By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
X @GDsullysays
HAMILTON — Sam Winsett, Eastern Regional High’s star senior shortstop, did just about everything a player could do to win a state championship baseball game. He was on base in two of his three at-bats. He cranked a grand slam that got his team back in the game after the Vikings dug themselves an early 5-0 hole. He threw out a runner at the plate on a relay from the outfield to keep Eastern within striking distance heading into the seventh inning.
He left Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans Park with his 100th career hit, a filthy uniform, the respect of his coaches, teammates and opposition. He left an impression on the hundreds of fans in attendance that he’s one of the best players in South Jersey and an all-state candidate.
The only thing he didn’t leave with was the NJSIAA Group 4 state championship trophy.
Bridgewater-Raritan built an early 5-0 lead, extended it to 6-4 with a run in the bottom of the fifth, and held on to win by that score thanks in large part to a brilliant relief appearance by Cory Rible, who fanned seven batters in the last three innings, including striking out the side in the top of the sixth and ending the game with a strikeout in the seventh.
“I’m very proud of them. This team battled throughout the season. We had a lot of adversity off the field. We showed a tremendous amount of resiliency throughout the year, we gelled as a team on the field and off the field,” said Eastern coach Rob Christ. “We really felt like we could win today, and that’s very disappointing. We gave a lot away today, but how can you not be proud of this team?”
Eastern, normally a solid defensive team, made five errors which lead to four unearned runs, making things difficult on starting pitcher Logan Dawson. But Dawson stayed tough throughout and battled through, keeping his team in the game with a lively fastball and some good off-speed pitches. He struck out five and walked two. He also helped himself at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
“When you have your defense struggling behind you, you feel like every pitch has to be perfect, and that’s when you get into trouble. He continued to fight and he gave us every opportunity to win the game,” Christ said. “I don’t know that he had his best stuff — it’s hard to gauge, you also have to tip your hat to the other team, that’s probably the best hitting team we faced this year. But Logan persevered through some adversity and deserves a lot of credit.”
The Panthers scored a run in the bottom of the first then tacked on four more in the second to extend their lead to 5-0. It looked as though things might get out of hand when Matthew Fattore ripped a two-run single with the bases loaded to make it 5-0, but Dawson wiggled out the jam with a flyout.
In the top of the third, a single, a walk and a perfect push bunt down the third-base line by Ryder Haldeman loaded the bases for Winsett. Upset by a couple of inside fastballs that were called strikes, the Vikings’ shortstop took out his frustration on the next pitch, drilling a shot off the light pole in left-center fielder for a grand slam that sliced Bridgewater-Raritan’s lead to 5-4.
“(My teammates) put me in that spot. I just put my bat on the ball. That’s one of the harder balls I’ve hit (this season) but I’m just running as hard as I can, trying to get on (second base),” Winsett said. “My coach slapped the skin off my hand at first base and that’s when I knew the ball was over the fence. That definitely turned it around, but it wasn’t going to matter what the score was, those guys in our dugout are just going to fight, no matter what. Yeah, it helped us out, but our guys are a scrappy team and we were going to fight until the last pitch.”
The blast was the 100th hit of Winsett’s outstanding career. He said he knew he was sitting on 99 coming into the game.
“I had a couple of 0-fer games. I wasn’t pressing, I knew I had one more game,” he said. “If we won it wouldn’t have mattered if I got to 100 or not. But obviously that’s a great way to get my 100th hit.”
Despite the loss, Winsett said it was easy for he and his teammates to hold their heads high. They went 25-7 this season and defied the odds, winning the South Jersey Group 4 championship as a No. 5 seed.
“I’m just really proud of our team. If you look at the playoffs, we got picked (by members of the media) to lose in almost every game. They don’t think we’re anything. We know that when we go to practice, and we use that as fuel to practice hard. Eastern baseball earns everything that we have,” Winsett said. “It’s been awesome (playing at Eastern). They win and it’s a bunch of guys who, every day, come to practice and do anything they can to help the team. We have guys who haven’t played all year and they are in the dugout encouraging everybody. You don’t get that at every program. It’s been a blessing to play for Eastern baseball.”
The Vikings have a lot to look forward to, as the majority of the starting lineup is underclassmen.
“(Rich) Iuliucci, (Vinny) Mellillo and (Anthony) Cataldo were all freshmen starting when we won South Jersey Group 4 last year. This year, I had to start two freshmen in the field as well. I had (Jake) Tulman, my third baseman, and (Matt) Gryskiewicz, my left fielder — six of the 10 guys in the lineup were sophomores or freshmen,” Christ said. “We’re not a very deep program, unfortunately, in terms of the numbers. I only have 35 guys coming out — we’re almost like a Group 1 or Group 2 in terms of our numbers — so we have to figure out a way to win with whoever we have and develop them, and we have to learn quickly. I give a tremendous amount of credit to all six of those kids because they were instrumental in our success. We wouldn’t have been here without them, so there’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic.”
Still, there will be a glaring hole at the shortstop position at the start of the 2025 season with Winsett gone.
“Listen, Sam — I’ve been very fortunate to coach a lot of great kids, and he’s one of the best captains I’ve ever had. That’s not even taking into account how he is as a baseball player. He’s a character kid who is truly a leader. The kids really rally behind him. Great players step up in big spots, and after (that grand slam) I think we collectively thought we were going to come back and win the game,” Christ said. “One of the things we try to preach around here is that we don’t make excuses. The only mantra that we have is we try to get better every day and be a little bit tougher every day. Sam embodies all those things. He’s been a pleasure to coach for four years, and this year he played out of his mind. I hope he’s an all-state selection, he deserves to be. He’s a phenomenal talent. We preach character all the time, and Sam is character in spades. He’s just a fantastic kid.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
