Junior Dylan Mendez connecting on the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 7th as Dumont downed Fort Lee, 10-9, on Wednesday afternoon..
DUMONT – Playing third base at Honiss School in Dumont is like a prize fight in which there is just no way to win every round. The hot corner is where the sun sets behind the middle school, it is where the transition from grass to infield dirt is not exactly pool table-esque and where the clay has had the better part of a week to dry out.
Junior Dylan Mendez knows what he is in for every time he takes the field and he counter punches every chance he gets.
“Oh, it’s a problem. It’s so easy to get in your own head at third base when the sun is in my eyes and the infield isn’t great,” said Mendez. “I try to make every play, but when I don’t I try to keep myself in the game and move on to the next one.”
If the judges were scoring fairly at ringside, Mendez would probably have fought third base to a defensive draw with two errors and two diving stops, but in the end he would have his raised. With a one-out swing in the bottom of the seventh inning, Mendez sent Eric Orso flying around that same third base bag with the winning run.
Mendez’s opposite field double gave Dumont a come-from-behind 9-8 victory while handing Fort Lee is first league loss of the season.
“At the plate today I felt like my swing was a little long and I was just trying to get straight to the ball in my last at bat and I came through when it mattered,” said Mendez. “It was a fastball away, I let it get deep and set it the other way down the right-field line.”
Luke Senatore's first inning solo homer gave Fort Lee an early lead.
The atmosphere in the pregame was festive as Dumont (8-10) honored its Class of 2025 – Alex Martin, Matt Mertz, Tyler Quinn and Joey Sutera – on Senior Day and it was even more so postgame as the Huskies celebrated their eighth win of the season after winning just five all of last year.
“It’s a testament to these kids and what they have done all year. They play from the first pitch to the last, they believe in each other, they back each other up. It everything you want from a baseball team,” said Dumont head coach Joe Algieri. “They never quit and that is kind of what happened today.”
Fort Lee is also a feel good story. Having not won a league title since the 1950s, the Bridgemen (11-4) are one win away from clinching at least a share of the Big North Conference American Division championship and were in prime position after a four-run sixth gave them an 8-4 lead. Jack Dorkhom’s two-out, two-run single finished off the rally.
While Sutera, the senior right-hander who got the start for the Huskies, was charged with two of those runs in the top of the sixth, he gave Dumont the length it needed to gain the late-inning upper hand. Dumont was already deep into the Fort Lee bullpen when it came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.
Tyler Quinn drew a leadoff walk to get the carousel spinning and the Huskies sent 10 hitters to the plate and scored five times to take a 9-8 lead with just three outs left to get. James Sutera (1-for-4, 2 R, HBP), Mendez (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI), Jarrett Carramusa (1-for-2, 2 R, BB, HBP), Luke Sobek (1-for-4, 3 RBI, R) and Ryan McKenna (1-for-3, 2 RBI, R) all had hits in the frame, McKenna’s being a double that knocked in the last two runs.
Alex Martin got the final five outs to pick up the win for Dumont on Senior Day.
“I knew it was a big at bat in a big spot. I went ahead 2-0 in the count and I knew I was probably going to get a fastball there,” said McKenna. “I sat fastball, saw it coming in on the hands a little bit and just took it [into leftfield].”
Then it was squeaky bum time for Dumont in the top of the seventh as one-out walk to Marcus Lee (1-for-3, 3 R, 2BB), the No. 9 hitter, was an ominous sign. Stephen Kim (3-for-5, 2 RBI, SB), who was all over the base paths and had a solid day at second base as half of the double play combination with his brother Chris, then singled for his third hit of the day.
In a split decision at third, Mendez made an error that loaded the bases, but then made a tough play and got the force on a hard ground ball hit by Chris Kim (3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) as Lee raced home to tie the game. A balk put two runners in scoring position, but Martin (1 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 H, K, BB, W), induced a ground ball to get Dumont in to hit in the bottom of the seventh with the game tied at 9.
Mendez ended the marathon with his walk-off double and a few hours later the Huskies had their named called for inclusion in the BIT where they will host Ridgefield in the first round on Saturday. Every team in the BIT is thinking the same thing…’Let’s make a run.’
“Whoever steps in front of us we are going to give it our best shot and we’ll see what happens,” said Algieri. “Whoever it is better knock us out early because, if not, we will just keep on coming.”
Fort Lee will not be included in The BIT field as they are heading for the Bergen County Tournament where, as the No. 16 seed, they will host No. 17 Bergenfield in the opening round on Saturday. Last year was the first time the Bridgemen ever qualified for the Bergen County Tournament and now they have done it in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history.
The loss on Wednesday could turn into more of just a minor speed bump as the Bridgeman, with other results included, now need just one win in the final two league games to clinch the outright title. They have one two-game series against Cliffside Park remaining on the league slate.
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