Sunday,
April 20, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Tom Saffridti allowed just three hits and struck out 12 in eight innings for Paramus Catholic, which got back over the .500 mark for the season with a 3-1 win over Pascack Valley on Saturday in Hillsdale. |
HILLSDALE – What is now obvious after just about three weeks of the baseball season is that, at the higher echelon of Bergen County team at least, is that the pitchers are way ahead of the hitters. Maybe it was the brutal winter that screwed up everybody's timing at the plate or maybe there are just that many good pitchers around the county, but it seems like every time two top teams meet each other with the top of their rotations, offense is hard to come by. Another example came on Saturday when Paramus Catholic senior Tom Saffidti matched up against Pascack Valley's Evan Dymond for the first half of the game and then against Matt Ogus for that latter half.
Paramus Catholic scored one run on a double steal, another on a wild pitch and a third when a bouncer up the middle found its way through the drawn in infield in the top of the eighth inning, but, with the way Saffidti was throwing, it was just enough offense for a 3-1 extra inning victory that got the Paladins back over .500 for the season at 4-3-1.
“That is the way our games have been all year long. We've gotten great pitching and our defense has been solid, but our bats just haven't come around yet,” said Paramus Catholic head coach Scott Luna. “Maybe it was the winter where nobody could get outside or a lack of scrimmage games or what, but the pitching has been awesome and, speaking just for my team but I know a lot of other are going through the same thing, the bats just have been there yet.”
There was not much action on the bases for either team as Saffidti struck out 12 and Dymond (4 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 7 K, 5 BB)and Ogus (4 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 4 BB) combined to punch out 9. It wasn't the opponent that forced Dymond out of the game, but the pitch count which was prematurely elevated by three first inning walks, which he pitched around with allowing a run, and by his seven strikeouts as he K'd the side in both the second fourth innings.
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Ryan MacNaughton trotting around third after his sixth inning home run pulled Pascack Valley even at 1. |
Dymond left the game trailing 1-0 as Paramus Catholic literally stole a run in that top of the fourth. Dave Sdrougais led off the frame with a walk and he stole second before going to third on a balk. EJ Ortiz, PC's catcher, then drew a one-out walk before being replaced at first by courtesy runner Ben Kawalcek. Instead of waiting for the big hit that has been slow in coming this season, Luna sent Kawalcek on delayed steals on consecutive pitches. The first time he had to scamper back to first as PV worked its designated defensive play against the double steal, but the second time the throw went through the the bag. As a bonus, Kawalcek beat the throw, but the key was kicking up enough dust to make the throw home late as Sdrougais scored to give the Paladins a 1-0 lead.
“We gotten a lot of our offense from double steals, bunt and steals, hit and runs and trying to make things happen on the bases,” said Luna. “We'll try anything and it got us the first one.”
And it looked like that might be enough as Saffidti was dominating on the hill. He gave up just two hits through the first four innings and was throwing his knuckle-curveball for called strikes, a nightmare for hitters who couldn't afford to look for anything else because of the velocity of his fastball. Kevin Dehn had Pascack Valley's lone hit through the first four innings, a one-out single, but was caught stealing by Ortiz, who threw a seed to second for out. He gave up a two-out single to Dan Corrigan and a walk to Dehn in the fifth, but he got a called strike three to end that threat and got the first out of the sixth inning before making his lone mistake of the game.
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EJ Ortiz had PC's lone RBI with a single on this swing in the top of the eighth. |
After falling behind Ryan MacNaughton, 3-1, with the bases empty, Saffidti decided to challenge the Pascack Valley No. 3 hitter with a fastball and MacNaughton won that battle by hitting a long home right to right field to tie the game at 1.
“That kid [MacNaughton] is a good hitter and I probably should have just walked him, but I just had to put that behind me and move on,” said Saffidti, a senior who will play at Central Connecticut State University next year. “We haven't been scoring a lot of runs so I am used to pitching in close games like this. You can't get frustrated, you just have to keep going out there and doing your job. I know the offense is going to come around and pick up the pitching staff at some time this year, so we are just trying to do the same thing for them right now.”
With the game tied, it was back to the grind for both offenses. Paramus Catholic got a runner on with one out in the sixth when Kawalcek, now pinch hitting, took one square in the back. Trying to get into scoring position, Kawalcek tried to steal second but was erased on an inning ending double play as Ortiz hit a two-hopper right at the second base bag. Dan Corvo was right there to start the twin killing. PC's aggressiveness on the base paths hurt the Paladins again in the seventh when Chris Dernbach was inserted to pinch run for Saffidti, who drew a leadoff walk, but, on the move with the pitch, he was double off when a bunt was popped up and gloved by MacNaughton halfway between third and home.
Paramus Catholic had time to generate so many chances because Saffidti (8 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 12 K, 4 BB) did not give an inch. He struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning to get his team right back in to hit and they finally gave him some wiggle room.
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PV starter Evan Dymond struck out 7 in just four innings before leaving with a high pitch count. |
In the top of the first extra frame, Ken Meagan drew a leadoff walk and Sdrougais (1-2, 2 R, 2 SB, 2 BB) singled. Both runners moved up two bases on two different pitches with Chris Camillo at the plate. That gave PC a 2-1 lead and, with the infield forced up, Ortiz made it 3-1 with his single back through the box.
Saffidti then closed out the game with with two more strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth and fielded a comebacker to end it.
“He threw his curveball for strikes in all counts, he kept us off balance and he kept us off the bases. We got three hits in eight innings and a couple of walks. This was a tough game for both offenses, just look at the way they scored their runs, too,” said Pascack Valley head coach Will Lynch, whose team fell to 7-3 on the season. “This is exactly what the county tournament is going to look like. There is no team that is just going to roll through and have a good ol' time doing it. There are too many good pitchers out there and every game played there is going to be a battle and these are the games that get you ready for that. We just didn't hit enough today.”
Both teams have the potential to make deep postseason runs. Pascack Valley has a number of quality wins (Old Tappan, Demarest and Ramsey) already on its resume and Paramus Catholic is now over the .500 mark and has been in every game it has played. The Paladins lost 2-1 to Bergen Catholic, 1-0 to Don Bosco Prep and have a scoreless draw on the record against Old Tappan in a game that was shortened by rain.
If Paramus Catholic doesn't make the county tournament with the required .650 winning percentage, it will have a good case to grab an at large bid and is not the kind the team a favored opponent would want to run into.
“We'll be there. That is the plan and we have the pitching to make a run with Saffidti, [Jack] Purcell and [Anthony] Rosoline as our three top guys. Our team ERA coming into this game was less than one. We gave up one run today and it went up,” said Luna, who has taken the PC program from also-ran into what he hopes is a team that will contend for titles as soon as this season. “We haven't won a state championship since '92 I think it is. When I took over this programs there were a lot of three-win seasons in the years before, and we've been in the states every year since I got here and made the counties for the first time last year. We want to continue to build on that.”
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