Sunday,
May 18, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Tyler Cruz connecting on what turned into the game-winning inside-the-park home run for Marist, which beat St. Peter's Prep, 3-2, in the Hudson County final on Saturday in Jersey City. |
JERSEY CITY – Marist's Tyler Cruz knows his role. At the top of the lineup with some big bats behind him, his job is merely to get the bat on the ball and use his legs to get on base any way that he can, but there are certain situations that call for some extra. One of those times came on Saturday in the final of the Hudson County Baseball Tournament with his team down a run against St. Peter's Prep and the tying run 90 feet away. Cruz still wanted to get the bat on the ball and did he ever in an at-bat and a game that neither Cruz nor his teammates will ever forget.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Cruz lined a shot into the left-centerfield gap and it rolled all the way to the wall in the deepest part of the park. The lightning-fast junior beat the throw to the plate for a two-run inside-the-park home run that gave Marist the lead. Senior southpaw Josh Witherspoon then came on in relief to slam the door shut and Marist won its second Hudson County title in three years with a 3-2 triumph over St. Peter's Prep on Saturday at Caven Point in Jersey City.
“This is what we've been working for since the first day of practice. It feels great to get the job done,” said Cruz. “We didn't want to be just a good team, we wanted to be a championship team. Our team has so much confidence in each other and you need that to be a champion. This is probably the best feeling I've ever had.”
Marist's AJ Candelario and St. Peter's Antonio Velardi, both right-handers, had it going early before Prep grabbed the lead in the top of the third. No. 9 batter Mike Cirilo lined a 2-2 pitch into the centerfield then stole second before coming home on a double to left by Cory Caddle for a 1-0 Marauder lead.
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Cory Caddie drive in both runs for St. Peter's Prep. |
The Royal Knights answered back with run in the bottom of the fourth, sparked by a leadoff single from Angel Perez before he moved to second on a sacrifice and stole third. Then, with one out, a hard-hit ball in the infield and subsequent throw to the plate beat Perez, but on the slide home he was able to kick the ball out of the catcher's glove and tie the game at 1.
Mike Marino got the Marauders back on track with a one-out triple before scoring on a sac fly from Caddle that put Prep back in front, 2-1, in the top of the fifth. In the bottom half of the frame, Marist responded.
Witherspoon drew a leadoff walk before moving to second on a sac bunt by Brandon Hanson and to third on a groundout. That brought Cruz to the plate with two outs, the tying run on third, and more pressure than he has ever faced on the baseball diamond. Cruz was unfazed by the moment and ripped a 2-1 fastball into the left-center field gap. It went all the way to the 402-foot sign and Cruz turned on the jets and slid in safely for a two-run homer that gave Marist its first and only lead of the game.
“I just wanted to get a hit and come through for my team, but when it went in the gap I just took off,” added Cruz, whose homer was his third of the year. “I would have been happy to just tie the game, but to hit a homer here is like a dream come true. We want to play our best in the biggest games and we have the team to do it. We knew if we got Josh (Witherspoon) the lead that he'd would do the rest.”
With two runners on in the top of the fifth, Witherspoon came on to get a strikeout to end the inning. The big lefty had his stuff working right from the moment he took the hill as he retired six straight batters. Cirilo kept the Marauders alive with an infield single with two outs in the top of the seventh to bring the dangerous Caddle to the plate, but Witherspoon got him swinging as the Royal Knights knocked off the defending Hudson County champs and celebrated their own county title for the second time in three years, both coming at the expense of St. Peter's Prep.
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Josh Witherspoon came on to retire six straight batters and picked up the win in relief for Marist. |
“It felt great to win counties as a sophomore, but I definitely appreciate it more now as a senior that we've done it again,” said Witherspoon, who will pitch at the University of South Florida next year. “I just wanted to attack the strike zone and keep my team in a position where we could come back and win. I knew what my job was when I got the ball. I had to come out here and compete for my teammates.”
Witherspoon picked up the win allowing just the one hit and striking out five of the eight batters he faced for Marist. Perez had two hits and two stolen bases. After a slow start to the season, the Royal Knights are now the hottest team in North Jersey heading into the state tournament with this being their 15th consecutive win.
Caddle drove in both runs and Cirilo had two of the four hits for St. Peter's Prep (22-4). Velardi pitched well in defeat, allowing just five hits in six innings of work.
Behind head coach and alum Ron Heyward, Marist is no longer the plucky underdog that no team in Hudson County wants to play. The Royal Knights are now firmly entrenched in the upper echelon of the county's baseball programs, a rise that others are trying to emulate.
“We keep fighting and we had to do everything in our power to get this win,” said Heyward. “We never stopped believing on ourselves and the kids did everything that I asked them to do. It's a blessing that we are where we are through hard work and determination. At Marist, we've always wanted respect. Winning a county title and doing it the right way through working hard every single day...that's how you earn it.”
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