By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
X @tortreports
HADDON HEIGHTS — When Eric Newell took over the Haddon Heights baseball program in 2014, the Garnets had a lone South Jersey championship to their name. That came in 1978 — 36 long years prior.
Fast forward a decade.
Now in his 10th season at the helm, Newell has earned a chance to capture his third sectional title as the Garnets scored a 4-3 walk-off victory over rival Collingswood in eight innings in the South Jersey Group 2 semifinals on Friday.
“It’s awesome,” Newell said. “They’re a great team over there. Bats, pitching, defense; they do a great job. Brad Kline is a great coach and it felt like one of those games where the home team was going to end up getting it. Our guys did a great job. We kept battling and played our game.”
During the 2015 season, his second campaign, the Garnets won South Jersey Group 1 with a 4-2 win over Wildwood. They made an appearance in the state final in 2022, losing 5-2 to Ramsey, though they were victorious in the South Jersey final, beating Cedar Creek.
They fell short in the final round to Seneca, 5-0, last year, but Friday’s win secured the anticipated “revenge game” against the Golden Eagles.
“Seneca’s a really good team, but our guys are resilient and I’m sure they can battle,” said Newell. “They work for it. I don’t think of it as revenge necessarily. For me, it’s an opportunity to try to win a championship for the school. That’s what it’s all about.”
Players using revenge as motivation, though, include a dynamic senior trio — Drew Harris, Austin Bowker, and Greg Rutolo. Each played a major role in Friday’s victory to send them back into the final.
Harris was sensational for the Garnets, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and scored the game-winning run. He doubled in the bottom of the eighth on a line drive to center field.
“In my last at-bat, I was trying to get on base anyway I could,” Harris said. “He gave me a fastball and I put a good swing on it. This is our shot. We lost last year, and it’s been on our minds all year. We’re back in that game.”
Said Newell of Harris: “Drew is a stud, simply put. He’s able to step up in those big spots and get it done. He’s played four years for us now and started every game he’s been here. He’s phenomenal.”
Rutolo’s walk-off single to center field came after Collingswood intentionally walked Drew Costello to load the bases with one out. Rutolo didn’t see many at-bats last year as a junior, but he capitalized with far more opportunities this season. The final hit was just the icing on the cake.
“I saw they walked Cos, and I just knew with bases loaded, one out, I had to do it,” Rutolo said. “First pitch comes in, a little high, foul ball. I’m like ‘next pitch, if it’s in the zone I’m swinging.’ I just took a hack at it and it happened to go over, and winning the game was great. This was a team we lost to last year in the sectional, and we’re not going to do that this year. We’re coming in different this year. It’s a different team, a special team.”
Bowker relieved Costello, trailing 3-1 in the fifth inning. Collingswood didn’t score again. He struck out six batters, allowing two hits in four innings of action.
“Words can’t explain it, really,” Bowker said. “What I’ve been able to do for this team is beyond what I thought I’d ever be able to do. On the mound, I was really comfortable, really calm. I handle pressure well, so I think that was a factor.”
Costello was pulled a little earlier than Bowker expected, but he said staying confident and calm is the key knowing he had to come in earlier than usual. “I didn’t expect it that early,” Bowker explained. “I was thinking more like bottom six I would come in and finish the final two.”
Haddon Heights (21-6, 10-0 Colonial Liberty) will travel to Seneca (17-10, 4-4 Olympic Patriot) on Monday for the sectional championship, time TBD.
“You know, it’s like climbing a mountain,” Newell added. “One step at a time.”
No one knows what it’s like to climb the South Jersey baseball mountain better than Newell. He’s experienced every part of the journey of the past 10 years. In that time frame: two sectional championships, a state final appearance and a loss in the sectional title game.
He’s hoping to get back on top of the mountain on Monday.
Collingswood (16-10, 4-2 Colonial Patriot) enjoyed one of the program’s best seasons in recent memory.
“When I started, I wanted this to be a program that wasn’t a bottle rocket,” coach Brad Kline said. “Not one year — we want to compete every year. We strung a couple of good seasons in a row together, and this was great. We believe we belong here. We believe we play the kind of baseball that should put us in these kinds of games.
“I’m really proud of my guys and the way they battled today. We left a couple big moments out there, but all year long these guys have battled and done the things they needed to do to grow and to become a program that I believe can compete with anyone in South Jersey.”
