By Rich Bevensee
Just one week after he stroked the game-winning, walk-off single to propel Morris County Cubs 13U Navy to a tournament championship, Chase Van Gorder was at it again.
This time Van Gorder took his turn on the mound, and because he was nearly unhittable, the spotlight remained on the young man as he carried the Cubs to their second title in as many weeks.
Van Gorder allowed two hits over four scoreless innings and the Cubs out-dueled equally stingy CT Grind Carolina, 1-0, in the 13U Williams Harley-Davidson championship game on Sunday at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
Van Gorder, named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, touched 77 miles per hour on the radar with his fastball and was consistently in the low 70s while confounding Grind batters with his curveball.
“I know the guys are going to look up to me so I have a job to do and that’s get outs,” said Van Gorder, who struck out four while not giving up a single base on balls. “I knew the other team could flat out hit so I was out there thinking, no runs.”
Van Gorder bolstered his MVP weekend by going 4-for-9 at the plate with two triples and six RBI.
The Cubs continued their chase of a second straight title by sending Chase Torres to relieve Van Gorder in the fifth with the game still a scoreless tie. Torres pitched three scoreless innings to seal the victory but not before giving his team a scare in the top of the seventh.
Torres allowed the potential tying and winning runs to reach when he issued a walk to Cash Stanley and hit Mateo Bradshaw with a pitch with two outs. Torres buckled down and got Mason Fino to line out to center for the final out of the game.
Chase Van Gorder pitched four shutout innings in the championship game and went 4-for-9 over the weekend to earn MVP honors for Morris County Cubs 13U Navy.
“It was hard out there because some of the kids were really good,” Torres said. “They were throwing zeroes at us so I had to lock in and get outs for my team.”
Torres carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh thanks to a pair of fluky plays in the bottom of the sixth. With two out and runners on first and second, Zack Brown’s pop up fell safely next to the pitcher’s mound to load the bases. The next batter was Cubs’ No. 10 hitter Max Rogoff, who was hit by a pitch to force in the game’s only run.
“I was nervous in the last inning but you have to focus for your team,” Torres said. “One of my friends took a pitch to the back to get us a run so I gotta’ pull it out for him.”
Grind pitchers Stanley and Luca Pellegrini were outstanding in defeat. Stanley threw four scoreless innings and allowed two hits and four walks. Pellegrini permitted one run on two hits, two walks and two hit batsmen in two innings.
Cubs coach Rich Ronchetta said the team’s best asset going into these tournaments is the players’ familiarity with each other, and that asset began to play out last week when the ballclub won the 13U April Fools title at the Nation.
In that championship game, Van Gorder had a two-run, walk-off single to finish off the Diamond Jacks Gold, 10-0.
“It’s continuity. They’ve been together for so long, they trust the system we run, they play defense and they’re gamers,” Ronchetta said. “Diamond Nation is not an easy place to play because there are quality teams at every level. The kids understand that so they’re definitely not taking this success for granted.”