Thursday,
April 16, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Justin Wazaney struck out 14 for Pompton Lakes, which improved to 2-3 on the season with a 4-1 win at Garfield on Wednesday. |
GARFIELD – The relationship between a pitcher and a catcher is about as important as any two players could have in any sport. Being on the same page and knowing what one needs from the other is paramount to the whole team being successful. Through four innings, Pompton Lakes right-hander Justin Wazaney could not have felt any more confident.
All of his pitches were working, he was hitting all of his spots and keeping the opposing Garfield lineup completely off-balance. But before he knew what hit him, the Boilermakers had the tying run in scoring position in the fifth inning and Wazaney was getting frustrated. With the game on line Wazaney's battery mate, who also happens to be his cousin Nick McCarthy, went out and did what experienced catchers do. He helped his pitcher regain his swagger and get the big out.
Wazaney did just that by getting a strikeout to end the threat, which turned out to be Garfield's last. Wazaney retired the final seven batters and finished with 14 strikeouts as Pompton Lakes earned a 4-1 win on Wednesday at Garfield High School.
The Cardinals manufactured a run in the top of the first to give Wazaney a little cushion right out of the gate. Ron Campos led off with a single and went to third on another single from Jimmy Huber. Chris Ferrara followed with an RBI groundout to put Pompton ahead, 1-0.
“That run meant a lot because it gave us momentum and gave me something to work with,” said Wazaney.
Garfield got back-to-back singles from Ricky Reyes and Kevin Buron with one out in the top of the first. Wazaney recovered nicely by striking out the next two batters, the latter of those on a nasty curveball over the inside corner.
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Kevin Castillo drove in the lone run for Garfield, which fell to 2-3. |
Pompton Lakes' battery mates also did the job offensively as the Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the top half of the fourth. McCarthy led off with a single and came around to score on a base hit by Wazaney. Another run came around to score on an outfield error to make it 3-0.
“I was just looking for a fastball down the middle and I got one,” added Wazaney.
Garfield got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Kevin Castillo before threatening again in the fifth. Reyes walked before stealing both second and third. A hit by pitch with an uncontested steal of second base suddenly put the tying run in scoring position without the benefit of a hit. Wazaney appeared as if he was going to get out of the jam, but got squeezed on consecutive pitches to run the count to 2-2. After a long glare towards home plate, McCarthy knew he needed to come out and settle Wazaney down.
“Just talked about taking a deep breath, keeping (Wazaney) calm and he shut the door,” said McCarthy. “It's both the easiest thing in the world and the hardest thing when you have to go out to talk to your cousin. We're a good fielding team and we have a lot of confidence. I have confidence in all of my pitchers, but especially in Justin. When we communicate well, things tend to work themselves out. He was dominant today and did a great job getting out of it.”
The 6-foot-2 junior did just that on a blazing fastball to get out of the jam and get back on track. He did not allow Garfield to hit a ball past the pitcher's mound over the final two innings, cleanly fielding three comebackers up the middle and striking out the other three, including his career-high 14th to end the game.
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Pompton's Nick McCarthy caught a gem and also had two hits to help pace the Cardinals' offense. |
“Wazaney really had great control and we weren't able to get him into too many jams,” said Garfield head coach Charlie Rigoliosi. “We haven't seen any pitcher near this kind of velocity in our first four games. As we get more experience, hopefully we'll start hitting better. We're hitting below .200 as a team so far. When you're not hitting, you have to play perfect to beat a good pitcher and a fundamentally sound team. We're not ready yet to play perfect nor get the timely hits we need to get things going.”
Wazaney twirled a five-hitter and allowed just two walks for Pompton Lakes (2-3). McCarthy and Campos paced the offense with two hits apiece.
Sophomore right-hander Mike Gutierrez took the loss for Garfield (2-3). Gutierrez, who threw an impressive nine-inning no-hitter last week over archrival Lodi in a 1-0 win, scattered eight hits with four walks and six Ks. Justin Ruiz was the only Boilermaker with two hits.
After being in the shadow the past two years of now Division 1 pitchers, Kevin Magee (St. John's) and Mike Coss (Marist), Wazaney is the unquestioned ace of the staff. Between Wazaney and McCarthy, a senior, they are the lynchpins to what the Cardinals hope is another successful season under head coach Paul Tanis.
“This is a big win for us and we think it will give us some positive momentum,” said Wazaney. “With the way we pitch and play defense, if we can get our bats together and start to get on a roll we feel like we'll be a tough team to beat the rest of the season.”
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