By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
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RICHLAND — Mason Kurelko, an outfielder at St. Augustine Prep, didn’t have a single varsity hit to his credit entering this, his senior season. His career stat line read like this: 0-for-3 with one run scored.
That’s it.
But after Saturday afternoon’s thrilling 7-5 win over Bishop Eustace in eight innings, Kurelko now has a memory that will last a lifetime.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth in a matchup of two of South Jersey’s best programs — both of which are currently ranked in the top 20 in the state — and the winning run at second base, Kurelko turned around a fastball and drilled it high and deep over the left-field fence. The walk-off blast capped a comeback that seemed highly unlikely after the Hermits surrendered four runs in the top of the first inning.
“It’s an unreal feeling, I’m going to be honest,” a breathless Kurelko said after nearly sprinting around the bases. “It’s not even just about me, it’s about my whole team; it was a team effort. We didn’t back down, like our coaches were just talking about (in the post-game huddle). It means a lot, for the whole team. I didn’t just do it for myself. It’s bigger than me.”
“I think he’s definitely proved himself. I’m super proud of him because he’s been through a lot, a lot of ups and downs, and he just came out on top in that situation. It shows how much work he’s put in,” said fellow senior and star center fielder Alex Weingartner. “I think it was a team win. We didn’t get too high, didn’t get too low. We did a really good job of that, and that’s something we learned coming off of last year — just staying really even the entirety of the game. It’s seven innings of baseball and there is no time limit, so you have to play all seven.”
“It always seems to be one or two a year — guys who just, they don’t wait their turn, they are pushing as much as they can, there just might be a guy in front of them,” Hermits coach Mike Ney explained. “But something we preach from Day One when they walk in the door is you never know when you’re time is going to come. I have a freshman playing second base right now, a freshman playing right field, and we have older guys who didn’t have much experience coming into the season but they are taking advantage of the opportunities, they are confident and buying in. We don’t know what are lineup is — we lost our shortstop the first game of the season, so we’re figuring things out as a club. Guys have to step up, and right now they are.”
Dante Bell’s leadoff walk to start the game ignited a 4-run first-inning rally despite Prep right-hander John Eddis hitting 95 miles-per-hour on the radar gun and consistently sitting in the low 90s. That didn’t seem to faze the Crusaders, as Franco Iannone laced a two-run single up the middle and Max Sullivan added an RBI single to center to push Bishop Eustace’s lead to 3-0. The Crusaders got another run-scoring single from Gabe Yates before the Hermits could stop the bleeding.
But St. Augustine Prep (5-0, 4-0 Cape-Atlantic League American) chipped away at Eustace starter Daniel Passalacqua, who struck out five and allowed three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. The Hermits got an RBI groundout from freshman Brody Taylor in the bottom of the first and struck for two more in the second on back-to-back RBI doubles by Ethan Suppi and Eddis.
“(Passalacqua) definitely was a good arm. He came out and did his job. We were able to chip away at him. They got a heck of a game from him — five innings and only a couple of hits, so hat’s off to him. But we just stayed in it the whole game. This was a team win. It was a really gritty win, and that’s been our word — grit. It’s just staying in games and not backing down,” Weingartner, a Penn State commit who went 1-for-4 with a double, said. “It was really good to see all the younger guys exposed to this because these are the types of moments we’re going to face later on in the playoffs. It was awesome to win in walk-off style.”
Eustace (3-1, 1-0 Olympic National) was one out away from ending the game in the bottom of the seventh before Adam Williams stroked an RBI single to right, tying the game at 4-4. The Crusaders move ahead, 5-4, in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by J.J. McLaughlin, but Prep got a walk to Suppi to start the bottom of the eighth and Austin Gilson drove him home with a double down the left-field line, tying the game at 5 and setting up the dramatic finish.
Guys like Kurelko, Williams, Suppi and Gilson all came into this season with less than 30 career at-bats, showing the Hermits’ youth relative to past years. But these are players who have seen what the expectations are and have eagerly been waiting their turn to prove themselves, Ney said. Those four players combined for seven hits, three runs and four RBIs against the Crusaders.
“It speaks to them, first and foremost, wanting to compete. That is typically set in practice. From the time they walk in the door and they are on the (JV) field, they know that in order to make it, to be one of these 20 guys on the varsity, playing on this field, they are not going to get anything given to them. It is a world where a lot of guys transfer and walk away, but I think they believe in what we’ve got. They trust us, we trust them, and we’re open and honest about how everything is. The guys who stick around and wait their turn, and continue to get better and don’t pout but keep continuing to improve and keep stacking good days — it seems to be over the past couple of years that’s something that’s working for us,” Ney said. “It feels good to get battle tested. We saw some good, quality arms today. They are a good team and they are very well coached, and that’s why we schedule these games. We’re about to hit the thick of (the schedule) and we have to see what we’ve got. We want to be our best by June 10 and that’s why we play these games. It’s about to get going for real right now and we’re excited for the challenge.”
WHAT’S NEXT: St. Augustine Prep hosts Egg Harbor Township on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Bishop Eustace travels to Cherry Hill West on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m.
