Union Baseball Team Wins Summer-League Game over Oratory, 9-6

SUMMIT, NJ -- The Union baseball program, which just completed its first spring under new varsity coach Lou Clemente, is playing in a summer league for the first time.

The Farmers entered the High School Developmental League as a way to keep the team together over the summer to teach, build camaraderie and help establish a positive culture.

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Union couldn't secure the use of a home field, so the Farmers will be playing their games on the road, albeit most of them at reasonably local venues. It took Union almost two weeks to finally play a game on its schedule, a 6-2 loss to highly regarded Ridge last week.

On Tuesday night, Union went to Summit and knocked off Oratory Prep, another Union County program that is fielding a summer team for the first time, by a score of 9-6.

Winning pitcher Aaron Acevedo went the first four innings and steadily improved as he settled in after a bout with his command in the opening inning. Union scored two runs in the third inning and then, with the score tied, 2-2, broke it open with seven runs in the fourth to open a 9-2 lead.

The lineup featured a number of players who saw significant action for the Union varsity in the spring, but, in the case of Acevedo, he saw some time in the outfield, but almost no time on the mound. And, considering that pitching will be the Farmers' biggest area of emphasis going into 2025, his four-inning stint at Oratory -- in which he allowed three hits and flashed a wicked breaking ball to go with impressive velocity -- is something that Clemente will file away.

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So is the two-run single through the box by varsity hopeful Henry Solares in the second inning, as well as the third-inning offensive outburst that included an RBI single by Ethan Beaumont, a two-run single by Johnny Velez, a run-scoring knock by Nick Bertolotti, and a two-run triple over the left-fielder's head by Jeff Field. In right field, Field also made the best defensive play of the game for Union, turning a diving catch into a double play when he fired home to cut down an Oratory runner trying to score from third base in the second inning.

Bertolotti, a left-handed pitcher, came in and retired the side in order in the fifth inning.

Another reason that Union joined the league this summer was the fact that three local programs that had fielded teams the last two summers -- Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Westfield and Union Catholic -- were not entering teams at the varsity level in 2024, so there were openings for the Farmers and Oratory Prep to fill.

There is a casual vibe to summer baseball that stands in stark contrast to the spring varsity season. The scoreboards are turned off, most of the players don't wear uniform numbers, more that nine kids can hit in the batting order, home plate umpires forget their masks sometimes, dogs run out of the bleachers and cause brief delays while they're put back on a leash, and boxscores aren't uploaded to media sites for all the world to see.

But that doesn't mean that, for a program like Union that is looking for growth and a chance to regain its stature, the games aren't important. The players still care about these games, and a chance to impress coaching staffs and get a chance to earn more playing time nine months from now.

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