By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
PITMAN — Cherokee senior lefty Henry Radbill had an opportunity most high school pitchers never get — taking on the No. 1 team in the state with a chance to put his team into the semifinals of the prestigious Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic.
He took full advantage of that opportunity.
Radbill was outstanding on Saturday as he and his Chiefs took down Gloucester Catholic, 4-1, in the tournament semis at Alcyon Park. Cherokee’s dream of winning the title came to an end a few hours later, however, as upstart Haddonfield — the No. 24 seed in the tournament — beat the Chiefs, 5-2, to advance to Tuesday’s championship game against No. 15 seed Mainland Regional, a 3-2 upset winner over No. 6 Delsea Regional.
It was nearly a disastrous start for Radbill, the No. 8-ranked pitcher in New Jersey according to Perfect Game, and a Rutgers University recruit. Top-seeded Gloucester Catholic, a defending state champion and No. 1 in the latest nj.com statewide Top 20 rankings, loaded the bases in the first inning.
But Radbill worked out of that jam and cruised from there, allowing just and RBI double by Gavin Franchetti in the bottom of the second inning. But by that time, the Chiefs had already built a 3-0 lead, scoring three times in the top of the second off Coastal Carolina University commit Jackson Smallets.
The victory by the second-seeded Chiefs was their 20th straight to start the season, a school record for consecutive victories.
“They love each other, they love playing baseball, they come to work every day and don’t turn on each other. They compete offensively, they compete when they are on the mound. We have a long way to go (this season) but they are having a lot of fun,” said Cherokee coach Marc Petragnani. “(Radbill) was at 57 pitches after two innings and I was like, ‘oh, my God, we’re only going to get four innings out of him.’ So we were trying to figure out how we were going to go in innings five, six and seven. But then he settled in. He found his two-seam (fastball) and it ran for a good part of the day, he found his slider a little bit later and was able to handle a really good lineup.”
Radbill did give up seven hits, but six of them were singles, and he made it through six innings, striking out nine while walking just one. Cooper Burti came on in the seventh and slammed the door with a scoreless inning.
“The first inning was obviously rough with the bases loaded, but I just kept pumping. If they hit it, they hit it. I know I have a great defense behind me. Later in the game, I found it more. The slider wasn’t working one inning, found it the very next inning. It was a dogfight, for all of us,” Radbill said. “I found my slider in the middle of the game. I was hanging it a little bit, that’s why they got a couple of hits off me, but once I found the outside corner against righties, they weren’t even trying to swing at that. I just kept working that, and my defense behind me had my back the whole game.”
Radbill’s fastball was consistently in the high 80s, and even touched 91 miles-per-hour, according to Perfect Game Mid-Atlantic’s X feed. He mixed in a change-up and a pretty nasty slider to shut down one of the best offenses in the state.
“This game was circled since the bracket came out, I think by both teams,” Petragnani said. “We made it through and found a way to get through the two weeks (until this game). Our guys were hyped.”
“He’s awesome,” Cherokee senior catcher Mason Kelleher said of Radbill. “Everything moves so much, sometimes you don’t know where it’s going. I knew later in the game, when he found it and after getting out of that bases-loaded situation, he was hyped up. I knew after that first inning, he was going to be dialed in and everything was going to work out. He really found his slider later in the game. When he’s working off that fastball, then can go change-up and slider, that’s a really good combo.”
For Radbill, the win was some payback, as the Rams dished him his only loss a few years ago.
“I wanted this game so bad. I pitched against them sophomore year and that’s the only loss I have in my high school career,” he said. “I wanted it so bad today.”
Cherokee may have fallen short in this tournament, but it’s the one coming up the Chiefs are most focused on — the South Jersey Group 4 tournament. They have six regular-season games remaining before the state playoff start in late May. The 20-game winning streak was great, but now it’s time to refocus.
“We knew our pitching was going to be solid this year. Our offense has been better than advertised — to me, it’s been expected, but better than advertised for the public. So, if our pitching ever slips our offense has been able to pick us up,” Petragnani said. “We just want to keep competing, keep having fun, stay loose and be Chiefs. That’s it. For us it’s just, ‘who’s next?’ And be ready for that.
“I knew our team had this in us. We’ve had some tough games, we were down in some games, like against Shawnee. This game (against Gloucester Catholic) was a big battle, but our guys keep pulling through. Our pitching staff is one of the best in the state — maybe THE best in the state. Our pitching has really been the key to keeping us in low-scoring games,” Kelleher said. “We had that hump against Moorestown (a 13-5 win on May 8). We were down 4-1 going into the sixth inning and we were tight, but we found something and put up 10 runs in that inning, and that just shows what we can do. It’s been a blast. Last year, we came up short, but this season has been great so far. We just have to stay together as a team.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Cherokee travels to defending Group 4 state champion Bridgewater-Raritan on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Gloucester Catholic hosts GCIT on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
