Sophomore Dan Dominguez went the distance on a three-hitter as Emerson won one for Steve Ramagli, 2-1 over Hackensack on Saturday.
EMERSON – Steve Ramagli would have loved the spectacle that was Saturday in Emerson. A longtime volunteer assistant to Larry Ennis and then Bob Carcich, he was on staff when the Cavos won back-to-back Group 1 state championships in the early 2000s and one in 1992. When Carcich retired and his son Nick took a position on the staff at Hackensack, Steve moved over to the Comets. He was a high school baseball lifer, so he would have loved to have been a part of the mix when Emerson, playing on its brand new turf diamond, hosted Hackensack on Saturday morning.
Steve Ramagli passed away this past November, so it was in his honor that the local baseball community gathered. And there was some turnout; the parking lot was full.
Bob Carcich was there.
“I played for a team in the Emerson Softball League my first year at Emerson and Steve was umpiring. He knew I was a new teacher, he knew I was into baseball and we immediately had a lot to talk about,” said Carcich. “There was so much more than baseball between us though. I got my house [in Emerson] because of him. He had a nice hot tub in his backyard and a putting green and I said ‘This is where I want to live.’ Just a great friend. We had dinners together, played golf together and always commiserated about what went on at the field. He never took a penny [to coach] and came down to the field whenever he could, which was almost every day.”
In the pregame, Emerson wore redshirts that said ‘Ramagli’ across the front and Hackensack had blue ones that said the same. It was a show of unity and respect and Nick Ramagli, now a teacher in South Hackensack, was up for all of it.
“They call [Emerson] the ‘Family Town’ and that was on full display today and it means a tremendous amount to my family and I to have such support. The town showed up and really embraced us and his memory,” said Nick, an Emerson standout who went on to play at Kean University. “And he would have loved this game.”
Luis Hernandez struck out 9 in 4 2/3 innings of relief for Hackensack.
Speaking of the game, it was a classic and Dan Dominguez gave Emerson just what it needed. The sophomore right-hander held his team in the game through seven solid innings pitched, long enough for junior shortstop Ryan Dauble to come through with two outs in a tie game.
Dauble’s two-hopper up the middle was knocked down on a diving stop by Hackensack shortstop Leifry Hernandez, but it skidded just far away for pinch runner Logan Manning, who was off on contact, to score from second base to give Emerson a walk-off 2-1 victory, one it sorely needed after an 0-3 start to the season.
After giving up two hits, a walk and a run in the top of the first inning Dominguez dominated the rest of the way. He gave up only one hit and two walks over the final six innings and the one batter that did reach on a fifth inning single, Dominguez picked off of first base. He also caught a runner leading in the opening inning to help limit the early damage.
His approach? Simple.
“Fastball, fastball, fastball...that is what I like and a little off-speed in there. Just wanted to start off every at bat with a strike, get ahead and let the defense do the work,” said Dominguez (7 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 6 K, 3 BB, W), who threw 98 pitches in going the distance. “Hackensack is a tough team to beat. We played great all around; offense, defense and it was a pitching battle. The outfield was great defensively, the energy was high for the Steve Ramagli game, the atmosphere was amazing and hopefully this game can start us on a streak.”
Hackensack (2-1) opened the season with two straight wins and jumped in front early. Darius Pemberton, the lightning quick leadoff hitter, beat out and infield single leading off the game, went to second on Josbaldy Santos’ single to left, stole third and scored on Jason Bocio groundout. The Comets had the lead just three hitters into the game, but Dominguez was just getting started. He picked off a runner and stranded the other two he let on in the opening inning and then buzzed through the rest of his outing.
Ryan Dauble knocked in the winning run for Emerson.
Emerson (1-3) got even in the bottom of the second inning with Julian Morales’ lead-off single setting the table. He went to second on a wild pitch, got to third on an error and scored when Nick Giella walked with two outs and the bases loaded.
Holden Cohen, who was feeling the effects of food poisoning, gutted out two innings on the mound before Hackensack turned to Luis Hernandez and he was dealing. The hard-throwing right hander allowed just two hits without walking a batter in his first four innings of work, but may have been tiring a bit when he issued his first base on balls to Daniel Galeazza with one out in the seventh and the game still tied at 1.
Hernandez snapped off a breaking ball for the second out, a called strike three, before Giella drew another walk to turn the lineup over for Dauble, who got bat on ball and set the winning sequence in motion.
“That was a really big spot and you just have to do whatever you can to put the pressure on. I just wanted to force them to make a play,” said Dauble. “I didn’t want to give them an easy third out with a strike out. I just wanted to put it in play and it worked. Just had to shorten up [my swing] and battle.”
The battle and the game were won by Emerson, but the result was beside to point on a day that was planned with a bigger picture in mind.
“Regardless of the outcome, Steve would have loved this game. Great pitching on both sides and it just came down to us having the hammer in the last inning,” said Emerson head coach Chris Sommerhalter, EHS Class of 2001. “Steve was a huge part of Emerson baseball, but also the town of Emerson. He was loved by so many people and it was great to see everybody here. They came out to show their respect for him and it was just a great day all around.”
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