Thursday, April 11, 2013

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Brandon Issa threw a three-hit shutout over five innings for Old Tappan, which knocked off rival Demarest, 11-0, on Wednesday afternoon.

OLD TAPPAN – Northern Valley/Old Tappan and Northern Valley/Demarest are sister schools, but over the last decade at least, when it comes to baseball it has been a bit more of a big brother/little brother relationship. Old Tappan has been one of the most successful public school programs on the watch of head coach Tim Byron, while Demarest has had its share of bumps in the road as far as stability in the third base coaching box and in terms of the won/loss record.

But the Norsemen have been steadily rebuilding in three years under head coach Charlie Giachetti. They were state tournament participants last season before running into their crosstown rival in the postseason and this year they were off to a 4-1 start when they paid a visit to Old Tappan, which was a game behind in the standings, at the start of play on Wednesday.

A changing of the guard? Uh, not quite yet.

Old Tappan sent 11 hitters to the plate in the opening inning and batted around again in the second, scoring five runs in each frame. The Golden Knights tacked on a single run in the third and got a gem from junior Brandon Issa, who threw five innings of three-hit, no-run baseball as Old Tappan won 11-0 in a game-shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.

Senior second baseman Jon Avallone had one of the Demarest's three base hits.

“They were ahead of us in the division, so this was a big game for a lot of reasons. It's always fun when we play them and it is always good when we beat them,” said Byron.”Issa really went at them. He attacked and threw strikes, we scored five runs in the first inning, five in the second and I really feel like we are starting to put something together here. Over the years we have had our struggles with not being able to hit, but this team this year can swing it pretty good.”

With Issa, Luke Mazurek, John O'Reilly and Greg Westhell among other capable arms, Old Tappan has one of the deepest pitching staffs in Bergen County, especially when talking about public schools and Issa worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first. The new and improved Old Tappan offense then went to work and seven of its first nine hitters reaching base safely. Issa gave himself the lead for good when he drew a bases loaded walk to force home the game's first run before Christian Runza banked one off an infielder to plate two runs and make it 3-0. John Trainor walked, O'Reilly lifted the first pitch he saw in his first at bat of the season for a sacrifice fly that drove in the fourth run and Kevin Lawlor, the leadoff hitter, worked out a walk in his second at bat of the inning to make it 5-0.

Old Tappan junior John O'Reilly drove in three runs in his first two plate appearances of the season.

It was more of the same in the bottom of the second inning as Old Tappan kept the line moving with the first four hitters all reaching base and all eventually coming around to score. Issa and Runza had back-to-back RBI singles and, with runners on the corners and one out, Byron showed tangible proof of his new-found confidence in his team's ability to swing the bat. In years past, a runner on third with less than two outs meant just about an automatic suicide squeeze bunt, but instead he took the handcuffs off O'Reilly and he responded with a long two-run triple to right centerfield.

“I thought about it, believe me,” said Byron. “O'Reilly went from a squeeze bunt to a two-run triple because I believe in these guys.”

O'Reilly, a junior, was the designated hitter for the first time this season and batted in the No. 8 spot. In his first two at bats of the year he swung at the first pitch both times, hit the first one for the RBI flyout and fouled the second one off before roping the two-run triple.

“Those were my first two at bats of the year, so I was going to jump on the first pitch the saw. That might be the best pitch you get in the whole at bat because the pitcher is trying to get ahead [in the count],” said O'Reilly. “It just felt good to be a part of this lineup today. Everybody was having good at bats and nobody wanted to make the next out.”

Dominick Fazio was 1-for-3 for Demarest, which fell to 4-2 on the year.

Down 10-0 after two innings was not exactly where Giachetti wanted his team to be.

“We just didn't keep things simple today. We had seven walks and hit-by-pitches and that combination along with 11 base hits in four innings, 18 base runners in four innings, you are not going to beat anybody that way and certainly not a team like Old Tappan playing on its own home field,” said Giachetti. “I told the kids coming in here today to play the game of baseball and not the opponent, but this is the crosstown rivalry and we might have thought too much about that.”

Issa was in the kind of groove that would have given him the leg up in a pitcher's duel, but with the big cushion, he his toughest challenge might just have been staying focused. He gave up one out singles followed by walks in both the second and third innings, but worked out of mild trouble both times and then worked a 1-2-3 fourth, He struck out two of the four batters he faced in the top of the fifth inning to finish off his three-hitter.

Issa, a junior right-hander, most likely would have seen some varsity innings last season, but a broken collarbone kept him out of action the whole year. Back healthy now and with good control of a tight-breaking curveball that compliments a plus fastball, he is now 2-0 and struck out six in five innings against Demarest.

”Demarest coming in here with a record like they had kind of worried me a little bit. They are our rivals and we really felt like we had to go out there and beat them, but I was confident that I could go out there and throw strikes and when you throw strikes, good things happen,” said Issa. “With this pitching staff, we almost feel like we should go out there and expect a shutout. It really is a privilege to be amongst these guys and I am really happy about it.”

Luke Mazurek had two hits and scored three runs for Old Tappan.

Runza, the Knights' catcher, had the best view of Issa's stuff all day long and explained it this way:

“He had a big lead and you could see that he was staying right in the game, focusing on the zone and throwing strikes,” said Runza. “Even when he got in trouble, if you could call it that, in the second inning, he fought back and was a bulldog. He just pounded the zone the rest of the game.”

Mazurek (2-3, 3 R, SB), Sean Haveron (2-for-3, 2 R) and Fleischer (2-for-2, RBI) all had two hits for Old Tappan, O'Reilly drove in three runs and Issa and Runza each drove in two for Old Tappan, which improved to 4-2 on the season with two more games scheduled for this week.

Jon Avallone, George Grillies and Dominick Fazio had the hits for Demarest, which fell to 4-2. Wednesday's game was one to forget for the Norsemen, but one game does not a season make.

“Old Tappan is a good baseball team, they have had a lot of success and we are trying to rebuild something. This was a big game, but, in baseball, every game is big because they all count as one and this was just one game of many that we are going to play,” said Giachetti. “There is a lot of baseball left and a season is not won or lost in the sixth game. It's all about how we bounce back tomorrow in practice and then how finish out the week. This game is over.”

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