Overlooked no more, Vineland baseball beats Buena for CAL Tournament title
BUENA – Kyle Jones stood in front of the Vineland High School baseball team, seemingly ready to accept the water bucket shower head coaches customarily receive following a championship.
It was a ruse though.
As soon as the bucket flipped, Jones scooted away, and ice and water drenched surprised members of the Fighting Clan.
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There are many South Jersey baseball fans that would’ve been surprised to see Vineland celebrate a Cape-Atlantic League Tournament title at the beginning of the season.
Not the Fighting Clan.
While eyes were focused on perennial powers St. Augustine, Egg Harbor Township, Mainland and Ocean City when the spring started, it was Vineland that found a way to win the prestigious crown as the No. 3 seed downed No. 1 Buena 11-3 in the title game on Friday afternoon.
“We definitely had something to prove,” senior catcher Donny Gomez said.
“Everyone was overlooking us,” added junior pitcher Benedetto Andreoli.
Vineland never doubted itself though.
It saw a stacked CAL American division with St. Augustine, Egg Harbor, Mainland, Ocean City, Millville and Hammonton as welcome competition.
“We were looking forward to it,” Gomez said.
It wasn’t always pretty. The division beat up on itself all spring, but those ups and downs hardened Vineland’s resolve.
“All year long we knew we had it in us,” Andreoli said, “and we just had to break through.”
It could be argued the breakthrough happened last year, when the Fighting Clan won 20 games, which included handing Courier-Post Team of the Year St. Augustine its only South Jersey loss.
This squad has now backed that campaign up and is staking claim to its place among the regions best. After all, they had a 9-4 mark within the division, including the tournament.
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“I feel like a lot of teams really sleep on us,” senior Xavier Cortez said. “… I feel this is a big statement for us. I feel teams are going to look at us and be like, wow, this team really has something.”
Vineland already wants more though.
As Jones told his team after it took his celebratory bath, this victory is just step one. The Fighting Clan are the No. 2 seed in South Jersey Group 4 and will look to add more hardware in the next two weeks.
“(The CAL is) one of the toughest conferences in all of South Jersey, all of New Jersey really,” Jones said. “We battled and we beat one of the top teams last game with the Prep (in the semifinals), and then we just finished what we had to do today. I feel like the teams we played all this year, like I said before, it gets us ready for the playoffs.”
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Game notes
Andreoli picked up the victory against Buena. It wasn’t his best performance, but he gutted through some shaky command to go 6 innings. He gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit batters while fanning 4.
“He doesn’t give up,” Jones said of Andreoli. “I had to drag him off the mound to come out today. He’s a grinder. He’s a tough kid.”
Vineland took control of the contest with a four-run fourth inning to go up 6-1. Andreoli had an RBI triple, Cortez had an RBI single, Gomez doubled a run in and another run crossed on a wild pitch.
The offense had a lot of contributors. Gomez was 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs, Cortez was 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs and a run, Yenuelle Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a double, his seventh homer of the spring (tied for the most in South Jersey) and 2 RBIs, and Justin Morris and Anthony Rakotz also plated runs.
The last word
“We’re here. We’re here to stay.”
– Vineland junior Benedetto Andreoli on the message his team sent to the rest of South Jersey by winning the CAL Tournament title.
Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: Vineland baseball tops Buena for Cape-Atlantic League Tournament title
