Sunday,
May 18, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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John Andrade teeing off of on the home run that tied the game in the fifth before Indian Hills scored two more times in the sixth to pull off a 3-1 win over
St. mary in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament on Saturday in Demarest. |
DEMAREST – It was a weird inning to say the least. Indian Hills, the No. 2 seed in the Bergen County Baseball Tournament, got its leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third inning on back via a hit by pitch. The next batter, Jon Andrade, then crushed a double on which head coach George Hill might have sent the lead runner home had there not been no outs and the top of his batting order coming up.
With the St. Mary infield playing back, Devin Torres pulled a hard groundball down the first baseline, but again there was no urgency to send the runner home as the out was recorded at first base. Then there was a bloop base hit to right field by Matt Jensen, but having to hold to make sure the ball fell in, the runner at third again had to anchor and the Braves had to settle for a bases loaded, one-out situation. How about a flyball to medium right field? Deep enough? Not quite against the arm of Jesse Kraft, who fired in to the cutoff man as the lead runner once again held tight.
When St. Mary starting pitcher Sal Careri got a called strike three on the outside corner to end the inning with no damage done against him, Indian Hills had seen four legitimate scoring chances go by the wayside and the Braves were still behind by a run after the first three innings of the county quarterfinal.
Turning point? It certainly was, but not in the way you might think if you don't already know the game's final outcome.
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St. Mary junior Sal Careri allowed just two earned runs in 5 1/3 quality innings. |
“That is the sign of a great team that they were able to come back from that. [St. Mary] had all the momentum, they sprinted off the field, but then A.J. [LoPresti] came out and got them 1-2-3 and that was his only 1-2-3 inning of the game,” said Hill, speaking of his senior starting pitcher. “That took the momentum right away from them. Last year in that situation – 1-0, bases loaded, no outs and we don't score – I don't if we come back to win this game.”
This year, with the experience of eight seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup, and with five-and-a-third solid innings from LoPresti keeping his team right where it needed to be Indian Hills hung in there until two swings of the bat tipped the game in its favor.
Jon Andrade, the No. 9 hitter in the order, hit a game-tying home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the fifth. One inning later, Brett Wilkes hit a two-run bomb to over the same fence to provide all the offense the Braves needed to grab a 3-1 win and a spot in the county semifinals for the first time since Hill has been associated with the program and he started as assistant back in 1994. Indian Hills last won a county title back in 1985 under the legendary head coach Hank Reese.
St. Mary, the No. 10 seed which came into the game riding a 15-game winning streak and having knocked off Ramapo in extra innings in last week's Round of 16, took the lead in the top of the third inning with a clutch two-out single by Tom Genaurio that knocked in Willie Krajnik, who walked leading off the frame. The Gaels sprinkled the basepaths with seven runners in the first three innings, but LoPresti (5 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 4 K, 6 BB, 1 HBP) kept wiggling out of trouble and when he handed the ball to Serafino Brito with two outs in the top of the sixth, the game was tied at 1 courtesy of Andrade's blast in the bottom of the fifth.
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Serafino Brito retired all four hitters he faced to pick up the win in relief for Indian Hills, which improved to 19-2-1. |
“A lot of kids move in when I come up because I am the No. 9 hitter, but this was my second home run. I am trying to show people that little guys can have some power,” said Andrade, who hit a change up out for the game-tying run. “We were starting to get a little frustrated because we were not producing, but no one our team ever loses faith. No matter how late in the game it is we always feel like someone is going to get the big hit.”
Andrade (2-for-3, HR, 2B, RBI, R) had one and so did Wilkes, who struck the deciding blow. Serafino got a groundball to strand two inherited runners in the top of the sixth and then reached on an error leading off the sixth and then stole second. That gave him the perfect view of Wilkes' blast, which gave the Braves their first lead and the only one they needed.
“It was a two-seam fastball according to Serafino, who was on second. I just knew it was a fastball and he gave me the specifics,” said Wilkes, one of the two non-seniors in the Indian Hills lineup. “I had a feeling it was going to go out, but I still sprinted out of the box just in case. You always need to hustle because anything can happen, but I was happy to see it go over [the fence].”
Brito worked a 1-2-3 seventh to pick up the win in relief as Indian Hills, the No. 2 seed, upped its record to 19-2-1 on the season. The Braves will play third-seeded and defending champion St. Joseph Regional in next weekend's Final 4. LoPresti and Brito combined on a four-hitter and Andrade was the only hitter for either team to have a multi-hit game. Junior right-hander Sal Careri (5 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 1 HBP) gave a strong showing on the hill for St. Mary as he used his off-speed repertoire to pitch deep into the game.
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Willie Krajnik scored St. Mary's lone run and had one of its four hits. |
While St. Mary saw its 15-game winning streak come to an end, there were more positives then negatives for the Gaels to take into the state tournament. They beat Ramapo last week, gave Indian Hills all it could handle on Saturday and got to showcase the program on the field at Northern Valley/Demarest High School, the home office of Bergen County baseball.
“Sal [Careri] did a great job and I think he really only made two mistakes, the two home runs. He left a change up up to the No. 9 hitter [Andrade] and the other one was against [Wilkes] the six hitter, who got a good swing on it. We didn't drive the ball really at all today. Even though we had a lot of baserunners, we couldn't take advantage,” said St. Mary head coach Dennis Hulse. “This is disappointing, but these kids have been awesome all year. We've had a motto all year and it is 'Believe the Hype,' because we wanted them to believe in themselves and I think they do now. All the wins have proven that and this was just a experience for us with the states coming up. We will be all right.”
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