By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
FRANKLINVILLE — Prior to the start of the season, it was hard to picture what the Delsea Regional High baseball team would look like this year.
After capturing the South Jersey Group 3 title and reaching the state final, the Crusaders graduated several major varsity contributors from last spring. Delsea also lost highly respected head coach Joe Smith, who is now coaching at Mainland.
All things considered, it was understandable if expectations for the club weren’t too high entering the season.
However, first-year head coach Vincent Londino knew his squad was special before the first pitch of the season was even thrown, he said
“I’ve seen them every day at practice. I know what I had. I knew from the start, we had a special team here, and I knew that once they figured it out, we were going to be all right,” said Londino, who previously served as an assistant coach at Gloucester Catholic and Delsea for five seasons each. “I’m a first-year (head) coach, but I’m not a rookie. I’ve been around a while. I was a five-year assistant at Gloucester Catholic and won a couple of state titles with those guys, then came and spent five years with Joe (Smith).
“I have 10 years of being an assistant under my belt, so I don’t think they expected any drop off, and I think that’s why I got this job. They knew that on Day One, I’d be ready to take this thing over, and we’re going to make another run at this thing.”
Perhaps another run at a sectional title started on Tuesday afternoon as third-seeded Delsea upended No. 14 Highland, 3-1, in the opening round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 playoffs. Delsea advances to Thursday’s quarterfinal round, where the Crusaders will face No. 6 Shawnee, a 6-4 winner over No. 11 Moorestown in the opening round.
Nick Mokienko scattered four hits and recorded nine strikeouts across six-plus innings of work in the victory. Gavin Deegan relieved him and finished the job in the seventh.
“It was a great team win. Everyone came up clutch when they needed to,” Mokienko said. “We struggled in the first half, came up clutch in the fourth inning with a couple big hits and good reads. Came out, pitched, dominated. That’s how you win games.”
The Tartans (12-10) gave Delsea all it could handle, keeping the game competitive throughout despite being a huge underdog. Delsea scored its three runs in the third inning courtesy of key RBIs from Milo Gebhard and Austin Buchanan — who spent much of the year on the injured list with a hand injury. Highland scored its lone run in the fourth on Nick Clendening’s RBI single.
Mokienko’s performance on the mound was big for Delsea as it allowed the Crusaders to fully rest Coastal Carolina University commit Frank Cairone for the second round.
“Typically, we try to pull Nick after like 85, 90 pitches, but he asked for the baseball for that seventh inning and wanted to go back out again,” Londino said. “And I had the confidence to let him do it. I have all the confidence in the world in that kid. I mean, we didn’t let Frank throw today because that’s how much I trusted Nick, that I let Frank sit.”
The gamble helped Delsea improve to 21-4, and Londino echoed the mantra most coaches use come tournament time:
“New season, postseason. We’re 1-0, got the job done,” Londino said. “Nick threw an excellent game. Gavin did a great job closing the door at the end. We got some clutch hits there in the middle.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 3 Delsea hosts No. 6 Shawnee on Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the South Jersey Group 3 tournament, time TBD. Highland travels to Pinelands on Wednesday at 4 p.m. for a regular-season game.
