Saturday, June 1, 2013

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Michael Perry gets a Gatordae bath after his suicide squeeze bunt brought home the winning run in Lynhurst's 8-7 win over Garfield in the North 2, Group 2 state sectional final on Friday.

LYNDHURST - If there were two Bergen County baseball teams that knew all about being counted out before the season even started, it was Lyndhurst and Garfield. Both were expected to both drop off this season and no one outside of the players and coaches in their respective dugouts could have foreseen the two teams meeting for a section title. True to form as it has been all year for both squads, both were counted out again as each came to bat just three outs away from having their seasons end. What transpired in that seventh inning was a fittingly wild ending.

After Garfield scored six times in the seventh to take a 7-5 lead, top-seeded Lyndhurst battled right back. Michael Perry's suicide squeeze was perfectly executed and Austin Meeney slid in with the game-winning run as the Golden Bears used a three-run rally to capture their first North 2, Group 2 state sectional title since 2008 with a wild 8-7 victory on Friday over the sixth-seeded Boilermakers.

"What an awesome game, I can't even describe how I feel right now," said Austin Meeney. "There were so many emotions throughout the seventh inning, but we had to stay as focused as we could possibly be. The coaching staff believed in us when everyone thought this would be a down year for us. That gave us the belief in ourselves that we could get it done under pressure. Even after the top of the seventh inning, noone got down. We have so much leadership and so much heart. Our only option was to fight until the last out."

Garfield's bench is pumped up during the Boilermakers' 7th inning rally.

Coming off a seventh-inning rally to beat West Essex in the section semifinals, the Garfield was riding a wave of emotion and nearly broke the game open before Lyndhurst came to bat. The Boilermakers loaded the bases and Justin Valdespina, who was in his first game back since tearing a ligament in his elbow, laced an RBI single through the left side to make it 1-0. Lyndhurst starter Max Hart was able to wiggle out of the jam though and the lineup picked him up.

After Hart tied the game with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first, the Golden Bears grabbed the lead in the second. Brandon Karlok drove home a run on a single and pinch-runner Anthony Meeney scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1. Lyndhurst tacked on two more runs in the third and fifth innings with Austin Meeney being the sparkplug. He doubled home a run in the third and lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 5-1, the same lead Lyndhurst held heading into the seventh inning.

Just when it looked like Garfield was out of gas and out of chances, adrenaline started to kick in and it looked like they were going to do the unthinkable for the second time in a week, only this time, it was a bigger comeback against a higher seed in a more pressure-packed setting. The Boilermakers got three straight hits to start their final turn at bat with Pablo Rodriguez driving in a run to cut the deficit to 5-2. With one out, Kevin Buron walked to load the bases for Christian Castillo, who went the other way with an outside fastball and drove it into the left-center field gap, clearing the bases and tying the game at 5.

Austin Meeney sliding home with the run that put Lyndhurst through to the Group 2 state semifinals against Mahwah.

There was already a frenzied pitch on the Garfield side of the stands and in the dugout it was even louder as Hart was lifted and two more runs scored on an error to put the Boilermakers in front 7-5. As the top half of the seventh inning ended, there was a look of bewilderment that collectively came over the faces of the Golden Bears. They knew an opportunity to be a championship team was slipping away and fast, but with one more turn at-bat that bewilderment turned to aggression and determination to overcome the odds , just as they have all season.

"I felt numb as I was walking to the dugout," added Austin Meeney. "But we fought through so many things all year and we knew we could get through this too. Our motivation was to prove people wrong all year and this was our best chance to do that."

The Golden Bears caught a big break on the first batter of the inning when the southpaw Castillo hit Bobby DeMarco with a 1-2 pitch. Franky DeLeva followed with a double down the right-field line to put the tying run in scoring position. The Boilermakers then elected to walk Austin Meeney to load the bases and set up a force play. A passed ball brought home the first run and Karlok lifted a fly ball to shallow center. The throw to the plate had DeLeva dead to rights, but he somehow maneuvered around the Garfield catcher, who dropped the ball in the process as DeLeva passed the plate then reached back to swipe it with his right hand to score the tying run.

After Anthony Meeney was hit with a pitch to again load the bases, Perry stepped to the plate in an at-bat he has been waiting for his whole life. Although the natural instinct for him was to step up and swing away, he was given a sign and saw the perfect pitch for what he was attempting to do. As Austin Meeney broke for the plate, Perry got down the squeeze bunt to the right side and Meeney came home without a throw to give the Golden Bears a sectional title and leave the Garfield players in utter disbelief.

Garfield's Christian Castillo gets a hug after he cleared the bases and tied the game in the top of the seventh.

"We battled and we fought, we just made a few mistakes and they made us pay for them," said Garfield head coach Charlie Rigoliosi. "Baseball is a crazy game and strange things do happen in big games. We've had alot of things go on this year and for us just to be three outs away from a section title is a great accomplishment. Losing this one hurts though, no doubt about it."

DeLeva tripled, doubled, and scored three times for Lyndhurst (23-6). Meeney and Karlok each drove in two runs in making a winner out of reliever Mike Polito. Garfield (17-10) had seven of the nine players in its lineup record at least one hit, led by Castillo's three-run triple.

Lyndhurst moves onto the Group 2 semifinals to face defending Group 2 state champ Mahwah. That game will be played on Tuesday at Kean University with first pitch at 4:00 P.M.

Taking another step toward a state title is now the next goal for this overacheiving squad. Pretty impressive stuff for a team that was not even supposed to make a ripple this season, let alone be one of four Group 2 teams left playing in all of New Jersey.

"What we did today shows what kind of character this team has," said longtime Lyndhurst head coach Butch Servideo, who recently picked up his 500th career win. "Don't give up, don't give in, don't quit. The great teams never give in on any at-bat and they find a way to come back. This is a great team and it's a team in the truest sense of the word. I've been in alot of wild games and this ranks right up there as one of the best wins Lyndhurst has ever had."

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