Staff Report
The Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic — South Jersey’s de-facto championship — is a tournament in which every player would love to make a name for himself.
Mission accomplished for Bishop Eustace senior Dan Passalacqua. The University of Delaware commit was brilliant on Saturday afternoon, tossing a 4-hit shutout over a Cherry Hill West team that started the season 14-0 and came into the Diamond Classic quarterfinals with 19 wins. The Crusaders were able to scratch across a run on Colin Boyle’s RBI single in the top of the fifth, and that was all Passalacqua needed.
Bishop Eustace 1, Cherry Hill West 0 in the lowest scoring game of the tournament. The only other game in a bracket that now features 32 teams that had less than four combined runs was Mainland’s 2-1 win over Moorestown in the opening round.
Unfortunately, the Crusaders were not able to advance to the title game, as they lost to top-seeded Gloucester Catholic later in the afternoon in the semifinals, 8-0. The Rams will take on No. 6 Clearview in Tuesday’s championship game, set for 6:30 p.m. at Alcyon Park in Pitman.
But, the ultimate goal for every high school baseball team is winning a state championship, and Eustace’s legendary coach, Sam Tropiano, said that if Passalacqua can make three starts in the state playoffs, the Crusaders will have a fighting chance to bring home a title.
“The way the playoffs line up, he has a shot to get the ball three times, and we’re counting on him getting it three times,” said Tropiano, who recently won his 800th game in his storied coaching career. “He’s a bulldog. He got after it. He told the team, ‘just get me one run.’ He predicted this, it’s hard to believe. When you trot him out, you have a shot to win the game that day. It’s great to have a guy like Dan.”
“I told the guys all week that I was going to throw a complete game and that I just needed one run, and that’s what it was,” said Passalacqua, who owns a 1.09 ERA in 45 innings this season. “I threw a lot of off-speed stuff to start them off. Instead of being a thrower, I really had to pitch. I had to use all three of my pitches, that’s really what got me through.
“I had them. I told (my teammates) I just needed one run, that’s all I needed,” he continued. “I told them I had them every inning. We weren’t able to score a lot of runs, but they put one on the board and that’s all I needed.”
Cherry Hill West’s best chance to score came in the bottom of the fifth as Jason Audino singled with one out and James Miller followed with a double to right-center. But Passalacqua stranded both runners by striking out the next two hitters. He threw 90 pitches and said he was feeling it toward the end, but the Lions couldn’t mount any type of rally in the final two frames.
“I got a little bit rundown toward the end and I couldn’t get my off-speed stuff to work as well as I wanted it to, so I had to just locate better and rely on my fielders,” Passalacqua said. “My strikeouts went down (in the later innings) but my fielders made all the plays. I know I have a great infield and outfield behind me, so I’m not scared to let them hit it.”
Passalacqua had to be nearly perfect, because on the other side Isayiah Pierce-Gonzalez — affectionately known as “IPG” by his teammates — was just as good. He threw one of the best games of his career, scattering seven hits and striking out seven while walking just one batter in 6 2/3 innings. He now owns a 2.15 ERA this season and is 4-2 with 56 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.
QUARTERFINALS/SEMIFINALS ROUNDUP:
The bracket was all chalk as the top eight seeds advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals, which were split up between Alcyon Park and St. Augustine Prep. Glocester Catholic slipped past No. 8 Kingsway, 6-4, and second-seeded Northern Burlington scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to knock off No. 7 Eastern Regional in a wild 9-7 game. Jordan Espino went 4-for-4 for Eastern while Liam Velit went 3-for-4 with a double and four runs scored for Northern Burlington.
In the other quarterfinal, No. 6 Clearview beat host and third-seeded St. Augustine, 11-4, then the Pioneers upset Northern Burlington, 15-7, in the semifinals to earn a date with Gloucester Catholic, which shut out Eustace 8-0 in the other semifinal. Clearview has been on fire lately, winning seven straight games while scoring 43 runs in its four Diamond Classic wins.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
No. 1 Gloucester Catholic vs. No. 6 Clearview Regional, 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Alcyon Park in Pitman.
