On Saturday, April 16, the Hammonton Blue Devils held their annual Blue Devil Invitational baseball tournament at Hammonton High School. The Blue Devils were coming off of a rough previous season winning eight games and losing fourteen. Three teams played in the tournament, despite Hammonton, trying to take the title. Hammonton hosted Overbrook, Pennsville, and Burlington Township on the sunny a gorgeous morning matinees.

Hammonton played Overbrook in their first game. The starting pitcher, Izick Flores pitched a gem going five innings giving up one run and two hits. The Blue Devils provided Flores with 13 runs in the five inning ten run victory. The offense was lead by catcher Ross Restuccio, going three for three with four RBIs, designated hitter Stephen Restuccio, going two for three with three RBIs, and left fielder Gianni D’antonio going two for three with two RBIs. The defense by the Blue Devils was remarkable with plays made all over the diamond. The Overbrook hitters and team in general had to chance from the first pitch on against Flores and the rest of the Hammonton team. The ten run rule was applied in the bottom of the fifth when shortstop Brandon Gazzara hit an RBI single to bring in second baseman Trevor Rucci who had got on with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a past ball. All around great effort by the Blue Devils who advanced to the championship to play Pennsville who had defeated Burlington Township in their game on field two.

The championship game was in the hands on Sophomore pitcher Sean Coccuzza who had pitched well all year. “He’s been throwing it well all year long and I had confidence in my young pitcher to bring the trophy back home where it belongs,” said Hammonton head coach Gary Sarno. The Devils took the field and the defense carried over from the first game to the next with excellent diving plays by Gianni D’antonio, plays in the hole by Trevor Rucci and Brandon Gazzara and not to mention the stellar performance by Coccuzza on the mound. Coccuzza went seven innings striking out eight and only allowing one run in the Blue Devils 5-1 victory.

The offense was lead by freshman Stephen Restuccio who drove in two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with a double to put the Devils up 2-1. The offense didn’t stop there. D’Antonio drove in Restuccio with a single to right and two more runs were scored in that same inning which wrapped up the game for the Blue Devil win. The MVP of the Tournament was given to Coccuzza who pitched his heart out while only throwing 96 pitches in seven innings. “I’m proud of my players for the way they all played today. It feels good to be on the roll were on and I hope we can keep it going for the rest of the year,” said Sarno.

The Blue Devil Invitational trophy was brought back to Hammonton High School, where players hope it will stay.