By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
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PISCATAWAY — Each team had to overcome some serious adversity before and during the Non-Public A state championship game at Rutgers University on Wednesday night.
St. Augustine Prep’s bus broke down a couple miles short of the stadium, and the Hermits had to rely on the generosity of their opponent, as Delbarton sent its own bus to go grab Hermits players so the game could be played. The Green Wave, in turn, had to deal with adversity in the form of facing St. Augustine Prep senior Alex Weingartner — the Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year who came into the game having allowed just five earned runs all year, while also hitting nearly .500 with seven home runs and a team-high 36 RBIs.
These teams have built one of the most intense playoff rivalries in the state in recent years, and Wednesday’s tilt did not disappoint. Delbarton came out on top, scoring three times in the top of the 10th inning to pull off a 4-1 victory — a win in which the Wave had just three hits, including zero after the third inning.
The top of the 10th went like this: Hit batsman; fielder’s choice on a bunt with both runners safe; another hit batsman; a walk Lorenzo Maselli that drove in the go-ahead run and gave Delbarton a 2-0 lead; two straight sacrifice flies and a stolen base before St. Augustine was able to end the inning.
On the other side, Delbarton reliever Kyle McBride, a University of Virginia commit, sliced through the Hermits’ fatigued lineup, fanning seven batters in just 2 2/3 innings of work. He allowed just one base runner — a single by Weingartner in the ninth, and struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th to record the win.
“We’re always ready for the unexpected. It was a scary situation, but the bus driver did a good job getting us to safety. We had to scramble a little bit to get some of the starters here as fast as we could, but it’s no excuse,” said St. Augustine Prep coach Mike Ney, who led the Hermits to a state title in his first season as skipper a couple years ago. “We battled our butts off. To go 10 (innings) against a team like that — we just missed a few opportunities. But that’s what these kinds of games come down to, taking advantage of opportunities.”
The Hermits (22-8, 12-0 Cape-Atlantic League American) had a golden opportunity for a walk-off win when they loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth with just one out, but McBride wiggled out of the jam by getting two straight strikeouts. Prep also had a chance in the third with runners at second and third and the score tied, 1-1, but Delbarton standout shortstop Sal Garcia snared a grounder up the middle off the bat of Hank Biglin and made a throw on the run to nip Biglin at first and end the threat.
“Pitching, defense and timely hitting (are the keys). We didn’t get the timely hits,” Ney said. “We out-hit them and we had the opportunities. We were a ball-four away from walking it off, or a single away from walking it off. But the guys on the mound competed, kept us in the game and gave us everything they had. Sometimes you have to tip your cap. (McBride) came in and dominated.”
Both teams had tremendous pitching, and each team used three pitchers. Delbarton (28-4, 11-0 NJAC American) got a combined 13 strikeouts and just three walks from starter Ted Masino and relievers Jon Fedun and McBride, while Weingartner, Brady Jackson and Jack Lerro combined for 12 strikeouts for Prep while allowing just four hits in a game that lasted nearly four hours.
“This is the toughest loss I’ve ever been a part of,” said Weingartner, who finished his senior season with a 0.87 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings. “You want to go out victorious but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. I’m super proud of myself, I felt like I gave it everything I had, and I have no regrets. That was my goal going into it. Being able to do that, and be content with what I did makes it a little bit easier, but it’s not easy.”
Delbarton struck first in the second inning on a squeeze bunt by Curt Friedrich, but St. Augustine answered in the third as Jackson reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, then third, then trotted home on a wild pitch. After that, it was nothing but zeroes across the board for six straight innings.
Despite the loss, Ney said his players had nothing to hang their heads about. They simply lost a great game to a great team.
“I love them. I’m very proud of them. They battled and left everything out there. No one quit. It was a helluva season. I’ve been doing this a long time as an assistant and head coach, and this is one of my favorite groups of seniors. (Saying goodbye to them) is going to be one of the toughest things, and I think it will hit me more (Thursday) morning,” he said. “You get into this time of year and no one wants to take a day off. Everyone just wants to be together. We kept preaching along the way, ‘just continue to win so we can keep spending time together.’ We thoroughly enjoyed it; having cookouts before every game, making breakfast on the weekends — we were family. It was a fun group of people to be around on a daily basis.”
