Frederick Hustlers (13U)

The Frederick Hustlers traveled to Aberdeen, MD for the 18-team RIPKEN Gold Glove tournament and played flawless baseball in pool play on Saturday. The Hustlers blanked the Monroe Falcons (Monroe Township, NJ) 6-0 in game one and jumped all over the South Jersey Rams 19-0 in game two. The Hustlers impressive play landed them the #1 seed for Sunday where they were to play the #8 seeded PA Diamond Nine at 8:00am on Cal Sr Field. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and the Sunday slate was cancelled due to heavy rain in the Harford County area all day.

The Saturday opener proved to be a great challenge for the Hustlers as they faced the best arm of the season to date. JT Sachar opened the game with a walk and the big Monroe RHP proceeded to strikeout the Hustlers 2, 3 and 4 hitters. Gabe Torres had different ideas in the second inning.  Torres stepped to the plate and after falling behind 0-2 he gave the black and gold a big shot in the arm with a monstrous home run. Torres' homer, measured at 280 feet, flew the outfield of the adjacent field and landed on the infield dirt. The Hustlers kept the pressure on as  Ryan Talbert and Dustin Isanogle  each singled sharply to center and Ryan Bennett brought Talbert home with a sacrifice bunt. The Hustlers grabbed a 2-0 lead and were feeling good about themselves. The Hustlers would add one in the third and three more in the fifth.  Nick DeLisi had huge hits in both innings - picking up a single in the 3rd and a double in the fifth.  Talbert's 2-run double in the fifth was the other big blow. Sachar, Brandon Bradshaw, Isanogle and Torres each reached safely twice, and DeLisi and Talbert had two hits. Matt Cunningham, Bradshaw and Luke Schlimm combined to shut out the Falcons. The Hustlers flashed their trademark leather and turned two double plays – one a backbreaker on a long-running ESPN highlight grab by CF Isanogle who then doubled up the runner at first.

Game two was a little déjà vu all over again. The SJ Rams countered with a soft lefty who gave the Hustlers fits in the first inning. Gabe Torres changed all of that in the second when he launched his second bomb of the day  – this one landed on the bank before the playground on Cal Sr’s field in left center. The Hustlers then added two in the third and sixteen runs in the fourth to end the game with the run rule. Tyler Prather and Ryan Talbert each had three hits; one of Prather’s was a triple off the wall in straight away center. Bradshaw singled and doubled, and Torres added a double to go with his HR. Sachar and Jake Sherdel each contributed two hits; one of Sherdel’s was a double. Cunningham doubled, and DeLisi and Isanogle each had hits. Tyler Prather was fantastic on the mound tossing three scoreless innings. Bradshaw closed things out with a solid fourth inning.