Sunday, May 19, 2013

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

John O'Reilly threw a complete game 6-hitter for Old Tappan, which won its 14th straight game, 6-2, over Emerson in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

OLD TAPPAN – Speaking casually to Northern Valley/Old Tappan baseball coach Tim Byron before the season, speaking to him in an official capacity after an early season win and then speaking to him again on Saturday after a 6-2 victory over Emerson in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament, one thing stands out. Seems like every time Byron talks about his team this year, the conversation is accompanied by a smile.

“I told you guys that I thought that we would still be around when it counts. I like our mix, our pitching has been outstanding,” said Byron. “I like the way this team plays, I like the way that everyone contributes and I like that you can just look at the three hitter or cleanup guy as the guy to stop. It's 1 through 9 we seem to hit the ball, we move guys over and that is what you want. I like what is going on right now.”

And really, what is not to like? The win over Emerson was the 14th straight win for Old Tappan, which is now 21-4 on the season heading into the state tournament and next weekend's county semifinal round where it will face top-seeded and undefeated St. Joseph Regional, which blanked N/V Demarest, 10-0, on Saturday.

Emerson, the No. 12 seed, was on an impressive run of its own as it had already won two county tournament games, including last week's upset at No. 5 Lyndhurst, but it was going to have to play a near perfect game to pull the upset, but three walks and some defensive miscues in a sloppy bottom half of the first inning cost the Cavos four runs. Although it righted the ship from there, coming from behind against Old Tappan starter John O'Reilly was going to be a tough task.

Joe Fisco had two hits for Emerson, which fell to 17-10 on the season.

The junior right-hander with the straight over the top delivery went the distance on a six-hitter. He struck out four, walked just one and used his defense, which was air-tight behind him.

“The bats were going early and that is the way you win games. Gets some runs and then make some pitches,” said O'Reilly. “We got a lot of first pitch strikes which puts you in position to get get guys out on ground balls. My pitch count was real low. I didn't have a lot of strikeouts, but overall it did the job.”

Harrison Osterman's two-run single was part of a four-run first for Old Tappan, but after that Joe Fisco, Emerson's junior ace, settled in. It was Fisco who threw a complete game shutout in the upset of Lyndhurst, and getting to him early was the key for Old Tappan, which had its first six hitters of the game all reach base.

“That is exactly what we did not want to do. You take away the first inning and I think we would have had a good ballgame here. We couldn't locate pitches, we made an error or two and they got one hit and four runs,” said Emerson head coach Bob Carcich. “Take that away and, maybe we don't win, but it is a ball game.”

With a single on this swing in the fourth, Old Tappan's John Trainor extended his hitting streak to 20.

Instead, O'Reilly had a cushion to work with and he just kept on pounding the bottom of the strike zone. Of the 21 outs he recorded, four were by strike out, one was a pop-up to shortstop and one was a flyball that John Trainor (who extended his hitting streak to 20 games) grabbed in centerfield for the second out of the first inning and one came on a caught stealing. The rest, 14 of them, came via the ground ball. The No.2-4 hitters in the Emerson lineup – Fisco, Nick Smith and John Juri – were a combined 5-for-8 with two runs scored and an RBI against O'Reilly while the rest of the Cavos were a combined 1-for-16 with an RBI.

“He just gets fired up and goes at it. He's got that Irish blood and he will battle you,” said Byron, speaking of O'Reilly, who goes by the nickname 'Irish'. “He's going to come at you. You'll get a couple of hits off him, but he won't shy away."

Juri, a freshman, had an RBI single in the top of the first inning to give Emerson a short-lived lead and Matt Portales had an RBI ground out in the top of the sixth. Old Tappan picked up its other two runs in the bottom of the fourth when Dan Jablonski slapped a single the opposite way to knock in Harris Osterman and Tyler Fleischer lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Doug Ewen before Nick Palladino came on in relief for Emerson and retired all six batters he faced over the final two innings.

Emerson fell to 17-10 on the season, but two wins in the county tournament for a Group 1 school with two freshmen and two sophomores in its starting nine is a confidence builder heading into its North 1, Group 1 state sectional tournament opener at home against Boonton.

Emerson's Nick Palladino retired all six hitters in faced in two perfect innings of relief.

“With two sophomore and two freshmen starting and winning two games in the county tournament I am happy,” said Carcich. “I am not happy with a loss, but I am happy because we got experience.”

With its spot in the county semifinals secured, Old Tappan will open its state tournament run on Monday as the No. 2 seed in North 1, Group 3 with a home game against No. 15 Northern Highlands. The Golden Knights have been on quite a roll on the field and it all starts with what happens off it.

“We are one of those teams where, after a game or after practice, we are always together. We have pasta parties, we have pool parties and everybody is always hanging out. That shows on the field because we are always in synch,” said Old Tappan junior catcher Christian Runza. “Coach Byron has not had a 20-win season in a while so we are all pretty excited about this. We have won 14 in a row, we are pretty hot right now and we are looking to carry it right into the state tournament and then into the county tournament against [St.] Joe's.”

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