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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/25/2018

Cyclones crash 12u BCS party

Bryan Cooney     
Photo: Jason Bello (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A crowded field at the 12u BCS National Championship saw an unlikely team emerge on its penultimate day of play. The Naples Cyclones, who entered Monday’s playoff rounds with a 1-3 record in pool play, picked up two morning victories, capped off by a terrific pitching effort from Jason Bello (2023, Lehigh Acres, Fla.) to defeat the previously unbeaten Diamond Jacks Super 12s in the semifinals to move on to Tuesday’s championship game.

Heading into the day with just the lone win over the course of the tournament, the Cyclones had experience facing the top team in the tournament to that point. The Jacks entered with a 4-0 mark that started off with a close 4-3 defeat of the Cyclones in the teams’ opening round game on Friday.

With an early morning victory over SBO Florida 12u, the Cyclones got another crack at the Jacks with a spot in the title game on the line. Bello got the nod for the Cyclones on the mound and he was locked into a pitcher’s duel with Jacks’ starter Howard Tate Derias (2024, Newfield, N.J.).

The two righthanders tossed up four scoreless frames each through the first four innings with neither side generating a ton of scoring opportunities. That would change in the fifth as the Cyclones got a leadoff double from Justin Breitenstein (2023, Estero, Fla.), and he moved up to third on a single up the middle by Louis Marsala (2024, Naples, Fla.). A wild pitch allowed Breitenstein to score and put the Cyclones ahead 1-0, and they would add to their lead as Cole Young (2025, Fort Myers, Fla.) grounded a double just inside the third base bag to make it a 2-0 game.

With two outs, Justin Trometer (2024, Estero, Fla.) put the ball in play and was able to reach on an error to allow the Cyclones to make it a three-run inning.

The Jacks were able to scratch across a run in the bottom of the fifth as Alex Yong (2024, Stockton, N.J.) hit a popup on the infield that fell in between the first and second baseman to score Bryce Meccage (2024, Pennington, N.J.), who got the inning going with a one-out double.

The Cyclones added on a run in the top of the sixth, but had to turn the game into the bullpen after Bello hit his daily pitch limit after working 5 1/3 innings and surrendering just the lone run on five hits. Breitenstein entered on the mound and made short work of the Jacks to secure the victory.

The Cyclones will have to negotiate another team that defeated them in pool play as Team Elite South dispatched Diamond Jacks 12u Gold 9-2 in their semifinal matchup to advance. The two teams squared off with Team Elite winning 11-3 on Saturday, but this matchup will be for all the marbles with the game to take place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at the Centurylink Sports Complex.
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