Friday,
May 2, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
|
|
Joe Pronti allowed just one hit, struck out seven and did not walk a batter in picking up his North Jersey-leading sixth win of the season for Wood-Ridge, which knocked off Becton, 11-2, on Thursday. |
EAST RUTHERFORD – If any baseball team has aspirations of being a champion, whether it is league, county, or state, having a top 1-2 pitching combination is of the utmost importance. Wood-Ridge head coach Mike Carcich is happy to have just that in Joe Pronti and Nick Champino. Needing a win against Becton Regional to keep pace with St. Mary's of Rutherford atop the NJIC-Meadowlands Division, Pronti took the hill and took control right from the first pitch.
Pronti threw one-hit ball over five scoreless innings before the Blue Devils broke the game wide open. He also helped his own cause with two infield singles, the latter of which brought home a run that capped a seven-run fifth as Wood-Ridge cruised from there to an 11-2 triumph over Becton on Thursday at Riggin Field in East Rutherford.
“Joe (Pronti) has been a workhorse for us all season and he was attacking the strike zone today,” said Carcich. “We stranded a lot of runners in the first three innings. It was nice to see us play some small ball to get things going and put up a crooked number in the fifth.”
In the teams' first regular-season meeting, Becton scored an early run and held onto the 1-0 lead before Wood-Ridge broke the game open late. The Wildcats had a chance to plate a run in the bottom of the first to take the lead, but Pronti alertly picked a runner off of second to end the inning.
The Blue Devils took the lead in the top of the second on a heads-up baserunning play by courtesy runner Ryan Marrone. He was on second base when Joe Batcho singled to center. On the ensuing play at the plate, Marrone used a wide hook slide to try and catch the edge of the plate. He missed but went wide enough where Becton catcher Greg Dickman could not reach far enough for the tag as Marrone slid past. Both dove back towards the plate but Marrone was able to sneak his hand for the game's first run.
|
Wood-Ridge's Joe Batcho finished
3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. |
Pronti was on cruise control, challenging hitters and then getting the Wildcats to swing at pitches out of the zone. But the Blue Devils struggled to give him early run support as they stranded two runners in each of the first four innings before finally getting to Becton starter Steve Barone in the top of the fifth.
Tom Luizzi led off with a single and Pronti laid down a perfect sac bunt that was so good it turned into a hit. Another well-placed bunt by Steve Lagriola loaded the bases with nobody out and Mario Tartaglione followed with an RBI single. Ryan Macri drew a bases-loaded walk and Joe Batcho lined a two-run single as the Blue Devils turned a tight one-run game into a rout by taking an 8-0 lead.
“I was focusing on throwing first-pitch strikes and it's easy to do when you trust your defense behind you,” said Pronti. “If I can keep the ball down in the zone, I know they'll make the plays behind me and they rarely make errors. We have had a tough time getting started with the bats, but we always find our groove at the right time. This season we got off to a great start and then hit a little bit of a lull. We feel like we're getting back on track though and now we'll try to carry it through the rest of May.”
Pronti allowed just one hit, struck out seven, and did not walk a batter in picking up his North Jersey-leading sixth win of the season for Wood-Ridge (14-4). The Blue Devils had a well-balanced attack at the plate as 11 different players recorded at least one hit and seven players drove in at least one run, led by Batcho's 3 for 4 day at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored. Anthony Latoracca and Tartaglione each drove in two runs with Nick Belgiovine and Eric Loucka also driving a run each.
Alex Jenerich drove in both runs for Becton (5-6) with a triple in the sixth.
Wood-Ridge looks to be back on track heading into Saturday's showdown with Emerson, pitting Mike Carcich coaching against his father, Bob, one last time as Bob will be retiring after this season.
“It's going to be great to coach against him, it's always fun,” added Mike Carcich. “Our focus is one game at a time. We played well today against a good Becton team that is better than their record and had us on the ropes the first time we played them. Whenever Joe or Nick (Champino) are on the mound, we feel pretty confident that we'll get that one big inning and we'll come out with a 'W' like we did today. With us still being neck-and-neck with St. Mary's for the league, every win is important.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME.
TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT
OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com. |