Monday, May 13, 2013

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Junior Stephen Kinzler struck out 15 without walking a batter to lead Rutherford past Ridgefield Park, 4-0, and into the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals.

LYNDHURST – There is a big difference between a pitcher sneaking up on teams and one that has a bulls’ eye on his back every time he takes the mound. Such has been the past year for Rutherford’s Stephen Kinzler, who in his sophomore season earned complete-game victories in two straight upsets as No. 20 seed Rutherford reached the Bergen County semifinals.

This year, no team is taking Kinzler nor Rutherford lightly, yet he has been even more dominant this this time around. His latest challenge, Ridgefield Park, was expected to be his biggest test to date, but the workman-like Kinzler found a rhythm early and showed everyone in attendance that last year’s tourney run was far from a fluke.

Kinzler had everything working as he allowed just one hit, had a season-high 15 Ks and did not walk a batter as sixth-seeded Rutherford moved into the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over 11th seeded Ridgefield Park in the Round of 16 on Sunday in Lyndhurst.

“I’ve been working on my change-up all season and this is the first time I was able to throw it consistently for strikes,” said Kinzler, a 6-foot-2 junior right-hander. “We’re expected to go far this year so I know every start I have will be an important one. I knew if I got ahead in the count and kept them off-balance with the defense we have that we’d be okay.”

Liam Connors struck out 8 for Ridgefield Park.

Kinzler and Ridgefield Park’s Liam Connors matched zeros the first two innings before the Bulldogs broke through in the bottom half of the third inning. It started when Connors lost control of a curveball and hit No. 9 batter Chris McCarthy. After consecutive two-out walks, one intentional to Jake Regina and a conventional walk to Kinzler, Adam Hernandez lined a two-out, two-strike single to center to plate two runs and that was all Kinzler needed.

Throughout the game, Kinzler was simply unhittable, but he got even stronger as the game went on. After giving his up his lone hit of the day, a leadoff double in the sixth by Joe Guercio, he proceeded to mow down the final six batters he faced as Rutherford cruised into the county quarters.

“It didn’t really matter what we did with the way Kinzler was throwing the ball today,” said Ridgefield Park assistant coach Scott Papetti. “I know (St. Joe’s pitcher) Rob Kaminsky is the best in the county and there are some other great pitchers in Bergen County, but after seeing him up close, I think Kinzler can shut down anyone when he’s on like he was today. If you fall behind in the count against him, you don’t have much of a chance. He got ahead all day and was hitting all of his spots with different pitches.”

Ben Isola had two hits for Rutherford, which will face Ridgewood in the quarterfinals next weekend.

Of Kinzler’s 15 strikeouts, six of them were looking. Hernandez, Landrigan, and Ben Isola, who added an RBI single in the fifth, each had two hits for the Bulldogs. Connors took the loss for Ridgefield Park. He allowed seven hits, walked three, and had 8 Ks.

Rutherford can look ahead to next week where it will meet 19th-seeded Ridgewood, a 5-2 upset winner over No. 3 Mahwah. Kinzler (5-1) will likely get the call again to get Rutherford back to the Final 4 for the second straight year.

“We know the competition will only get tougher as we move on, but we feel confident against anyone with Stephen is on the mound,” said Rutherford head coach Carmine Spina. “We didn’t hit the ball particularly well today, but we pieced together some timely hits. (Kinzler) was outstanding and we made the routine plays behind him. That has been the blueprint to our success all year. We know we have an opportunity ahead of us and if we stick to that blueprint, we can make another deep run in the counties.”

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