Sunday, May 19, 2013

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Ryan Duran retired 17 of the final 19 hitters he faced for River Dell, which came from behind to knock off in-town rival Bergen Catholic, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament.

EMERSON – River Dell is the public school located in Oradell, while Bergen Catholic shares the same zip code with a reach that extends far beyond town borders. Not only can BC get its players from anywhere, it just so happened to have two from Oradell in its starting lineup on Saturday in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals, including starting pitcher Jeff Granger, who began his high school career in the black and gold before switching.

It would be sheer naivety to think this game between these two teams in this setting didn't have a little more juice than your run-of-the-mill high school baseball game and it is why River Dell and the mass of fan support that showed up at Emerson High School was so pumped after the Golden Hawks' 3-2 win that put them in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2002.

But one after the other, in interviews with two players and the River Dell head coach, none would take the bait about gleaning anything extra from winning in-town bragging rights, not even Ryan Duran, the Hawks' starting pitcher who certainly could have crowed a little after his complete game three-hitter in which he did not allow an earned run and retired 17 of the final 19 hitters he faced.

Zach Cerbo, BC's Arizona State-bound senior catcher, had a hit, an RBI and threw out the only runner who tried to steal against him.

“We know them, we see them around town and people are always talking, but it is always in good-natured competition,” said Duran. “But all you could do is come out here and play the game and if you win it you have bragging rights for a while.”

Winning with class was obviously right up there with winning at all and River Dell did both after an inauspicious start that saw it hit into a double play with two on and no outs in the top of the first inning and then make two errors in the bottom half that led to a 2-0 deficit after the opening inning.

Bergen Catholic, the No. 2 seed, had a chance to pull away even further, but left two runner on base in the first inning and after that base runners of any kind were hard to come by as Duran dialed in his stuff, especially his curveball, and gave his team plenty of time to come back.

River Dell did get back even in the top of the third inning, but it was a struggle as it took an error, four hits and four straight at bats with the bases to tie the score and the Hawks almost came away with nothing. River Dell had already had a runner thrown out at the plate as Granger fielder a comebacker and threw home fro the second out and then Duran smoked a one-hopper down the line that was ticketed for the left field corner and, with two outs, maybe as many as three runs and certainly two.

Brandon Martinez drove in two of River Dell's three runs, the first on this swing with the bases loaded in the third inning.

Before the ball could get out of the infield, however, BC third baseman Alec DeMattheis made one quick step and a dive to his right then got up throwing and nearly got Duran, who was hustling down the line and was ruled safe on a bang-bang play that made it 2-1. Brandon Martinez then shot a ball through the right side for an opposite field single that tied the game at 2.

For the most part, Bergen Catholic played sparkling defense as it turned three double plays in the game, but it was that error on the comebacker hit by Dan Desiderio to start that top of the third inning that led to those two unearned run that stood out in the mind of Mark DeMenna, BC's head coach.

“It was one sloppy inning, that is what it came down to,” said DeMenna. “ They scored two unearned runs with two outs and it should have never got to that point.”

Once his team got the game tied, it seemed like the switch went on for Duran, who was just about unhittable from the third inning on. Cerbo, BC's senior catcher who will play at Arizona State next year, had the Crusaders' last hit, a one-out single in the bottom of the third that was mooted by a 6-6-3 double play turned by Christian Martinez and finished by a pick at first base by Evan Drummond. Through the first three innings Duran did not strike out a batter. Over the final four innings, when Duran gained control of his curveball, he struck out six, including all three hitters he faced in the fourth all on swing strike threes on the deuce.

Ray Maresca's RBI single in the first inning gave BC a 2-0 lead.

“How good is that kid [Duran] on the mound? As soon as we tied it I said to myself, 'I want that guy out there,” said River Dell head coach Brandon Flanagan. “I had my guy out there and that is what I wanted.”

But River Dell had to find a way to scratch out the winning run and it had chances, but stranded eight runners on base over the final five innings. The Hawks got a leadoff bunt single from Tim Barnes in the fifth, but hit into a double play right after and had a runner caught stealing in the top of the sixth.

Even the eventual winning run was harder to come bay than it might have appeared when a lead off walk to Brett Luben, a sacrifice bunt by Estevez turned fielder's choice on which everybody was safe and another bunt single by Barnes loaded the bases with nobody out. Drummond then laced a line drive the other way, but BC second baseman Joe Esposito made the catch and the throw to first base to completed the double play. That left the a base open and DeMenna then chose to intentionally walk Duran to reload the bases, setting up a force at every base with his infield allowed to move back.

That brought up Martinez, who fought the urge to be too aggressive in trying to become the hero. Instead he worked the count to 3-1 then took a fastball up for the RBI walk that put River Dell up for the first time and for good a 3-2.

“Staying calm and just keeping the line moving was the important part of that at bat,” said Martinez. “Everybody on this team played great today and just playing in this game was such a great experience. I am just so happy that I was able to be a part of it.”

Tim Barnes was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate for River Dell, which with play Rutherford in the Bergen County semifinals next weekend.

Duran, who made it all the way back from a torn ACL suffered during football season, rejoining the Hawks for the 10th game of the season, struck out the first batter of the bottom of the seventh, watched as Martinez went back to the fence to haul in the second out in centerfield and then got a one-hopper to Drummond at first base for the final out of the game.

The win moved River Dell, the No. 10 seeded, to 22-5 on the season and put the Hawks in the county semifinals against No. 6 Rutherford, a 6-2 winner over Ridgewood. It also ensures that there will be a public school in the county final next Sunday as Bergen Catholic fell to 21-5 on the year.

“We have a talented group. As a program we are just trying to refine a few things and get it back to where it was in the 90s. And I think we are on our way,” said DeMenna. “You hate to end this tournament this way for our seniors. They really wanted it. Jeff's arm was hanging a little bit there at the end, but he still wanted the ball, Zach [Cerbo] had a great game and AJ [Gallagher] is another senior starter that at least wanted to get to the final weekend. It just didn't happen for us and I feel for those guys.”

Back in the semifinals for the first time in 11 years, there was also some satisfaction of getting by a parochial school for Flanagan, who will run Duran out there on Saturday in what could be a show down against Rutherford ace Stephen Kinzler.

“We have had some rough luck with the parochials in the counties. I could probably name the years for you, but I know St. Joe's got us three years in a row back in the early 2000s and Bosco last year,” said Flanagan. “But this group, these guys, they just never stop battling."

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