Wednesday,
April 29, 2015
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Joe Ferolie two hits, two runs scored and an RBI batting out of the No. 9 hole for Demarest, which got back to .500 on the season with a 10-7 win over Ridgefield on Tuesday. |
DEMAREST – Ridgefield’s status as an elite Bergen County baseball program has completely upended the traditional role of a Group 1 school. The usual role for ‘the little guy’ in the lead-up toward bigger teams making a push to qualify for the Bergen County Tournament is to provide that break in the schedule, the ‘easy win’ that pads the resume and won/loss record in the midst of a brutal league schedule. With plenty of exceptions over the years, the Group 1 has traditionally been the University with three directions in its name heading to University of Alabama to serve as Homecoming Day fodder.
Not Ridgefield, not under head coach Joe Gambardella. The Royals went to the state final last season, they return a lot of those players and opened this year with a 10-2 record. When they were invited to Northern Valley/Demarest’s home field on Tuesday it was in the hopes that the Norsemen could pull the upset of the established program and get a win that will stand out as it makes its case for inclusion in the county tournament even if it does not have the requisite .650 winning percentage.
With five runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth, Demarest smashed its way to a quality victory, a 10-7 win that gives it a boost toward qualifying for the postseason as it got back to .500 for the season at 7-7-1.
“For us this game proves that we can compete with the better teams in the county. To get in the conversation we had to beat some real good teams and we did that today because nobody is going to say that Ridgefield is not a top tier team,” said Demarest head coach Marc Houser. “This shows that, when we play our best baseball, we can compete with anybody. We just solidified the fact that we can compete with the better teams in the county and this puts us in the conversation [for a county tournament berth].”
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John Biggiani had three hits and drive in 2 runs for Ridgefield. |
That statement right there, from the head coach of a quality Big North program with a strong pedigree of its own, shows how Ridgefield is viewed. It’s flattering, for sure, but it also means that the Royals are not sneaking up on anybody as they have become that skin that many public schools are looking to hang on their wall.
“We play a tough out of conference schedule, but we don’t play these games to compete. We came up here to win, but you have to give Houser’s team credit,” said Gambardella. “That is a good win for them and we talk about that all the time. We have had success lately and we know we have a target on our back. We get everybody’s best shot. In our league we are the team that everybody is looking to beat and they should. We used to do the same thing when we were fighting our way up and now we are fighting to stay there.”
Ridgefield was playing to win as it put its ace, senior right-hander Eamon Catherina, on the mound and put up single runs in the first, second and fourth innings to take a 3-1 lead. John Biggiani’s two-out single with the bases loaded drove in the last of those runs, but Tyler Mornhineway’s throw in from centerfield cut down a second runner trying to score and it was right there that the momentum turned in Demarest’s favor.
“They did jump on us a little bit, but we knew that we could battle back if we stayed patient and put together some good at bats,” said Demarest senior Greg DeMello. “We threw out a runner at the plate, our pitchers did a good job of keeping us in the game and then the offense came through.”
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Demarest's William Luethke retired the final two hitters he faced to notch the save. |
Jack Avallone kicked off the five-run fourth with a single and William Luethke blooped a basehit. Sophomore Kotaro Umehara, who was productive in all four of his at bats out of the No. 8 hole, then bunted both runners up and Joe Ferolie and Brandon Garcia followed with back-to-back RBI singles that tied the game at 3. After DeMello drew a walk to load the bases, Brian Kelly, the No. 3 hitter who did not see a pitch to hit in his first two at bats, forced Catherina into a negative count and then ripped a two-run, line drive single that put the Norseman ahead for good, 5-3.
“I was sitting on a fastball, he threw it and I was able to put a good swing on it, but the credit has to the go to the guys in front of me that got on base,” said Kelly, Demarest’s senior shortstop. “We’ve had a couple of tough losses this year, we’ve lost a bunch of games in extra innings, and we needed this one. This was a win over a Top 5 team in the county and it can really help us.”
That rally knocked Catherina out of the box while Brandon Garcia, Demarest’s starter, had one more good inning in him. He worked around a one-out double by Santo Guinta in the top of the fifth to make the lead stick and the Norseman got right back after it in the bottom of the inning. Umehara (2-for-2, R, 2 SAC) and Ferolie (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI) stroked back-to-back singles and moved up on a wild pitch. That allowed Garcia’s fly ball to right to turn into an RBI and DeMello (1-for-3, 2 R, RBI) and Kelly (2-for-3, 3 RBI, BB, HBP) then hit back-to-back-doubles to make it 9-3.
Garcia’s day ended when Kevin Stuckey and Benny Turano each doubled leading off the top of the sixth and the Royals put up a four spot in the sixth to get back in it. Biggiani (3-for-5, 2 RBI, R), Guinta (2-for-4, RBI) and Joel Torres (1-for-4, RBI) all drove in runs to get Ridgefield back to within 9-7.
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Benny Turano had two hits for Ridgefield, including an RBI double in the sixth inning. |
Demarest tacked in a single run in the bottom of the sixth before Ridgefield drew two one-out walks in the top of the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate with the top of the order coming up, but catcher Owen Ross made a nice play on a pop-up behind the plate and Avallone grabbed a liner at first base to lock down the save for William Luethke.
Ridgefield has now dropped two straight games, but the word slump does not necessarily fit. The Royals had 14 hits in each of those two losses and will jump back into league play with a chance to snap the mini streak against Bergen Charter on Wednesday.
“I love the way we fought at the end. We went down fighting and that is two games in a row that we lost with 14 hits. I love the way we are swinging the bats and we just have to keep on playing,” said Gambardella. “The reason why we play teams like this on the road is to get ready for the state tournament and this will make us better. We lost a baseball game today and that happens in this sport all the time. Not too many teams go undefeated, so you just learn your lessons and move on.”
Demarest, which played four straight extra-inning games earlier this season and lost three of them, can move on with some extra confidence and a two-game winning streak while in the middle of a five game week. The Norsemen have three games left before the county tournament cutoff and making it is the goal.
“The extra-inning games, the tough schedule that we have played; those things help you when you get in a game like this. The tying run was on base in the seventh inning against a real good team today and we found a way to hold on,” said Houser. “We haven’t had it easy, but those experiences help you and now they are playing in our favor.”
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