By Sean Reilly
Colin Steiner had two at-bats in two different games within an hour on Thursday morning at Diamond Nation.
Together, they helped produce a tournament championship for his Wheelhouse Marauders 14U team.
Wheelhouse began the day with a semifinal matchup against the FBA Jays National 14U in the semifinals of the inaugural 14U Northeast Championship at ‘The Nation.’
The score was tied when Steiner came to bat with two out in the bottom of the fifth. He hit a ball to center field, and when the outfielder tried to make a charging catch, it instead bounced past for an inside-the-park home run that resulted in a 3-2 victory.
That sent the Cornwall, N.Y.-based team into a championship matchup against Centercourt Baseball-Clemente from Morris County.
Steiner led off the bottom of the first inning and was hit by a pitch. After stealing two bases, he scored when Aidan Francisco singled past first base into right field, the first of four runs in the frame.
The Marauders went on to a 9-1, five-inning victory to complete a 5-0 showing with a 35-10 run differential.
Steiner, who added a walk and single in his two other championship game at-bats, hit safely in every contest. He was 8-for-13 (.615) overall, with eight runs and three RBI, and was selected the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“We did very well,” he said. “I’m very happy with how we played.”
Despite his success at the top of the order, he gave much of the credit to the team’s pitching.
On Thursday, Francisco pitched a seven-inning four-hitter in the semifinal, allowing one earned run with five strikeouts and no walks.
In the championship, Charles Rourke got the start and allowed one run on two hits, with five strikeouts and three walks, through 3.1 innings. Austin Lilla followed and allowed one hit the remaining 1.2 innings.
“It was mostly our pitching,” Steiner said.
After Francisco’s RBI single, he scored when Charlie Caoili followed with a triple to left center. Lilla then sent an RBI single past third base for a 3-0 lead with nobody out. Rourke then walked, and scored when Gavin Mahon hit a sacrifice fly to center with one out.
Colin Steiner of Wheelhouse Marauders 14U was named 14U Northeast MVP.
Wheelhouse scored its other five runs in the second inning. The inning began with a double by Chuck Spaulding, who moved to third on a single from Matthew Newcombe. Steiner walked to load the bases.
Francisco followed with a two-run single that sent Steiner to third. Caoili was up next, and a successful double steal scored Steiner for a 7-0 lead. Caoili walked to put runners on first and second.
After a pitching change, a grounder resulted in a force out at third base. Rourke then hit a one-run double to left field, and Andrew Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to center.
Centercourt, which advanced to the final as the sixth seed in the six-team playoffs, scored in the fourth inning. Ramon Contreras led off with a full-count walk and scored later on in the inning when Jacob Gonzalez reached on a fielder’s choice.
Francisco, Caoili and Newcombe finished the game with two hits apiece for Wheelhouse.
“We’re a streaky hitting team,” Steiner said. “The first inning in the last game was a good momentum builder. It was what we needed to do. It put us in a good position for the rest of the game, and it gave our pitchers some room to work with.”