.”

Matteo Negrotti caught all but two innings in the Vipers’ five tournament games to earn MVP honors.

Arroyo agreed.

“I love having Matteo behind the plate. He’s a great receiver,” Arroyo said. “It doesn’t matter who’s behind there because I love my team, but with Matteo catching, I can throw the ball wherever and I know it won’t go by him.”

The Vipers made it a 5-1 game in the fourth when Saverio Longo and Gavin Caudill earned back-to-back, bases-loaded, two-out walks. 

With the game clock winding down and the Dodgers thinking about how they could rally in their final at bat in the sixth – they scored 39 runs in their first four games here – the Vipers added two more runs to the lead. Neeld (2-for-3) scored on an infield throwing error and Longo scored on an errant pickoff throw to third. 

The Vipers defeated Locked In Baseball Expos Black, 4-3, North Jersey Ghost, 12-0, and Wladyka National, 16-0, in pool play, then edged Zoned in the semifinals, 5-2. 

For the Vipers, Arroyo and Nicholas Prebola both doubled. For the tournament Neeld led the Vipers by going 4-for-10 with a home run, one double, seven RBI and seven runs scored. 

The Dodgers ran roughshod over the competition en route to the final, beating Zoned, 10-1, Grit OC, 3-0, and Wladyka American, 10-0 in pool play. They wiped out Grit Silver, 16-2, in the semifinals. 

For the Dodgers, righty Jaiden Morales went 3⅓ innings and allowed five runs on three hits and six walks with four strikeouts. Jasper Persaud pitched the final 2⅔ innings and yielded two unearned runs on two hits and five walks with two strikeouts.