USA Prime Northeast enjoyed a 5-0 weekend and claimed the 17/18U Monster Mash.
By Rich Bevensee
The USA Prime Northeast 17U Stars maintained a certain level of confidence this fall. No matter what the score or how many zeroes the team started a game with, they believed the offense would eventually begin churning into gear.
That’s how the Stars operated this fall, so it makes perfect sense that they concluded their campaign in the same manner.
The bats of Austin Wright, Alex Alonzo and Parker Love were instrumental to fourth- and fifth-inning rallies as top-seeded USA Prime rallied from an early deficit to claim a 9-3, six-inning victory over Northeast Rox 18U in the 17/18U Wood Bat division championship game at the Monster Mash on Sunday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
“It feels like we all have great trust in each other and a belief that whatever the other team scores, we’re gonna be able to come back from that,” said Love, a Rancocas Valley junior who went 3-for-3 with two RBI in the final. “There’s some worry but we have enough trust and faith in ourselves that we know we can come back and keep the energy.”
Wright, a junior at Nottingham (Hamilton), went 2-for-3 in the championship game, batted .692 through five tournament games and earned Most Valuable Player honors.
“It’s the intensity he swings with,” Stars coach Alec Silverman said. “When he swings the bat he’s always swinging it hard. And he swings at the right pitches. He’s selective. He works for hitters counts and when they make a mistake he doesn’t miss it.”
In five tournament games Wright had nine hits including two homers and a double, six RBI and five runs scored. One homer was a two-run, walk-off shot to cap a 9-0 mercy rule win over 16U PPH Blue in the semifinals.
“It’s about simple thoughts, really,” Wright said. “I’m trying to keep the barrel in the zone as long as I can and put a ground ball up the middle each time. I know it sounds stupid but I’m really trying to hit a ball up the middle every time. If I finish high and keep my barrel through the zone I’ll be able to get some backspin and get a rising line drive.”
Prime concluded its season, as did Diamond Nation, by winning its last five games, eight of its last nine and 14 games overall on its 17-game schedule.
“The way that these guys work together, I’ve coached a lot of teams but these guys are special,” Silverman said. “They’re talented, but also they don’t quit. You can never count them out. They’re always in the game.
“We don’t have a big team but where they lack size it’s made up for with their camaraderie. This team is special.”
The Rox of Westerly, R.I., finished the weekend 4-1 and won six of their last eight games to cap their season at 7-10. The Rox had to battle this weekend, as its three middle games were decided by a combined four runs.
The Rox advanced to the finals after slipping past Combat 2027 Select 18U, 5-4, in the semis. Combat rallied for a run in the top of the sixth and final inning before the Rox held on to advance.
For the championship game, Rox sent righty starter Will Walsh to the hill. Walsh endured a bumpy fall season and entered the final with an 8.75 ERA over 8⅓ innings.
But Walsh held the mighty Stars lineup scoreless over the first three innings, surrendering just two hits and one walk. That was only done once before this weekend, when the Bergen County Cyclones of Little Ferry, N.J., held the Stars scoreless for the first three innings before eventually succumbing, 7-5, in the first pool game for both teams.
The Stars’ Austin Wright went 2-for-3 in the championship game and batted .692 to earn the MVP.
While Walsh was mystifying the Stars, his teammates provided him a 2-0 lead, scoring a run in each of the first two innings. In the first, Rox leadoff hitter Matteo Paniciera began the game by sending a 1-2 pitch just inside the left field foul pole but well over the left field fence for a solo home run. It was the team’s first home run of the weekend.
In the second, Nate Machinski led off with a triple when Stars right fielder Patrick Griffis came up empty diving for the fly ball, and Machinski scored on Blake Delicato’s RBI groundout.
Just like that, the Stars began the fourth inning trailing in a game for only the second time this weekend.
“We know if we get out the first time it’s not the end of the world,” Wright said. “The first time through the lineup we’re seeing it, and of course some of us will get hits and the people that get out, we learn from it. We look forward to the next at bat. We know as the game goes on there’s going to be more important at bats.”
In the bottom of the fourth, Austin Wright, Alex Alonzo and Parker Love began the inning with base hits, but Wright was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Love’s single to right on a great throw by Dante Pruitt, so the rally had to wait a bit longer.
Michael Gamboa walked to load the bases and Oliver Worthing hit a grounder to Nate Machinski at first who threw home to get the force and the second out. The Stars had to be wondering if this was their inning to rally.
Then, finally, the Stars broke through. J.J. Buccianico worked a seven-pitch, bases-loaded walk and forced a run home, prompting the Rox to bring in reliever Ayden Quilter. His first pitch to Evan Cacciabaudo was wide and allowed Gamboa to race home from third with the tying run.
Cacciabaudo reached on an infield error and both Worthing and Buccianico scored on the play to give the Stars a 4-2 lead.
Rox made it a one-run game in the top of the fifth. With two on and none out, Vincent Nuzzo was relieved by Alonzo who surrendered a run when Quilter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. With two runners on and one out, Alonzo got a strikeout and groundout to end the threat.
There was more Stars mayhem on the basepaths in the fifth inning but this time it was their heavy lumber which created breathing room.
“We were talking during the game,” Silverman said. “You’re watching their swings, you’re watching the way they’re taking pitches, the way they’re hitting balls hard. It was just a matter of time.”
In the bottom of the fifth, J.P. Santos singled home Luca Gaglione. After a Wright base hit, Alonzo knocked in Santos with a double. Machinski was brought in to relieve Quilter and Love greeted him with a soft liner into center which drove in two runs. Buccianico capped the rally with an RBI groundout for a 9-3 Stars lead.
“I’m new to this team – it’s my first fall with them – and it’s cool to be able to jump into such a good team with a lot of talent and help them win,” Wright said.
For the Stars, righty starter Nuzzo, a sophomore at Washington Township, surrendered three runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Alonzo pitched two scoreless innings, hit a batter and struck out three of the final five batters he faced.
For the Rox, Walsh yielded four runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Quilter pitched one-third of an inning and gave up four runs on three hits. Machinski came on in relief in the fifth and surrendered one run on one hit and one walk.
In the Stars’ 9-0 win over PPH in the semis, Wright and Gamboa both homered. Wright was 2-for-3 with three RBI and Gamboa and Griffis both knocked in two runs.
In the Rox’ 5-4 semifinal decision over Combat, Walsh, Delicato, Plante, and Caden Messier each had a double, while Walsh, Luke Gwaltney, Plante and Jaxson Beland each drove in a run.