Don Bosco Prep celebrated its second Bergen County title in the last three years after a 5-1 win over Pascack Valley on Saturday in Demarest.
DEMAREST – Standing on the fringes of the celebration taking place down the right field line at Northern Valley/Demarest High School on Saturday afternoon, Don Bosco Prep senior Anthony Costello got a chance to put into words what it meant to be holding the Ennis Award, the trophy given out annually to the Most Valuable Pitcher in the Bergen County Baseball Tournament.
“This really means a lot to me because last year I was out with Tommy John surgery. This whole time coming back taught me how to deal with adversity and this whole season has been very personal to me,” said Costello,” who will pitch next year at Charleston Southern University. “To be able to come back for my guys, to with the county [championship] and win this trophy is probably one of the best things that has happened in my life.”
And Costello (5 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 6 K, 2 BB, W, 98 pitches) earned it. Settling in after a high-volume first inning in which he went to a full count on three of the first four hitters he faced and walking one, the senior left-hander was dominant for the rest of the five innings that he was out there. He allowed just two hits and an unearned run to pick up the win for top-seeded Don Bosco Prep, which won its second Bergen County title in the last three years with a 5-1 victory over No. 2 Pascack Valley.
Bosco is now 21-2 on the season and has not lost a game to a Bergen County public school in over three years, a 1-0 setback against Ramapo in the 2022 county tournament quarterfinals. Drought might be too strong a word, but, after winning back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, the Ironmen went seven years without another one before taking the 2023 crown. They are clearly trending upward again.
Nick Donofrio had one of Pascack Valley's two hits.
“Every player regards this [tournament] regards this as something special and unique. We have players that are 10 years removed that didn’t win a county championship who will still tell me that their biggest regret is not winning a county championship and one of them (Caden Dana) made a major league debut,” said Bosco skipper Mike Rooney. “It means something to our program, no doubt about it. It means something to the players.”
Pascack Valley was going to have to play clean, nearly perfect to have a shot at the upset and had a slight chance to apply early pressure in the top of the first inning when Joe Tammaro led off the game with a walk. A popped-up bunt and two full counts that ended in a flyball and a strikeout ended the promising start. The bright side was that Costello threw 24 pitches.
That advantage was also erased when Bosco forced PV starter JT DeRiso to throw 37 pitches as it went ahead for good in the bottom of the frame.
Although Pascack Valley was not charged with an error, there were a couple of plays that could have turned out in its favor but didn’t. Michael Hanna beat out a one-out infield single helped by a late cover at first base, Nick Becker drew a walk and the bases then got loaded on a fielder’s choice on a decision to try to cut down a lead runner instead of taking a sure out.
Dylan Henshaw retired all six hitters he faced to pick up the save for Don Bosco Prep, which is now 21-2 on the season.
An RBI single by Mason Daly and a walk to Nick Gilpin with the bases still loaded gave Bosco a 2-0 lead, and it was 3-0 after Chase Begley’s RBI single in the second, too big of a hole for the Panthers to climb out of after Costello found his groove. He gave up a two-out walk in the second and worked a 1-2-3 third before Nick Donofrio got PV’s first hit, a leadoff single in the top of the fourth. Aided by a couple of errors, Pascack Valley got their lone run of the game.
Pascack Valley starter JT DeRiso, who had been lights out in the tournament heading into the final, battled his way into the fifth inning. He did not give up an extra base hit in his 4 2/3 innings of work, but it was death by 1,000 cuts as Bosco put the ball in play and kept the pressure on the PV defense. DeRiso (4 2/3 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 10 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 107 pitches) left after Dennis Mulhearn’s two-out RBI single.
Costello exited after working around PV’s only other hit, Joe Tammaro’s two-out single in the fifth and Dylan Henshaw was an able replacement. He retired all six hitters that he faced for the save that set up the water bottle shower and dog pile near the pitcher’s mound.
“It is such a collaborative effort. It’s not just coaches; it’s parents, it’s coaches’ wives, it’s a lot and we have a great administration that supports us every time that we need it,” said Rooney, who has now won five Bergen County titles in his 13 seasons as Bosco's head coach. “It’s a really great feeling to have all of the work culminate in a county championship.”
Pascack Valley fell one win short of that goal, but the Panthers are the de facto public school county champion and will now turn its attention to trying to repeat as state sectional champs. They are the No. 1 seed in the North 1, Group 2 bracket and will host River Dell in the opening round on Tuesday. Bosco is the No. 1 seed in Non-Public North A and will host the winner of the 8/9 game between Oratory Prep and Paramus Catholic in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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