Complete Game Academy first baseman Colton Erdman handles throw from second baseman Chase Scamardella to complete line-drive double play.
By Sean Reilly
Riggs Williams wants to do things that help his 3Up3Down 12U Red team win.
On Saturday afternoon at Diamond Nation, he helped his Reading, Pa., squad do that in three distinct ways, as he steered his team to an 11-6 victory over Complete Game Academy at the 12U Mother’s Day Classic in Flemington.
Williams was the starting pitcher, and worked the first 4⅔ innings to earn the win.
He was on the winning side due to the two-run home run he cracked in the bottom of the fourth to break a 5-5 tie.
And after moving to second base during the fifth inning, his nifty, ranging catch into shallow right field with the bases loaded and two out maintained the lead.
“It feels good to do things that help out the team,” he said. “My pitching was pretty good. My curve ball was a little off, but that was fine, because my guys in the infield and outfield made the plays.”
3U3D, which ended the day on a positive note after falling to Rhode Island Rays Carlos, 7-3, in its opener, overcame an early deficit to beat Complete Game Academy, which hails from Lancaster, Pa.
Complete Game, fresh off a 13-3 victory over the Morris County Cubs White in its opener, scored four times in the top of the first against 3U3D.
After Umer Virmani led off with a single to center, Jayden Rodriguez hit a one-out home run to right-center field.
Toma Cox followed with a single and scored on a two-out double to left-center by Xavier LaManna. He scored on a single to right field from Chase Scamardella.
3U3D got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning, and closed within 4-3 in the second.
Brady Lindenmuth had an RBI groundout and Jason Hoult added a run-scoring single to center in the opening inning, and Carter Huggard grounded out to shortstop in the second to score Brock Deloplaine, who led off with a double to right and moved to third on a balk.
Blake Snyder (3-for-3, three runs, two RBI) reaches third on wild pitch for 3U3D 12U Red.
Kellen Bowman, who went 3-for-3 at the top of the 3U3D order, singled to center with two out in third. He stole second and scored on a single to right from Blake Snyder, who ended 2-for-2 with a walk. Snyder stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a balk for a 5-4 lead.
LaManna hit his second RBI double to left center to give Complete Game Academy a 5-5 tie in the fourth.
But after that, the 3U3D bats took over, with the pivotal hit coming from Williams.
Hoult (3-for-3) led off with a single to left, and Williams followed with his first home run of the spring, over the fence in right field.
“I was looking at a pitch to drive, and I got it,” he said. “It felt good since it helped us out and took over the momentum of the game.”
Pax Maher added an RBI single later in the inning, and he scored for a 9-5 lead after negotiating a run down between third and home when a bunt from Cruz Bergstrom initially moved him from second to third.
In the top of the fifth, Complete Game Academy had scored once and had the bases loaded when the dangerous Rodriguez came up. That’s when Williams made his huge catch for third out.
“You have to always be ready,” he said.
Bowman and Snyder supplied hits and scored for the final 3U3D runs in the fifth. Together, the top two hitters in the lineup went 5-for-5 with a walk and six runs.