Sunday,
May 11, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Pat Doherty got a key bunt to drop in the bottom of the seventh and had the walk off single in the bottom of the eighth as top-seeded Bergen Catholic came back to beat Ridgewood, 4-3, in the Round of 16 of the Bergen County Tournament on Saturday. |
LYNDHURST – When the opposing pitcher has everything working, often times a team, no matter its seed in any given tournament nor its pedigree, has resign itself to the fact that it is just not going to be its day. Bergen Catholic, the top seed in the Bergen County Tournament, looked like it was going to find itself in just such a scenario. Down two runs heading into the bottom of the seventh inning against 17th-seeded Ridgewood, the Crusaders had to battle to avoid of being on the wrong end of one of the bigger upsets in BCT history, at least according to the seeds.
Mike Martinez’s two-out single tied the game in the seventh and No. 9 batter Pat Doherty singled home the winning run in the eighth as Bergen Catholic barely survived the Round of 16 with a 4-3 triumph over Ridgewood on Saturday morning at Matera Field in Lyndhurst.
“We knew Ridgewood was really a Top 10 team in the county and they are not a (17) seed,” said Bergen Catholic head coach Mark DeMenna. “They really painted us into a corner, but we snuck out of it.”
Ridgewood struck first, scoring all three of its runs in the top of the third. Tyler Porfido lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home a run and Eric Lewis knocked in two more on a two-out, two-strike single as the Maroons grabbed a 3-0 lead.
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Eric Lewis' two-out, two-run single in the top of the third inning gave Ridgewood a 3-0 lead. |
In the bottom of the fourth, Bergen Catholic got one of those runs back but did not cash in on an opportunity to put together a big inning. Alec DeMattheis’ single cut the lead to 3-1 before the Crusaders loaded the bases with one out. Ridgewood starter Kyle Finnerty buckled down to get out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop-up to end the threat.
Both Finnerty and BC right-hander Kyle Weiner matched zeros until the bottom of the seventh when the Crusaders were down to their final three outs. That baseball is a game of inches was proven in a span of four batters, a few inches here or there and Ridgewood pulls the upset. However the breaks went BC’s way and gave it new life.
With one out and one on, Ridgewood’s Nico Symington made a great play in the hole to knock down a ground ball off the bat of pinch-hitter David LaMotta, but the Tulane-bound shortstop could not get to his feet in time to make a play. That brought Doherty to the plate and he popped up a bunt, but in the perfect spot. In any other direction, it would have been at least one out and possibly a game-ending double play. Instead, the ball landed over the head of Finnerty and dropped in front of third baseman Mitch Campbell to load the bases with one out.
“That wasn’t the way it was drawn up on the bunt, but it all worked out and it got us back to the top of our lineup,” said Doherty. “The biggest thing is that every kid in our dugout felt like we were going to find a way to win this game. We’re going to keep playing hard to the last out no matter what the situation is.”
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Kyle Weiner threw all 8 innings for BC and improved to 4-0. |
Jordan Attilio’s sac fly trimmed the lead to one run but also put the Crusaders’ county title hopes just one out from extinction. Speed demon Mike Martinez stepped into the batter’s box and slapped a ball just barely past a diving Symington to score LaMotta to tie the game at 3 and knock the crafty Finnerty out of the box.
“(Finnerty) is an excellent pitcher, one of the better ones we’ve seen, and it took a lot of hard work to get runs off of him,” said DeMenna. “When the pressure was on was when we had our best at-bats. Our theme all year is that we bend but we don’t break. It would have been nice to get things going early offensively, but Kyle (Weiner) held it together after the one tough inning and gave us a chance to make a comeback.”
After Weiner retired the side in the top of the eighth, the Crusaders won it for him in the bottom half of the frame. Ray Maresca led off with a single and, with one out, consecutive batters were hit by pitches to load the bases. Doherty then put the game away by roping a line-drive through the right side to bring home Maresca with the game-winning run.
“It was the spot I wanted to be, so I went up there looking to take a hack,” added Doherty. “I knew he didn’t want to walk me and with a huge area between the backstop and the catcher that he probably wasn’t going to take a chance with breaking balls. With the infield in, I was just looking to hit the ball hard and put it in play.”
Weiner (4-0) went the distance in picking up the win for Bergen Catholic. He gave up four hits, walked two, and had six K’s. Finnerty pitched well in a no-decision for Ridgewood (12-6), going 6 2/3 innings allowing six hits, with one walk and six strikeouts.
Bergen Catholic’s hopes of a county title survive for at least another week. While they did not play their cleanest game of the season, the Crusaders have shown the ability to comeback against quality opponents and they have started to thrive on that kind of pressure.
“Whether it’s little league, high school, college, or in the majors, all teams that end up winning a championship face some adversity along the way,” said Doherty. “We overcame this and we’ll come back next even stronger and look to get another ‘W’ to keep it going.”
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