Tuesday, May 20, 2014

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Troy Henderson threw 10 scoreless innings and drove home the winning run in a virtuoso performance as Cresskill finally beat Park Ridge, 2-0, in the opening round of the North 1, Group 1 state sectional tournament on Monday.

PARK RIDGE – Okay, so here is what Monday afternoon's North 1, Group 1 state sectional tournament opener between Cresskill and Park Ridge did have: two catcher's interference calls, a balk, two runners caught stealing, three runners picked off of base, two of whom were tagged out. The third actually fell for that Little League play where the pitcher fakes a throw to second base and all of the fielder's pretend that the ball was thrown into centerfield only to have the pitcher keep it and tag out the unwitting baserunner. On this occasion, however, the fooled baserunner advanced safely because he jarred the ball loose just as the tag was applied.

Oh yeah, and the umpire on the bases did not have the best day of his career.

Here is what this game was lacking: runs. For a full nine innings and with a lot of commotion going on behind them, Cresskill's Troy Henderson and Park Ridge's Peter Masterson went at it, two small school right-handed aces unwilling to give an inch.

Just take the regulation seven innings and Masterson struck out 11, walked three and allowed just one hit, a leadoff single in the top of the third by Cresskill's East Assogna. In his first seven innings on the hill Henderson struck out five, walked three and gave up just one hit and even that one was questionable. Leading off the bottom of the first inning, Eric Luther was credited with an infield single on a relatively close play at first base that the Cresskill dugout saw the opposite way and probably rightfully so. Luther became the only Owl to get into scoring position through the first five innings when he stole second before being being thrown out a third trying to advance on a wild pitch.

Park Ridge's Pete Masterson struck out 14 and gave up just four hits in nine innings of work.

Masterson (9 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 14 K, 3 BB) was masterful as he mowed down the Cougars for the duration of his nine inning outing, while Henderson had to work his way out of a least a couple of tight spots, none of his own making. It was not until Masterson's pitch count of 138 caused Park Ridge manager Pete Crandall to say uncle and turn to the bullpen. Cresskill finally won the waiting game.

Who else but Henderson could have played the role of hero as his single to leftfield with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th finally broke the ice. Glenn Allen got down a suicide squeeze one batter later for an unnecessary insurance run and Cresskill, the No. 9 seed, got into the North 1, Group 1 quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over No. 8 Park Ridge. And because top-seeded Wood-Ridge went down to No. 16 Wallington, the Cougars will have a home game in the next round.

“I just wanted to stay calm and throw another strike. That was my focus all game long because I knew that if I kept throwing strikes that my defense would make the plays and we could get out of any situation,” said Henderson. “When I came up in the 10th I knew I was going to get a strike to swing at because the bases were loaded and he was going to have to put it over the plate. I just wanted to put it in play somewhere, anywhere and see what could happen.”

Nothing came easily for either offense. Cresskill looked like it had pushed a run across in the top of the third when East Assogna led off with a single, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and then tried to score from second when a throw to first on a groundball hit by Troy Galan was overthrown. Assogna slid in behind Park Ridge catcher Kyle McCann, but there was that awkward moment when the umpire just stands there with making a call, the universal signal for there was no tag, but the runner had yet to touch home plate. McCann read it first, won the race to the plate and kept the game scoreless.

Cresskill second baseman East Assogna handled the third outs with the bases loaded in the sixth and eight innings and also cleanly fielded the game's final out.

That was basically it for the Cougars' offense against Masterson, who will play next season at Kutztown University. Throwing fastballs almost exclusively, he walked three in his nine innings of work, but struck out at least one batter in each frame. He K'd the side in the second and fanned two in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Cresskill (15-7) got a runner into scoring in the seventh when Trevor Romeo drew a leadoff walk and was balked to second, but the rally died right there as Masterson struck out two of the next three hitters and he picked a runner off of second in the ninth, the only inning in which he allowed multiple hits.

“This was the best that [Masterson] pitched all year and he deserved better. Nine innings, no runs...you can't do better than that and I thought he dominated, but the kid has a future and I couldn't go another inning with him,” said Park Ridge head coach Pete Crandall. “There was no way I was going to send him out there for the 10th.”

While Masterson was able to keep his pitch county relatively low (138) thanks to three 10-pitch innings in a row, Henderson (10 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 7 K, 4 BB) had a bit more traffic on the basepaths to deal with even though he allowed just one questionable hit and three walks through the first seven innings and even though Park Ridge (14-8) lost Luther, its leadoff hitter and top offensive threat to a leg injury on a caught stealing in the fourth.

Josh Lewis reached on a one-out error in the sixth and went to second when Dan Confreda drew a walk. It was then that Henderson wheeled toward second with no intention of throwing as the Cresskill defense play-acted it way to drawing Lewis into taking off for third. Henderson met him about five steps from the bag, but the tag was put on Lewis' elbow, which caused the ball to go flying in the air and Cresskill head coach Charlie Giordano flying out of the dugout to protest the lack of an interference call to no avail.

Park Ridge's Eric Luther had a hit and a stolen base before leaving the game with a leg injury in the fourth inning.

There was, however, an interference call against the next batter, Ryan Bovino, who was hitting in Luther's spot. It was a catcher's interference and it loaded the bases, but Henderson buckled down to get a 3-2 put out and a ground ball to second to keep the game scoreless.

Interestingly, the groundball to second was a key defensive asset for Cresskill as Assogna flawlessly handled three chances at important times. It was not that any were especially difficult, but they were pressure packed as he got the last out of the sixth with the bases loaded, the last out of the eight with the bases loaded and the last out of the game to send the Cougars into the quarterfinals.

“That is the best baseball I have ever seen in my life. Best and the craziest game I have seen in a long time. We didn't give up and when they had their chances Troy Henderson rose to the occasion,” said Giordano. “I can't give my guys enough credit and I am so proud of all of them, but I also want to give Park Ridge a whole lot of respect. That was a great job on their part and their kid Masterson...man can he pitch. It was pitch for pitch between Masterson and Henderson and it was fun to watch even though I don't have any voice left.”

That sentiment was echoed in the other dugout.

"What I was happy about was that an error did not lose the game. The kids on both teams made the plays and it was a pretty clean game," said Crandall. "It was a great high school game and it was a shame that somebody had to lose it."

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