Frederick Hustlers (13U)

The Frederick Hustlers dropped three games over the weekend in the nine-team Dig In tournament – one to the Elkridge Hurricanes (7-6) and two to the tourney champ Virginia Breeze (9-1) and (1-0). Saturday’s effort against Elkridge lacked effort and energy and the Hustlers ended up on the short end. The game ended with two outs in the bottom of the 7th when a high pop-up between second base and CF wasn’t caught. Dustin Isanogle led the Hustlers with two hits while Joe Pippin delivered a big, two out two-run single in the Hustler four-run fourth inning. Tyler Prather doubled, and Justin Ropp, Marshall Mott and Ryan Bennett each contributed singles. After a very disappointing loss, the Hustlers bounced back against a really good Virginia Breeze team. The Hustlers were in a 2-1 ballgame before the wheels came off in the 5th. Marshall Mott limited the Breeze to one run on three hits in the three innings of work. The Hustlers were held to a lone hit – a single by Bennett in the fourth.

The reward for a bad Saturday of baseball was a rematch on Sunday as the #7 seeded Hustlers got a rematch against the #2 seeded Breeze. This time – the Hustlers came ready to play and Marshall Mott, Nick DeLisi and Matt Cunningham were all sensational on the mound. Mott worked the first three and only allowed one base hit; he struck out three. Nick DeLisi made his season debut on the bump and wasn’t to be outdone. He too pitched three scoreless – striking out three and only surrendering two hits. Matt Cunningham pitched a scoreless 7th and struck out two. The Breeze finally broke through in the bottom of the 8th with a run on a walk and a single. The Hustlers had great opportunities in the 7th and 8th innings to win but couldn’t get the big hit or sacrifice fly. In the 7th, JT Sachar led off with a line drive to left center. After stealing 2nd, Nick DeLisi laid down a beautiful sacrifice to get Sachar to third with one out. The next two Hustlers struck out and grounded back to the pitcher to end the threat. Matt Cunningham led off the 8th by air-mailing the left fielder with a double. Mott followed with a comebacker to the pitcher but Cunningham was thrown out going to third to end the rally. Sachar had two hits, and Cunningham doubled and Jared Struss singled in the loss.

The Virginia Breeze beat a very good Dig In team 8-3 in the Championship game.

The 12U Hustlers put together a strong weekend in defeating the Wyckoff Raiders (NJ) 12-2, Seneca War Eagles (NJ) 12-4, Elite Baseball (PA) 11-1, Loudoun South Eagles (PA) 19-5, and the Mid-State Mavericks (PA) 9-5 before losing to the South Jersey Sand Sharks 16-1 in the Championship game at the 6th Annual CHOCOLATETOWN Classic in Hershey, PA over the weekend.

The Frederick Hustlers made the trek to Aberdeen, MD for the 16-team Ripken Gold Glove tournament over the weekend and came away with second place and numerous new admirers of their stellar defensive play. Playing the 8:00am game on Saturday at Cal Sr.’s Stadium Field, the Hustlers showed a lot of life in defeating the Bergen Express (NJ) 9-1. Justin Ropp was fantastic on the mound working three innings with four strikeouts and holding Bergen to one run. Matt Cunningham and Marshall Mott closed the deal with three scoreless innings. Nick DeLisi led the Hustlers with two base hits. JT Sachar doubled, Cunningham tripled and Tyler Prather added a single. The Hustlers kept the pedal to the floor in defeating the Washington Township Minutemen 10-0 in the 2:45pm game. Marshall Mott and Joe Pippin combined on an abbreviated no-hitter with four strikeouts and the Hustler defense made several nice plays in the field. DeLisi and Cunningham each had two hits; one of Cunningham’s was a double. JT Sachar, Ropp, Ryan Talbert and Andrew McElwain each singled while Pippin had a double.

Saturday’s effort earned the black and gold the #1 seed for Sunday’s championship round and another game on Cal Sr’s Stadium Field at 10:15am. This time the opponent was the South River Seahawks (Annapolis, MD) and the Hustlers won 9-0. Ropp and Pippin again combined on the shutout and the defense was again very sharp and fun to watch. Prather and McElwain each had two hits. One of Prather’s was a triple. Sachar also tripled, Pippin and Cunningham doubled, and Talbert singled in the win. The Hustlers moved on to the semi-final game against the Mid-Atlantic Shockers (Salisbury, MD) at 12:30pm. The Shockers scored one in the first but were then shut down by Mott and Cunningham who combined for five strikeouts. The Hustlers swung tired bats and only accounted for two hits (Sachar and Ropp) but managed to take advantage of four Shocker miscues in the field to take a 4-1 win and advance to the Championship game.

The Hustlers lost the Championship game 10-0 to the South Jersey Titans and most surprisingly, played uninspired baseball with the title on the line. The Titans struck early in the first when tournament MVP Adams Williams hit a deep home run to left to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. It looked like the Hustlers would bounce right back as Sachar and DeLisi scorched base hits to lead off the bottom half of the first. The Hustlers had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs but went quietly when the 3, 4 and 5 hitters popped up consecutively to end the threat. The Hustlers had runners on 2nd and 3rd in the second inning as well with one out but got a weak ground ball to third and a sharp line out to first to end the inning. Sachar and Pippin led the way with two hits while DeLisi, Ropp, Cunningham, and Talbert each had singles.

The Frederick Hustlers made the trek to Aberdeen, MD for the 16-team Ripken Gold Glove tournament over the weekend and came away with second place and numerous new admirers of their stellar defensive play. Playing the 8:00am game on Saturday at Cal Sr.’s Stadium Field, the Hustlers showed a lot of life in defeating the Bergen Express (NJ) 9-1. Justin Ropp was fantastic on the mound working three innings with four strikeouts and holding Bergen to one run. Matt Cunningham and Marshall Mott closed the deal with three scoreless innings. Nick DeLisi led the Hustlers with two base hits. JT Sachar doubled, Cunningham tripled and Tyler Prather added a single. The Hustlers kept the pedal to the floor in defeating the Washington Township Minutemen 10-0 in the 2:45pm game. Marshall Mott and Joe Pippin combined on an abbreviated no-hitter with four strikeouts and the Hustler defense made several nice plays in the field. DeLisi and Cunningham each had two hits; one of Cunningham’s was a double. JT Sachar, Ropp, Ryan Talbert and Andrew McElwain each singled while Pippin had a double.

Saturday’s effort earned the black and gold the #1 seed for Sunday’s championship round and another game on Cal Sr’s Stadium Field at 10:15am. This time the opponent was the South River Seahawks (Annapolis, MD) and the Hustlers won 9-0. Ropp and Pippin again combined on the shutout and the defense was again very sharp and fun to watch. Prather and McElwain each had two hits. One of Prather’s was a triple. Sachar also tripled, Pippin and Cunningham doubled, and Talbert singled in the win. The Hustlers moved on to the semi-final game against the Mid-Atlantic Shockers (Salisbury, MD) at 12:30pm. The Shockers scored one in the first but were then shut down by Mott and Cunningham who combined for five strikeouts. The Hustlers swung tired bats and only accounted for two hits (Sachar and Ropp) but managed to take advantage of four Shocker miscues in the field to take a 4-1 win and advance to the Championship game.

The Hustlers lost the Championship game 10-0 to the South Jersey Titans and most surprisingly, played uninspired baseball with the title on the line. The Titans struck early in the first when tournament MVP Adams Williams hit a deep home run to left to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. It looked like the Hustlers would bounce right back as Sachar and DeLisi scorched base hits to lead off the bottom half of the first. The Hustlers had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs but went quietly when the 3, 4 and 5 hitters popped up consecutively to end the threat. The Hustlers had runners on 2nd and 3rd in the second inning as well with one out but got a weak ground ball to third and a sharp line out to first to end the inning. Sachar and Pippin led the way with two hits while DeLisi, Ropp, Cunningham, and Talbert each had singles.

The young Hustlers took a 7-2 lead into the 6th inning only to find themselves on the losing end of 8-7 ballgame to HCYP on Wednesday evening in Howard County. On a beautiful evening for baseball, the Hustlers fielded the ball poorly and didn’t take charge on the mound down the stretch. Toss in the fact that HCYP kept battling and put together good ABs in the 6th and 7th innings, and the Hustlers had a long ride back to Frederick. JT Sachar, Andrew McElwain and Dustin Isanogle each had two hits. Matt Cunningham added a two-run home run, while Nick DeLisi, Ryan Talbert and Ryan Bennett each had singles. Justin Ropp and Cunningham tossed the first four innings and limited HCYP to two runs on four hits. Marshall Mott and Joe Pippin shared the last three innings on the mound.