Monday,
April 20, 2015
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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John Murphy, a University of Maryland commit and a potential high-round draft pick, struck out 11 in six innings for Gloucester Catholic, which handed St. Mary its first loss of the season, 6-0, on Sunday afternoon. |
RUTHERFORD – St. Mary has serious aspirations for this season as evidenced by its schedule. One week before playing a doubleheader against Bergen County powerhouses Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph Regional, the Gaels invited another top-notch opponent to Tamblyn Field. Not only did Gloucester Catholic, the No. 1 team in the state according to The Star Ledger, accept the invitation but it also thought enough about its host to throw its ace into what it considered a pressure situation in Rutherford.
“I want to come up here because I want our kids to feel the pressure. I want to come up here because of who else is up here. We know that [Don] Bosco [Prep] and other great programs are here [scouting] and I want our kids to feel the pressure of that,” said Gloucester Catholic head coach Mike Ricci, Jr. “Coming here against a team like [St. Mary] in this atmosphere with a big crowd and all that goes with it, it gets us in a situation to mentally prepare for the end of the year. Our focus is to get ready for that endpoint of the season.”
Anywhere Gloucester Catholic goes, especially on days when senior John Murphy is scheduled to pitch, means that travelling road show picks up an added dimension, a gallery of major league scouts and their radar guns that chart every pitch that comes out of Murphy’s right hand. Murphy has committed to play at the University of Maryland, but he may never make it to College Park as he could be selected in the early rounds of the draft.
And he is as good as advertised. Murphy came out throwing gas, consistently reaching the low 90s on the guns and maintaining his velocity throughout his six innings of work in the Rams’ 6-0 victory that was closer than the final score indicated. Murphy struck out six of the first seven hitters he faced, four of them looking and three of those in order to start the game.
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St. Mary junior Danny Diaz allowed just one earned run in his five-plus innings of work. |
“I have pitched in a lot of big games, but this one felt a little bit different. I knew there were a lot of people here with the scouts and at three big opponents that we are going to play in the next two weeks and I just wanted to set a tone for the whole team,” said Murphy, who also throws a snapping breaking ball with a wide separation in speed from his heater. “I am taking it all in, but first things first. My first goal is to help this team win championships and whatever comes after the season I will deal with it then. Right now it is all about high school baseball.”
For as dominant as Murphy was, the only thing separating Gloucester Catholic from St. Mary through the first five innings was an unearned run as the Gaels’ starter, junior Danny Diaz, showed there is more than one way to get hitters out. Diaz does not throw in the 90s, but every one of his pitches has some type of bend to it and he can throw his variety of offerings for strikes, called or otherwise.
The only damage the Rams did to Diaz came in the second inning when a flyball was dropped for a two-base error that gave Tyler Mondile a free pass into scoring position with one out in the top of the second. Keanu Kelii then got the run across with a hard ground ball through the right side that snuck under the glove of a sliding middle infielder as GC took the 1-0 lead.
St. Mary managed just two baserunners through the first four innings. Gregory Cuevas beat out an infield single and stole second before being stranded in the second and Manny Andujar blooped a single in the fourth before stealing second and subsequently being tagged out on a pickoff play.
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Anthony Harrold had two hits and an RBI for Gloucester Catholic, which improved to 11-2 on the season. |
“We knew that [Murphy] was going to pitch coming in and we prepared as best we could, but seeing a guy throwing that hard for the first time, it is not easy for a high school kid,” said St. Mary head coach Dennis Hulse. “I would not say we were intimidated. Our guys are gutty and gritty, but we were swinging at some bad pitches. We have been aggressive all year and it has worked out for us, but there isn’t a lot you can do when he was throwing that hard.”
Nine of Murphy’s 11 strikeouts came in the first four innings as he faced just one batter over the minimum, but Diaz was still baffling the Rams as well and St. Mary put together legitimate threats in both the fifth and sixth innings. Cuevas sliced a double the other way leading off fifth and went to third on Carlo Pozo’s pinch hit single, but Murphy threw a knee-high fastball on the corner for a called strike three and a two-out bunt was fielded cleanly for out No. 3.
After Anthony Harrold’s single drove in Gloucester Catholic’s second run in the top of the sixth, St. Mary found itself with one last chance to get back in the game. Walks to Tommy Genoario and Nazier McIlwain and a ground out put runners on the corners with two outs and an intentional pass issued to Cuevas loaded the bases. But Murphy’s final pitch of the game might have been his best, a 92 mile-an-hour heater for a called strike three that ended that threat and the Rams broke the game open in the top of the seventh.
A hit, three walks and a balk led to four Rams runs. Sean Breen drive in one with a sacrifice fly and Tyler Mondile’s two-out single through the right side scored two more. Mondile then worked the bottom of the seventh on the mound, allowing just a two out walk before closing out the win for Gloucester Catholic.
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Gregory Cuevas had two of St. Mary's four hits, including the Gaels' lone extra base hit, a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth inning. |
“We had some chances early and we didn’t come through, but you just have to keep grinding and hope you get a big inning. We got a big inning late and that was huge,” said Ricci, Jr., whose team improved to 11-2 on the season. “Last night we had the prom so we knew today was going to be a tough one coming up here. These guys bounced back and it showed a lot about this ball club.”
St. Mary (8-1) showed a lot, too. Despite dropping its first game of the season, there were still plenty of positives to come out of testing itself against one of New Jersey’s top programs. Diaz (5+ IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 1 BB) threw five-plus solid innings and Cuevas was 2-for-2 with an extra base hit and was given an intentional walk against one of the state’s top pitchers. Carlo Pozo also had a pinch hit single in the fifth.
“We had plenty of chances; it was 1-0 going into the sixth. We played poorly defensively and it was still 1-0 because of our pitcher Danny Diaz, who kept us in the game. We had the bases loaded in the sixth and we were a swing away there, one ball in the gap away from taking a lead,” said Hulse. “I give our guys credit. We were up against the No. 1 team in the state, one of the best pitchers in the state and we did not back down. It’s a loss, but we are excited to play these types of games. It is the kind of challenge that our kids really look forward to.”
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