By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
X @GDsullysays
BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP — The bright sunshine and mild temperatures on Thursday afternoon in western Atlantic County made one of those relaxing, late spring days. The kind you long for in the cold, dreary days of winter.
Normally, high school baseball coaches are anything but relaxed this time of year, as their teams are fighting for sectional and state championships. But when you have a pitcher like St. Augustine Prep senior John Podgorski on the mound, there’s not much else to do but sit back, relax and watch the show.
Podgorski spun a masterpiece, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out 11 in a 3-1 win over Christian Brothers Academy, leading the second-seeded Hermits into the South Jersey Non-Public A championship game. They’ll take on top-seeded Red Bank Catholic — a 5-2 winner over No. 5 Immaculata — in Saturday’s title game at noon in Red Bank, Monmouth County.
CBA came into the game ranked No. 14 in the latest nj.com Top 20 state poll, but the Colts left with their season over, having been perplexed by Podgorski’s pinpoint control of his 90-plus-miles-per-hour fastball and hard slider.
“His fastball was his best pitch today, but he also had that secondary pitch, the slider, was dominating them. They couldn’t hit it,” said sophomore catcher D.J. Lloyd. “J.P. definitely seemed like he had a boost in velocity today. It was up there. Around the second inning when he was going three up, three down, I was like, ‘J.P. is on today.’ He makes my job 10 times easier.”
Podgorski’s performance set at ease the mind of first-year coach Mike Ney, who took over this year for legendary skipper Mike Bylone, who won more than 300 games in his tenure.
“There’s always stress, but that’s what we’ve been saying as a team, as a coaching staff — you want to be in these big spots. But when a kid goes out and does that, it’s almost just sit back and watch, to a certain extent,” Ney said. “Some guys made some big plays behind him, and our offense showed up today. They got hits when we needed to get hits. You’re not going to go out and get 15 hits and score 10 runs (in the sectional playoffs). Nobody is going to roll over. It’s always going to go to the last out. This is big-time baseball, and to have a kid like Podgorski — we’re blessed to have two horses (along with Matt Kouser) and you ride them out. I talked to J.P. last night and he said, ‘I’m going the distance. I’m going to get this thing done.’ And I had no doubt after talking to him. Some people say things, but he’s about it, and he’s always been about it. As a coach, that’s a luxury to have. He believes in what we’re doing and I think the guys believe. We believe in each other.”
“It’s a great win. Obviously, came out here and did what I was supposed to do, getting to do what we did (against CBA) last year, send them home,” Podgorski said. “I’ve always wanted to be the guy in that spot. All season, the fastball has been my go-to, but the slider was really on today and that helped keep hitters off-balance.”
So, what does it mean to “be the guy”?
“(Being the guy) is just having the mentality out there on the mound that nobody else is better than you and you’re the guy who’s going to get the job done,” Podgorski said.
Prep (18-9, 10-2 Cape-Atlantic American) was up against a formidable opponent as CBA, No. 14 in the state, came in with 19 wins and riding an eight-game winning streak that included two wins over Red Bank Catholic and a Monmouth County championship. Runs were hard to come by on both sides, as St. Augustine was only able to scrape across single runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings.
An RBI groundout by Alex Weingartner put the Hermits on top, 1-0, in the bottom of the first but CBA (19-6, 10-4 Shore Conference A North) answered in the top of the fourth, getting a run-scoring single from Jake Petro to tie things up, 1-1. The Hermits took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single to right by Ryan Williams, and tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth when Jake Meyers singled, stole second and came around to score on Weingartner’s double down the right-field line.
“We’re always in intense situations and everybody brings their best against us,” Ney said. “We try to bring our best every single game, too. Everyone is coming at you and I try to preach to these guys that you can’t take any pitch for granted. Whether it’s in practice or in a game, it’s every pitch, every ground ball, every at-bat.”
The Hermits are just 3-3 in their last six games, but all three losses have come against teams ranked in the top 10 in the state — Delsea, Mainland (in the Cape-Atlantic League championship) and Gloucester Catholic.
“It’s coach Ney’s first year and we really want to make our mark and be that team that everybody remembers,” Lloyd said. “That (CAL finals loss) hit us hard, but it gave us that underdog mentality right now. Everybody is counting us out. Earlier this season we were ranked high but we’ve fallen out of the rankings, so we have show everybody who we are.”
“They’ve come together, they’re starting to believe and they’re staying together, and that’s what we’ve been preaching all year long — stay together. They break the huddle saying, ‘family!’ It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to believe it, and I feel that this team gets it. I’m hoping we have 14 more solid innings of baseball. They are staying together, getting the job done and finding a way. I’m extremely proud of them and happy with the way they showed up today,” Ney said. “We know what the expectations are here. Yeah, we dropped a couple of games and maybe we shouldn’t have lost as many as we have, but at the end of the day you want to be your best right now. It’s looks like we’re mounting a little bit of a wave here, and I’m hoping we can ride that wave. I have no doubt this team is going to take the opportunity and run with it, and put our best foot forward on Saturday.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 2 St. Augustine Prep travels to No. 1 Red Bank Catholic at noon on Saturday for the Non-Public A South championship. CBA’s season is complete.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
