Frederick Hustlers (13U)

The Frederick Hustlers had the perfect recipe for Brocar Baseball on Saturday afternoon at the Yellow Springs Baseball Complex and came away with a doubleheader sweep to open their 2017 CRAB League campaign. The Hustlers leaned on their trademark pitching and defense and mixed in a little hot sauce in the form of the long ball to take two games by scores of 11-1 and 9-5. Brandon Bradshaw, Eric Ball and Gabe Torres each homered – a considerable achievement for a 13-year-old playing on a 60/90 diamond. The storyline in game one however was pitching, and Nick DeLisi and Luke Schlimm were superb. DeLisi was solid as usual in tossing the first four innings and kept Brocar scoreless. DeLisi scattered four hits and struck out four. “Nick is big-time; he was sharp from the beginning and did a great job of mixing his three pitches. He wants to be on the mound and we love him there,” noted Coach Main. Schlimm entered in the fifth and was equally effective surrendering one run on two hits while striking out seven. “Luke is a sweet lefty who got into a good rhythm and was virtually unhittable; his ceiling is really, really high,” Coach Main added. In the meantime, the Hustlers wasted little time getting going offensively. Dustin Isanogle and DeLisi opened with singles before Tyler Prather drove them in with a smash to left center. DeLisi singled again in the third and Bradshaw walked before Torres and Prather hit back-to-back doubles. Colby Patterson led off the 4th with a double and Ryan Bennett delivered a perfectly placed bunt for a single. That was followed by the Bradshaw bomb to left center. Prather led the way in game one with three hits followed by two each from Patterson, DeLisi, Torres and Austin May.

The Hustlers were visitors in game two and wasted little time getting started. Patterson drew a walk, DeLisi laced a single to left before Matt Cunningham drilled a double to the left-center gap. Ball gave the black and gold another run in the third when he launched a solo, line-drive homer to left. The Hustlers got three more in the third on a titanic blast from Torres. The Hustlers pitching, however, was not as sharp in game two. Cunningham worked the first inning and gave up two runs. Ball tossed innings two and three and gave up three runs. Steven Betz however came in and pitched the final four frames and was rock solid. Betz allowed no runs on three hits and struck out four. “That’s the kind of stuff we expect out of Steven. He has an idea and has some extra gitty-up on his fastball,” Main said. The Hustlers recorded twelve hits in game two; Ball led the way with three and Cunningham had two.

The Hustlers are back in action on Wednesday evening when they host Mid Maryland United at 6:00pm at Yellow Springs.