Frederick Hustlers (13U)

What a way to start the season. The Frederick Hustlers did the unthinkable. They traveled eleven hours to the beautiful Lake Point Baseball Complex in Emerson, GA for the 2017 13U Perfect Game Invitational (Major Division). While the results were somewhat mixed, the goals were met. The Hustlers matched up against the best teams from the south and came away with a list of things to work on.

Friday night’s opener was against the Crescent City Hooks (LA). The Hustlers wasted little time getting started, grabbing a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Brandon Bradshaw drew a walk, Dustin Isanogle scorched a single to left, and Nick DeLisi walked before Tyler Prather delivered a huge, two-out single up the middle.  The Hustlers looked to be in good shape as Luke Schlimm and DeLisi were dealing on the mound - each tossing two scoreless innings. The Hooks scored three in the fifth but the Hustlers added a single run in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead heading into the final frame. Turns out, errors and walks did the good guys in as they ended up on the wrong side of a heartbreaking 7-4 game. Surprisingly, the Crescent City team went 5-0 in the tournament and defeated Team Elite South in the Championship game (the other team to defeat the Hustlers).

The Hustlers came out Saturday with a chip on their shoulders. They were determined to put game one behind them and that they did, jumping all over the Augusta (GA) River Bandits. The Hustlers held a 9-0 lead after 3.5 innings only to see the Bandits come storming back and cut the lead to 9-7. The Hustlers tacked on a single run in the fifth before Bradshaw came in and shut the door to preserve the 10-7 win. Gabe Torres (double, single) and Prather each had two hits and Isanogle and Matt Cunningham (double) each added one. The River Bandits defeated Dig In (MD) 12-6 in the quarterfinals and lost to Team Elite South in the semis.

Sunday morning’s game against Team Elite South (East Cobb) was the disappointment of the tournament. The Hustler alarm clocks never went off and the black and gold suffered a 10-0 five inning, run rule game. The Hustlers simply never got anything going. They had first and third in the first and couldn’t get the big two out hit. They then got a one-out triple from Colby Patterson in the second only to leave him stranded. Patterson’s triple and a Cunningham single were the only hits the Hustlers recorded.

Dustin Isanogle and Tyler Prather both swung the bat well during the tournament.