NJ baseball tournament: North Jersey first-round highlights
MONTVALE — St. Joseph didn’t enjoy the same arms-preserving first-round bye as rivals Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco.
Solution? Say hello to promising sophomores Brendan Lewis, Carter Grande and Neylin Navarro, who combined on a five-inning shutout in St. Joseph’s 11-0 victory over Hudson Catholic in Tuesday's first round of the North Non-Public A baseball sectional.
“Our sophomore class is a good class, and we like those guys, and we’ve got good arms in there,” Green Knights veteran coach Mark Cieslak said.
Fresh arms are priceless this time of year, with the Bergen County Tournament running concurrently with the NJSIAA tournament. St. Joseph will join Bergen Catholic, Don Bosco and defending champion Old Tappan in this weekend's county semifinals.
Lewis started and threw three innings, Grande threw the fourth, and Navarro closed it in the fifth. Along the way, the Green Knights provided plenty of support, with junior Luca Manganelli’s two-run double in the bottom of the fourth triggering the 10-run rule.
“Sophomores are really stepping up this year pitching-wise, and hitting-wise, too,” Lewis said after his second start and sixth appearance on the mound. “We just have a really good core group, good sophomores coming up, and just stepping up.”
If all goes well for St. Joseph, Tuesday could mark the first of four games over six days. The Green Knights will host No. 5 Pope John XXIII in Friday’s North Non-Public A quarterfinal, then face Don Bosco in Saturday’s Bergen semifinal. If St. Joseph wins Saturday, it would advance to Sunday’s county final for the third consecutive year.
“With the schedule this week, you’ve got to play Friday, then you’ve got another game on Saturday,” Cieslak said. “And if you happen to get past that, you’ve got another game on Sunday. So we were going to see if the sophomores could hold it down for us and we could get a couple of runs.”
The NJSIAA baseball tournament began Monday with the first round of public sectionals and continued Tuesday with non-public playoffs.
Here is a group-by-group look at which teams prevailed to reach the quarterfinals, with publics scheduled for Thursday and non-publics Friday.
North Non-Public A
Game of the Day: (6) DePaul def. (11) Oratory Prep, 3-2 — DePaul earned a Friday visit to No. 3 Delbarton despite managing just three hits against Oratory. Anthony Holtje allowed two earned runs over five innings and struck out eight for the win. Jude Clough had a hit, an RBI and scored a run for DePaul (17-7). The Spartans have not faced Delbarton with this current group.
Other quarterfinal matchups (Friday):
(9) St. Peter's Prep at (1) Bergen Catholic, time TBA — The Crusaders (22-4) scored a 6-2 win head-to-head on April 22, their second straight in the series.
(7) Seton Hall Prep at (2) Don Bosco, time TBA — This match-up was the 2022 North Non-Public A final, which the Ironmen won, 4-2, en route to the state title.
North Non-Public B
Game of the Day: (8) Hawthorne Christian/Eastern Christian def. (9) Timothy Christian, 10-0 — Brock Burres had two hits, including a homer, and five RBI as the Defenders struck for all their runs in the first three innings of a five-inning game. Eli Higby added two hits and three runs scored and teamed with Jacob Ramasamy on a four-hitter. HC/EC (12-9) plays Friday at top-seeded St. Mary, to which it lost in last year’s quarterfinals, 9-0.
North 1, Group 1
Game of the Day: (3) Emerson def. (14) Lenape Valley, 5-4 — Senior Joe Falotico (2 for 4) singled in the bottom of the seventh, made it to third with a pair of steals and scored the winning run on an overthrow at third base. That made a winner of senior reliever Thomas Maceira, who permitted two unearned runs in two innings of work.
Top performers:
► Chris Kleinot, Pompton Lakes' lone senior, singled to right to drive home Justin Bolt with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, as the No. 1 Cardinals avoided an upset, 3-2 over Kinnelon. Vinnie Stigliano threw an complete game, scored one run and drove in another.
► Joe Frei fired 5⅓ innings of scoreless ball, allowing three hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts, in No. 12 Hawthorne's 3-0 upset of No. 5 Butler. Dominic Passero (2 for 2, 2 runs) and Pablo Gonzalez (2 for 3, 2 RBI) did most of the damage for the Bears (12-11) offensively.
► Senior Anthony Marco hit his third home run of the season and is just four shy of 100 career hits following No. 7 Waldwick's 7-3 victory over Park Ridge. Pitcher Ryan Woolbert chipped in an RBI and five innings of one-run ball (with 6 K's), earning the win.
Quarterfinal matchups (Thursday):
(9) North Warren at (1) Pompton Lakes, Hershfield Park, 3 p.m. — This will be the teams' third playoff meeting in six years. The Cardinals won the most recent one, 3-2 in 2019.
(12) Hawthorne at (4) Mountain Lakes, 4:15 p.m. — They met in the same round last spring, with the Lakers rolling to a 12-0 victory.
(6) Hasbrouck Heights at (3) Emerson, 4 p.m. — Emerson got the upper hand, 10-0 on May 1, but the last postseason clash went the Aviators' way, 3-0 in 2018.
(7) Waldwick at (2) Pequannock, 4 p.m. — Both schools have strong baseball traditions, but their only postseason meetings have been on the gridiron (2014 and 2019).
North 1, Group 2
Game of the Day: (2) Pascack Valley def. (15) Indian Hills, 9-8 — The Panthers (17-10) used a six-run sixth inning to rally from a 6-3 deficit and held on to avert the upset. Junior righty Owen Shirey threw 2⅔ innings of relief for the win, while junior LF Evan Biener hit a 3-run homer and threw out the tying run at the plate to end the game.
Top performers:
► Sophomore RHP Nick Atme struck out six over four innings and added two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored with his bat as No. 1 Glen Rock (20-5) handled Saddle Brook/Bogota, 13-1, in five innings.
► LHP Will Kirk got Ramsey's title defense started with a two-hit, 12-strikeout complete game in the No. 5 Rams' 4-0 shutout of rival Mahwah. Luke Monico paced the offense with a double and two RBI.
► Rutgers commit Mickey Gilligan finished 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored as No. 4 Lakeland scored a run each in the sixth, seventh and eighth to ward off Parsippany Hills, 4-3.
► Jack Dugan, who starred for Westwood's sectional-championship football team, helped the No. 6 Cardinals on the diamond with a 2-for-3 day and scored a run in a 6-3 win over Dumont.
► Senior Sean Busanic fired six innings of one-hit ball as No. 3 Pascack Hills blanked Newton, 7-0.
Quarterfinal matchups (Thursday):
(9) Vernon at (1) Glen Rock, 4 p.m. — This will be the teams' first meeting since at least 2010.
(5) Ramsey at (4) Lakeland, 4:15 p.m. — A rematch of the teams' 2021 playoff opener, in which the Rams walked off with a 5-4 win.
(6) Westwood at (3) Pascack Hills, 4 p.m. — The schools split their Big North Patriot series to share the division title.
(7) High Point at (2) Pascack Valley, 4:15 p.m. — A rare postseason meeting of teams that have moved down from Group 3 in the past decade.
North 1, Group 3
Game of the Day: (5) Paramus def. (12) Sparta, 5-4 — Vincent Cianni went 3 for 3 and drove in a run as the Spartans scored in the bottom of the ninth to win it. Nicholas Rozon had a hit, an RBI and scored a run, and Luke DeNicolo had two hits and scored a run. Chris Matesic threw 3⅔ innings of scoreless relief, with seven strikeouts, for the win.
Top performers:
► Charlie Wingfield pitched and hit defending champion Ramapo (15-11) to a 3-1 victory over No. 13 Wayne Hills. Wingfield allowed four hits, no walks and struck out six in 6⅓ innings, and he drove in two runs for the No. 4 Raiders.
► Rocco Pierorazio had two hits, two RBI and a run scored for No. 2 Old Tappan (17-7), while Anthony Onnembo added two hits and an RBI in a 7-4 win over Tenafly.
► Jael Martinez was 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI to help No. 8 Bergenfield (16-8-1) rally for four runs in the sixth and defeat No. 9 Wayne Valley, 7-6. DJ Lugo added two RBI for the Bears.
Quarterfinal matchups (Thursday):
(8) Bergenfield at (1) Morris Knolls, 4 p.m. — A true tiebreaker after the teams played to a 6-6 deadlock in April.
(10) Roxbury at (2) Old Tappan, TBA — In their 2018 playoff meeting in Roxbury, the Gaels posted a six-inning, 12-2 win.
(5) Paramus at (4) Ramapo, 4:15 p.m. — The Spartans swept the teams' Big North Freedom home-and-home series.
(6) Mount Olive at (3) Montville, 2 p.m. — Mount Olive held off a game Teaneck (13-12) team in the first round, 3-2, despite being out-hit, 8-4.
North 1, Group 4
Game of the Day: (6) Union City def. (11) Passaic, 4-3 — The underdog Indians (10-12) had the higher seed on the ropes. They took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth thanks to RBI from Andy Rodriguez, Wilbert Polanco and Alexander Hernandez (2 runs, 3 SB) and the pitching of Elder Maldonado (6⅓ IP, 3 ER, 7 K). The Soaring Eagles then tied it at 3-3 before walking it off in the seventh.
Top performers:
► Eduardo Alcantara powered No. 12 Eastside to the upset of the first round, collecting four hits and four runs batted in during an 11-2 upset of No. 5 Hackensack. The Comets (14-13) nonetheless completed their first winning season in 13 years.
► Josue Cueto allowed three hits over six innings, with two walks and five strikeouts, and Mirquis Erazo threw a scoreless seventh as No. 1 Passaic Tech (22-3) stretched its winning streak to eight games, 7-0 over North Bergen. Quentin O’Campo had a double, two RBI and scored a run for the Bulldogs.
► Vincent Luther tossed a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts as No. 4 Ridgewood (19-7) needed six innings to blank Morristown, 10-0. Brendan Chanley homered and Jay Wittmaack had a double and three RBIs for the Maroons, who stretched their winning streak to five and have won 10-of-11.
► The pitching trio of George Xanthos (4 IP), Anthony DiGrande (6⅓ IP) and Tim Porfido (⅔ IP) combined to strike out 18 in 11 innings, but No. 7 Bergen Tech was unable to get on the board before visiting West Orange, which emerged with a 4-0 win. The Knights finished 18-10.
Quarterfinal matchups (Thursday):
(8) Montclair at (1) Passaic Tech, 4 p.m. — The Mounties, an 8-0 first-round winner over Fair Lawn, have won three playoff meetings with PCT in the past 10 years.
(12) Eastside at (5) Ridgewood, Veterans Field, 4 p.m. — The one-time NNJIL rivals will square off for the first time since 2016.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ baseball tournament: North Jersey first-round highlights
