8U Pirates coming off extraordinary season as they keep learning on way to the playoffs

July 26, 2023 at 9:57 p.m.

Chase Steers, on the mound, has excelled at both pitching and catching in recent games as has Isaiah DiBella, behind him, at shortstop. (Courtesy photo of Rob Brenzel)

The 8U Pirates have advanced from learning the ABCs of baseball at the start of the season to coming closer to learning the whole alphabet by season's end. And the results have been nothing short of "extraordinary," according to a mentor who has been there from the beginning and thinks the best is yet to come now that the regular season is over and the playoffs are about to begin.

"The improvement in this team from the beginning of the season till now is nothing short of extraordinary," said Rob Brenzel, one of the coaches of the 8U age group Pirates of the Port Chester Youth Baseball League (PCYBL).

Beat Rye twice

And Brenzel should know. Because he was speaking after the young Pirates had just beaten Rye, a local power, for the third time this season, this time by a score of 14-2 away last Tuesday (7/18).

He was just as enthusiastic about the progress the 8U's were making despite losing three games in the past week to teams from Old Greeniwch and Eastchester because the name of the game at this stage is learning from the losses as well as the wins on their way to coming of age as future Port Chester varsity Rams.

For now, Brenzel is looking for continued improvement up and down the young Pirates lineup now that the regular season is over and the Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League playoffs are about to begin with the schedule to be announced Tuesday (8/1).

Eye on future

Win or lose, the playoffs should provide some stellar moments for the local youth judging by the performance in the last week or so by players ranging from Chase Steers at pitcher/catcher to Isaiah DiBella at shortstop to the all-around play of a potential Big 4 in John Umbro, Jayden Bautista, Adrian Fernandez and Logan McLaughlin.

They even have a six-year-old named Matteo Furcayq who came into a recent game and struck out five batters in 1.5 innings.

But to understand how that roster depth played out as the season wound down, let's look at the Pirates' performance in the past week.

The way it was

In the win over Rye, for example, Umbro pitched two scoreless innings and struck out six batters while Bautista struck out four in his two innings.

Fernandez went two for three with two RBIs, and base hits came from McLaughlin (two RBIs, two runs scored), Umbro (a triple with two runs scored), Bautista (four RBIs), Steers (two runs scored), DiBella (two runs scored, two RBI) and Ava Ianello (three runs scored).

But they slumped in their next two away games, losing to the TYA Tigers 10-0 in Eastchester with Ianello taking some of the sting away with a sensational catch in the outfield and hanging close to the Old Greenwich Thunder Blue for five innings behind strong pitching from Bautista and Zachary Brenzel and solid hitting from Steers before the Thunder erupted like lightning suddenly coming out of nowhere with the runs pouring in like rain until the final score read 16-3.

On the rebound

Undaunted, and learning from their mistakes as they have all season long, the young Pirates came right back and played a bounce back game at home last Sunday (7-23) before losing 9-8 in what Brenzel called "an absolute nail biter."

Umbro was virtually unhittable, striking out five batters in 1.5 innings as did Furcayq. McLauglin had five strikeouts in 2.5 innings. And Sebastian Martinez threw a strong fifth inning to give the Pirates a shot at the win.

Brenzel, McLaughlin and DiBella swung the big bats, each going two for three (with DiBella getting two RBIs and scoring a run to bring the Pirates close) and Martinez also got a clutch hit good for two RBIs. Umbro, Bautista, Steers, Anthony Rende and Max Harris also got base hits (with Harris getting his first base hit of the year to spark a last ditch rally that came up just short). Steers made an outstanding catch in the outfield, pitched and caught a solid game while Rende and McLaughlin made the infield play of the day at second base.

No quit in Pirates

All the action did not add up to enough to win, at least not on that day. As coach, though, Brenzel saw a lot of good things happening. 

"I could not be more proud of this group of kids today,” he said. “They battled all game, they were engaged and they cheered their teammates on. The pitching was outstanding, and they did all they could to give us a chance to win. We swung the bat aggressively up and down the lineup. The game went down to the last out in the bottom of the sixth inning. The improvement in this team from the beginning of the season till now is nothing short of extraordinary."

And he thinks that improvement is going to continue right into the playoffs and throughout their career. Because there is no quit in these young Pirates. And win or lose, they keep on learning.