Bombers Do It Again

Nothing Left to Prove

With an 18-6 record, a Bomb Central hitting order and a dynamite pitching staff, the Bombers 11U Blue may be one of the best teams around.

Believe it or not the Bombers outscored their opponents 49-14 in a very competitive Diamond Nation Tournament. It was a twenty team tournament, the largest the team has ever participated in and it was their second tournament title this fall.

Matt Christopher and Ryan Graham stole the show with their tournament MVP performances.

The lights went out early in game one vs the ASBA Warminster squad. Ryan Graham threw a remarkable 39 pitches in three innings. He collected six strikeouts and only allowing three hits. Carella polished off the last three hitters in the fourth to help the bombers cruise to a 14-1 victory. In game one Ryan Graham and Matt Christopher were both 3 for 3 while Sal Cusumano went 2 for 2. The Bombers posted 14 hits in the contest.

Game two was another blow out pushing Arsenal to the side after putting up 8 hits and 11 walks and beating their opponent 17-2. Nick Dziuba and EJ Mangione combined for the three inning mercy-ruled game. Dziuba and Mangione both put up two strikeouts a piece. G-Unit, a.k.a. Garrett Carella, put up two hits while collecting three RBI’s.

Nate Liedtka took care of business on the hill in game three while only throwing 59 pitches. Through 5 innings, Liedtka only allowed two runs while striking out four. Graham closed the game in the sixth. EJ Mangione and Dylan Kleiner led the way for the Bombers offense by each adding two hits a piece including a double for each of them.

Game four was a bit more interesting as the Kingsbridge USC Knights dressed a large group of 13 yr olds. However, their size was no threat to the Bombers. Matt Christopher and Garrett Carella both pounded doubles. Christopher and Nick Dziuba finished off with two hits a piece in the the first playoff game. Ryan Graham threw four innings while giving up four runs and striking out two. Christopher also contributed by pitching the 5th and 6th innings to help close the door and finalize the 8-6 win. There was a bit of a controversy with the final out as there was an appeal to the home plate umpire on a great play by first basemen Sean Dugan. Dugan apparently dove back to the bag on a wild throw. The base umpire originally called him safe. Coach Chris Murray ran out and argued to check with the home plate umpire which then resulted in the changed call.

The Championship game was all EJ Mangione for 5 innings. EJ shut them down while only allowing one run in 5 full innings pitched. The defense was outstanding as well keeping them in the entire game. The final ended up being 5-4 as Lehigh Valley added on a few runs in the sixth. Garrett Carella and Nick Dziuba both contributed two hits in the championship. The Bombers put up a total of 5 runs with 11 hits. Doubles came from Cooper Quigley, Dylan Kleiner, EJ Mangione and Nick Dziuba. Congratulations 11-U Blue.