There are good starts to a season and then there are the kinds of starts that simply make you say, “Wow!”
Dylan Wayne went 4-for-4 with a home run and two doubles to guide the Diamond Jacks Super 12U to a 14-0 victory over a talented Staten Island Vikings squad in the Spring Fling championship game on Sunday night.
Wayne, the Super 12U’s leadoff hitter, and his teammates had a monster tournament at the plate as the team scored more than 100 runs in five games. Wayne went 10-for-12 in the tournament, hit two home runs and drove in seven runs on the way to winning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
The Diamond Jacks Super 12U (5-0) squad hit 12 home runs in the tournament, the most memorable a stunning meteor shot for a grand slam in the tournament opening game by cleanup hitter Andrew Parisi.
The Spring Fling opened the tournament season at Diamond Nation in Flemington during what was a typical chilly March weekend of baseball.
The NJ Renegades won the 11U Spring Fling championship when they defeated the Diamond Jacks Super 11U squad, 14-4, in the championship game. The Diamond Jacks 10U team edged ASBA Warminster, 3-1, in the 10U Spring Fling final.
As well as the other two championship teams played, it was the Diamond Jacks Super 12U that put on the big light show, outscoring its five opponents 102-9.
Wayne opened the championship game when he ended a lengthy leadoff at bat in the top of the first inning with a long opposite home run that slammed off the roof of the batting cages beyond the right field fence.
“Dylan barreled everything up all weekend,” said Super 12U coach Mike Buckelew. “He drove a fastball away the opposite way on the home run.”
Wayne reached on an infield single in the second inning, doubled home a run in the fourth and led off a seven-run top of the seventh inning with a double to left-center field. He had plenty of help in the final as the Diamond Jacks accounted for 12 hits and three home runs.
Righthander Yadriel Mateo got the start and responded with four shutout innings. He permitted just three hits, struck out five and walked one. Lefthander Brevin Brezick closed it out from there.
“Dylan sparked us in the final and Yady did a great job pitching to contact to hold them down,” said Buckelew. “All of our guys really hit well, barreling it up all weekend. I always say hard work in the winter pays off in the spring and summer.”
Vikings starter Jason Bassett did a nice job containing the Diamond Jacks bats through the first three innings. Super 12U, however, would strike for three runs in the fourth, one run in the fifth and seven in the sixth against the Staten Island bullpen.
Jayson Labrador, the Diamond Jacks No. 3 hitter, hit a three-run home run to center field in the sixth to cap a 2-for-3 performance that included a double. A.J. Saccento drove in four runs in the game, including a three-run double in the seventh.
Parisi walked three times and delivered an RBI single, Mateo had a single, drew a walk and drove in a run, Logan Raghunath chipped in with a single and a double and drew a walk, and John Donahue had an RBI double and a walk.
Basset singled hard to right field and Mike Triano and Robert Buscemi added singles for the Vikings. The Vikings (4-1) outscored their tournament opponents, 47-22.
The NJ Renegades rolled to the 11U Spring Fling title while outscoring their opponents 58-14. The Diamond Jacks 10U (3-0) held a gaudy 30-1 runs advantage on its 10U Spring Fling opponents.