Frederick Hustlers

The Hustlers took on one of the hottest CRAB League teams on Wednesday night in Howard County and came away with a 12-1 win over the HCYP Raiders. Nick DeLisi, Marshall Mott and Tyler Prather shared the pitching duties and all three competed. DeLisi worked three scoreless to open the game and only gave up two hits. Mott came in for innings four and five and only surrendered one run on two hits. Prather slammed the door with a scoreless sixth and seventh and was aided by an impressive 6-4-3 double play. JT Sachar led the Hustlers with four hits and three runs. Joe Pippin, Ryan Bennett and Dustin Isanogle each had two hits; one of Bennett’s was a double. Matt Cunningham had a double to go along with two SAC flies and four RBIs. DeLisi, Prather and Mott each had a hit.

The Hustlers are back in action at home on Thursday, May 28 against the Olney Pirates.

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.

After finishing the CRAB League regular season with a League best 19-4 record and winning the 10U National Division with a 7-1 record, the Hustlers grabbed the #1 overall seed and opened postseason play against a tough Maryland Warriors squad. As has been the case for the most of the season in big games, the Hustlers handed the ball to Justin Ropp (Yellow Springs) and he did not disappoint. Ropp held the good hitting Warriors scoreless for three innings while the Hustlers went to work with their bats. JT Sachar (Green Valley) led off with a double in the first and scored on a Ropp base hit. Dustin Isanogle reached on an error to start the second and later scored on singles by Hayden Bailey (Walkersville) and Brandon Buschman (Walkersville). The Hustlers picked up two more runs in the third on a Ropp walk and singles by Andrew McElwain (St. Johns) and Joseph Pippin (Oakdale) to take what seemed like a commanding 4-0 lead. The lead grew to 5-0 before the Warriors mounted a huge comeback. Brandon Buschman pitched a shutdown inning in the 4th but struggled in the 5th with a couple of walks sandwiched between two hits and an error. The Hustlers still felt good about themselves taking a 5-3 lead into the last inning but the first two batters reached via base hits. JT Sachar came in to put out the fire with the Warriors having the tying run on third when the last out was recorded. Ropp and McElwain led the way offensively with two hits a piece while Sachar, Pippin, Ryan Bennett (St Johns), Bailey, Buschman, Zach Rutter (Middletown, RBI), and Riley Donovan (Tuscarora) each had one.

The Championship game ended up pitting the two teams with the best records during the regular season. The Olney Pirates punched their ticket with an 11-10 win over HCYP and the Hustlers knew they would have to play well to stay with the extremely talented Pirate team. The Hustlers, sporting their Vegas Gold jerseys, did not disappoint. Andrew McElwain and Joseph Pippin each threw three innings and both had what could be considered their best outings of the season. The Hustlers fell behind 1-0 in the third when Zach Rutter answered with a “bomb” to left center. The two teams traded runs in the fourth and the Hustlers seemed destined for the win in the bottom of the fifth when JT Sachar doubled in Buschman who had reached on a hit-by-pitch. Sachar stole third and that’s when the Hustlers decided to go for the win. Sachar timed the catcher’s release back to the pitcher perfectly and headed home. The pitcher’s return throw was high as Sachar slid in. When the dust settled, the umpire ruled Sachar out. Olney then scored a single run in the top of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead and the Hustlers went quietly in their half and lost 4-3. Sachar led the way offensively with three hits against very good pitching. Rutter had the only other hit – the home run to left center.

Three Frederick Hustler teams went to Ripken this past week in Aberdeen, MD and all three came home with Tournament Championships. The 10U team won the 2014 In The Zone Tournament and the boys in black and gold were certainly in a zone defeating the Backyard University Gamers 11-8, Oxford Outlaws 13-1, the Ambler A’s 24-2, the South Jersey Titans, 12-1 and the Backyard University Gamers 10-2 in the Championship Game. Matt Cunningham was named the MVP.

The 11U Hustlers played some of their better ball of the season in taking home the 2014 Web Gems Tournament Title. The Hustlers beat the VBC Mudcats 9-1, the New Oxford All Stars 16-6, Capital City Crushers 9-4, the Delaware Sabres 11-1 and the GoWag Rockhounds 21-2 in the Championship Game. Andrew Stroka was named the MVP.

The 12U Hustlers continue to peak at the right time and won the 2014 Web Gems 12U Tournament. They played an inspired game against a tough Blaise Alexander Ford team and came away with a 1-0 win. They then beat the Mayslanding Muckdogs 7-4 and 11-1 before eliminating the New Bern Flames 13-4. The championship game was against none other than the Blaise Alexander Ford team and the Hustlers prevailed 8-7 and took home the Championship hardware. Kameron Walters was named the MVP.