The 19U Clinton Huskies baseball team recently competed in The Sizzling Showdown at Sports at the Beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The team played in the 17 and older division.

With several standout performances throughout the tournament, the Huskies were bolstered by the addition of Morgan alum AJ Fritz, whose offense in key spots provided the spark the team needed to move into the championship game on July 30.

Lucas Hedge-Terreri from the 16U team also played with the team, pitching a shutout inning in two of the six games, but more importantly, he gained a huge amount of experience playing and bonding with the older guys.

Tournament play for the Huskies began with an 8 a.m. matchup with a team from Maryland called DCP.

The Huskies’ ace, Lucas Kamoen, pitched four solid innings, giving up only one run on two hits and throwing only 42 pitches. Dave Mantilla made some big plays behind him at second base. The offense began with AJ Fritz leading off the second inning with a double, and he advanced to third on a Caden Civiello bunt single before scoring on a single by Kamoen. Civiello then scored on a sharp single by Ryan Donadio.

The Huskies scored another five runs in the second frame, with walks issued to Joe Giaccone, Nick Glynn, and Fritz. Brady Fritz hit a double, followed by a single from Dom Carpenter.

The squad continued to pile on more runs in the fourth inning. Mantilla walked, Donadio reached on an error, and Bryan Higgins drove them both in with a double. Higgins later scored on a single by Carpenter.

Declan Christopher pitched the top of the fifth inning to seal the win.

In the second game, Higgins took the hill against Savage Elite out of New Jersey. He gutted it out for four innings, giving up three runs on no hits with temperatures reaching 100 degrees. Christopher did yeoman’s work behind the plate in a game that saw the home plate umpire taken away in a golf cart with heat exhaustion.

The Huskies were unable to get the bats going in the heat. Christopher drew a walk in the second inning, scoring on a Kamoen single. Kamoen then scored on a double by Donadio.

Ultimately, Clinton fell 3-2, leaving the tying run on third base with one out in the fifth inning of a heat-shortened game.

On July 29 in the early afternoon, with temperatures still near 100 degrees, the Huskies squared off with the Ottawa Canada Knights, who, at the time, were 3-0.

Brady Fritz pitched an amazing heat-shortened, six inning game, giving up two runs on six hits. He was additionally bolstered by his defense, particularly Tyler Greenhouse in right field, whose acrobatic diving catch in the fifth inning killed a potential rally by the Knights.

On offense, the Huskies pounced in the first inning. Giaccone and Kamoen both singled, and Brady Fritz knocked in a run with a double. AJ Fritz then drove in two more runs on an RBI single.

In the sixth inning, Brady Fritz singled and was able to make his way around the bases and score, thanks to singles by Carpenter and AJ Fritz.

The second game on July 29 was against the Vamps out of Harrisburg, PA.

Donadio shut down the Vamps on the mound, giving up one run on two hits in two innings. Hedge-Terreri threw a clean third in a three-inning 11-1 mercy win.

The Huskies jumped on them early with the bats, scoring six runs in the first inning on hits by Giaccone, Brady Fritz, Carpenter, AJ Fritz, Civiello, and Donadio.

In the second, Clinton plated five more runs on hits by Kamoen, Carpenter, AJ Fritz, and Christopher, after the Vamps pitchers struggled to find the strike zone.

The Huskies finished pool play in the tournament 3-1 and became the No. 3 seed out of eight teams going into Sunday’s semis, with a rematch against the Savage on the horizon.

In the rematch, Donadio took the mound and threw seven innings, giving up three runs and throwing only 80 pitches against the free-swinging Savage. The defense of Kamoen at shortstop, Christopher behind the plate, Carpenter at third, Civiello at first, and Greenhouse in right kept the Huskies in a 3-3 game after seven innings.

Clinton again got out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. AJ Fritz was hit by a pitch and advanced to second base on a Civiello sacrifice. Glynn then stroked a base hit and stole second. Both Fritz and Glynn scored on a Higgins single. The Huskies’ bats then remained quiet until the sixth inning.

Trailing 3-2, Brady Fritz walked, stole second base, and scored the tying run on an AJ Fritz two-out double. The game remained tied and was sent to extras.

In tiebreaker situations for tournament games, the inning starts with the bases loaded. In the extra inning portion of the game, the Huskies scored three runs.

The lead-off batter Giaccone pushed a bunt single down the first base line to plate the first run, Carpenter had an infield single to drive in the second one, and AJ Fritz walked to drive in the third.

In the bottom of the inning, Lucas Kamoen closed the door, giving up only one run on a fielder’s choice to send the Huskies to the championship, where they faced the Delaware Roadrunners.

Kamoen took the ball, and it was a scoreless game after three innings. In the top of the fourth, the Huskies loaded the bases with walks to Carpenter, AJ Fritz, and Christopher but could not deliver the big hit. The Roadrunners plated two runs in the bottom of the frame with three hits and a walk. Once again, in the fifth, the Huskies loaded the bases to give themselves another big scoring chance. Donadio and Greenhouse singled, and Luis Mendez walked, but ultimately Clinton was unable to capitalize and get the runs in.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Roadrunners strung together several hits to seal the 8-0 victory.

Huskies Head Coach Willie Fritz Jr. was proud of the boys for their efforts in the tournament and the improvement they displayed from a year ago.

“All in all, it was a great trip for the Huskies,” Fritz said. “Last year, we lost all five games we played by a combined total of 12 runs. The guys worked hard to get better. They played in some crazy conditions this weekend, a testament to the type of fine young men they are. On Saturday, the coach of the Vamps came over to tell me what a class act the team is and that they represent their community so well. Many of them won’t be back, and I’ll miss them. I’ll miss my assistant Peter Christopher as well; he’s been truly a steadying force for us these last few years.”

The Huskies will now focus their efforts on the playoffs.

The 19U Summer Huskies full roster includes Brady Fritz, Joe Giaccone, Ryan Donadio, Declan Christopher, Dave Mantilla, Dominic Carpenter, Lucas Kamoen, Bryan Higgins, Tyler Greenhouse, EJ Quint, Caden Civiello, Nick Spaziano, AJ Fritz, Nick Glynn, and Luis Mendez.