Sunday,
May 17, 2015
By Jason Bernstein
Special to NJS.com
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Vinnie Martin capped Bergen Catholic's comback from a 3-run deficit to a 4-3 extra innings win over River Dell in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament. |
EMERSON - Bergen Catholic was down three runs and its best player heading into the fifth inning, but Vinnie Martin didn't see a loss awaiting the Crusaders. Instead, the sophomore center fielder envisioned a future that saw Bergen Catholic winning and celebrating in spite of the gloomy present it was facing.
"I was just visualizing it. Since the fifth inning when we were down 3-0, I was visualizing that we were going to win this game," Martin said. "We're going to walk it off and it's going to be a good time."
An hour later, Martin ensured his vision became reality.
Third-seeded Bergen Catholic scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, then Martin's walk-off single with one out in the eighth gave the Crusaders a 4-3 victory over sixth-seeded River Dell in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament.
Bergen Catholic will now face rival St. Joseph in next Saturday's semifinals.
"We weren't nervous at all,” said Martin. "Once we were down 3-0, we carried ourselves well. We didn't get nervous, we knew we were going to win the game."
Things looked anything but positive for the Crusaders when ace hurler and leadoff hitter Justin Salem, the Hofstra recruit, grabbed his pitching arm and left the game due to injury with a runner on and no outs in the top of the fourth. Four batters later, River Dell's Kyle Weber roped a two-run double off of reliever Andrew DeRobertis and Pete Capuano followed with an RBI hit of his own to give the Golden Hawks a 3-0 lead.
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River Dell senior Jake Fletcher allowed 2 runs, 9 hits and a walk over six-plus innings with five strikeouts |
From that point forward, DeRobertis (4-0) didn't just keep River Dell off the scoreboard, he extracted some revenge at the plate.
"Every time we've thrown him out there he's had poise which was kind of unbecoming of a 15 or 16-year old kid," Bergen Catholic coach Bob Muggeo said. "He performed well beyond his years."
In the top of the fifth, DeRobertis singled then came around to score on David Lamanna's RBI double. Bergen Catholic squandered a golden scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth inning, but wouldn't do the same in the seventh. Erickson Nichols and led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a balk. August Samek singled and then a throwing error on a pickoff attempt brought Nichols home. DeRobertis singled to left field off of River Dell reliever Lucas Salerno, tying the game at 3-3.
"I knew I really wanted to make up for that (fourth inning)," DeRobertis said. "That pitch he gave me was a good pitch to hit and I just put it up the middle."
DeRobertis overcame a walk and infield single in the top of the eighth. The bottom half saw Sonny Ulliana and John Mead get consecutive one-out singles before Martin ended the game with a hit, scoring courtesy runner Joe Laspina.
"I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous," Martin said. "But I was like he's going to make a mistake. He's going to throw a fastball and I'm going to capitalize on it and win this game for my team."
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BC's Andrew DeRobertis gave up two runs in five innings of emergency relief, allowing five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. |
DeRobertis gave up two runs in five innings of relief, allowing five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He also went 2-for-2 with a run scored and a RBI. Uliana was 2-for-3 with a walk, while sophomores Lamanna and Samek also had two hits in the victory.
"We got a lot of sophomores here. We're a young team, but I wanted to remind these that we don't wait ‘til next year because next year may never happen. Things change," Muggeo said. "I wanted their mindset be that we need to get to Memorial Day weekend. Then anything can happen. We're a very good team and I want them to understand that regardless of what people say about next year, let's go for it this year."
Jake Fletcher started for River Dell and was stellar. The senior right-hander retired seven in a row at one point, including four consecutive strikeouts before allowing a Mead double in the fourth. Fletcher allowed two runs, nine hits and one walk over six-plus innings with five strikeouts. Chris Weber went 2-of-4 and scored the game's first run for the Golden Hawks. Mike Fasano also had two hits to go with a key diving catch in left field to stop Bergen Catholic's fifth inning rally.
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