Tuesday, May 19, 2015

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Senior Cory Heitler struck out 11 in his complete game six-hitter as No. 4 Fair Lawn beat Morris Knolls, 4-1, in the opening round of the North 1, Group 4 state sectional tournament.

FAIR LAWN – Playoff baseball, more specifically the state tournament when any game could be the last of the season, usually brings with it the kind of nervous energy that might lead an early error, a wild swing at a pitch out of the zone or some kind of mistake that can be blamed on an elevated heart rate. If Fair Lawn was feeling any extra emotions heading into its first round North 1, Group 4 state sectional opener against Morris Knolls on Monday afternoon then the Cutters did a good job of hiding it.

It would be hard to have been more efficient at the plate, in the field and on the mound than Fair Lawn was. Of the Cutters’ seven hits, three of them were for extra bases and three of the singles drove in runs, one of them coming right after a textbook sacrifice bunt. And, Fair Lawn played error free on defense behind a dominant starting pitcher in senior right-hander Cory Heitler.

In crisp fashion and in less than two hours, fourth-seeded Fair Lawn advanced to the sectional quarterfinals with 4-1 win over No. 13 Morris Knolls, which probably wound up spending more time on the bus with the round trip to and from Denville than it did between the white lines.

“Fielding and pitching are the things that are going to get you through these games because in the state playoffs you are only going up against quality teams and top pitchers and you can’t expect to be able to hit your way through it,” said Fair Lawn skipper Jamie Graceffo. “We are not the kind of team that is going to go out and put 12 or 13 hits on the board this time of year, so we need we need to make the hits that we do get count, we need to play defense and we need to throw strikes.”

Justin Weick had two of Morris Knolls' six hits in the game.

Fair Lawn’s fundamentals played into its first run as Ryan Rue led off the bottom of the third inning with a double down the right field line and, two batters later with one out, Garrett Litvak traded an out for a base with a sacrifice bunt that rolled the order over for leadoff hitter Mikey Lauriello, who singled home Rue to make it 1-0.

Morris Knolls built a run of its own to tie the game in the top of the fourth as Ryan Bornemann singled to start the frame and, after moving up to bases on a groundout and Justin Weick’s base hit, Bornemann scored on Tanner Kipp’s single to right field.

But sustaining any kind of rally was going to be difficult against Heitler, who found the release point on his curveball somewhere around the second inning and then made opposing hitters, his catcher Dominick Barbarulo and the home plate umpire chase it all around the backstop.

Heitler finished with 11 strikeouts without walking a batter in his complete game six-hitter, but he also threw three wild pitches and Barbarulo had to throw down to first to complete two of those Ks after two different Golden Eagles went fishing for nasty breaking pitches in two-strike counts.

A prime example was in the fifth when Heitler technically struck out the first three hitters of the frame, but still needed to record a fourth out after two of the runners reached on wild strike three swings.

Fair Lawn's Mikey Lauriello drove in a run, scored another and had two hits, including one on this check swing in the bottom of the fifith.

“I remember the last time we were in a state tournament game thinking we were going to win and we got blown out by Memorial, so I went out there today a little nervous. I wanted to see what [Morris Knolls] was all about, see how they swung the bats and I lost the zone a little bit with my curveball,” said Heitler, who will play next year at Wagner College. “It was really around the third inning that I found it and I used it as much as I could.”

Knowing hits were at a premium, Morris Knolls took chances on the basepaths but had a runner cut down trying to score on a ball in the dirt in the third and one caught trying to steal third in the fifth.

Meanwhile, Fair Lawn took no unnecessary chances and took the lead for good when John Klimowich opened the bottom of the fourth with a double into the left centerfield gap and then traded places with Heitler, the next hit up who lofted a double into right-center.

In the bottom of the fifth, Fair Lawn showed off its baseball IQ once again to give itself a cushion. Litvak lined a single over shortstop and Lauriello (2-for-3, RBI, R) followed with a check swing single that found open space. Again Graceffo called for a one-out sacrifice and this time David Johnson got it down in front of Klimowich, who ripped a too-hot-to-handle single down the left  and did everything he could to make sure both runners had time to score.

Klimowich was tagged out going for second base, but his out was a worthy trade to make sure Morris Knolls hit the cut and did not try to make a play at the plate.

Rocco Aliotta (6 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 3 K, 0 BB) went the distance for Morris Knolls, which fell to 11-13.

“I got a hold of a fastball and hit it hard down the line. Their third baseman couldn’t glove it and I was taking second on the throw because if they throw home and get [Lauriello] then it didn’t matter and if they throw home and don’t get him then I am in scoring position,” said Klimowich, who finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. “If we score and I get to second, we have a chance for another run on another two-out hit, but the way it worked out was fine with me.”

Heitler (7 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 11 K, 0 BB) set down the final six batters he faced in order with shortstop Chris Messerian making a nice play deep in the hole for the first out of the sixth and Eric Kerestes, the Cutters’ first baseman, making a nice pick on a low throw for the first out of the seventh.

So now it is on to the quarterfinals where Fair Lawn will host No. 5 Bloomfield on Thursday. Messerian will most likely get the start in that one.

“The jitters are out now and we have all the faith in the world that [Messerian] is going to go out and throw a great game,” said Heitler. “Now we can just go out there and hit the ball, hopefully put up a couple more runs than we did today and keep moving on in the tournament.”

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