Pascack Hills baseball shuts down Rumson-Fair Haven to win state championship
HAMILTON – Joey Giordano of Pascack Hills routinely played with fire - and repeatedly extinguished it.
Giordano threw a three-hit shutout to carry the Broncos to a 1-0 victory over Rumson-Fair Haven in Saturday's NJSIAA Group 2 baseball championship.
The junior left-hander tossed a shutout despite allowing the leadoff hitter to reach base in the first, second, third, fourth and sixth innings at DeMeo Memorial Field in Veterans Park.
“As soon as we got in trouble, I knew we had to get out of it somehow,” said Giordano, supported by error-free defense. “We had to bear down, and be tough, and we did it.”
Giordano allowed two singles, a double to left because the ball was lost in the sun, struck out nine and walked three to outdo an almost equally stellar performance by Rumson-Fair Haven right-hander Jackson Hinchliffe.
Giordano had two of Pascack Hills’ six hits and scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. Giordano singled to left with one out and scored on a bases-loaded, two-out single to left by Sean Busanic, who also was 2 for 3.
Rumson-Fair Haven was making its championship debut and Hinchliffe, like Giordano a Richmond commit, went pitch for pitch with him until the sixth. Hinchliffe threw a six-hitter, with seven strikeouts and no walks, but allowed three singles and hit a batter in the sixth.
“Our guy was pretty special,” Pascack Hills coach Nick Evans said of Giordano. “Give their guy a lot of credit. Both Richmond guys, both going to a great program, but our guy was just better today. And in four of the first six innings, we let the leadoff guy on. You do that to these guys, from what we saw during the year, and especially their state run, they make it hard.”
What it means
This marks Pascack Hills’ fifth state title and third since 2018. The Broncos won back-to-back in 2018-19, with the 2020 season canceled due to the pandemic, and won back-to-back in 1987-88. Pascack Hills (22-7) closed this season with a nine-game winning streak.
“We picked each other up in the biggest moments of the game,” said Evans, whose team outscored its six postseason opponents, 25-7. “And like I said, our guy Joey was special.”
Key inning
Pascack Hills scored its lone run in the sixth, after escaping trouble in the top of the inning, and Giordano played a starring role in both.
The lefty poked a one-out single to left, then took third on Dom Musco’s single to left that was bobbled in the outfield. Ryan Belcolle was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. After Matt Tortora popped up to the catcher in foul territory, Busanic blooped an opposite-field single to left to score Giordano and Musco was thrown out at the plate.
“Obviously a big spot,” Busanic said. “I was just trying to drive the ball, put the ball in play, bases loaded, any base hit scores a run. A bloop to left field wasn’t what I expected, but a base hit’s a base hit.”
In the top of the sixth, Giordano escaped runners on second and third. Rumson-Fair Haven leadoff hitter Parker Shenman singled to center, stole second with one out, and moved to third on wild pitch. Owen Kenney walked with two outs and stole second. Giordano then induced a topper back to the mound.
“They’re a tough team, and we had to pitch around them a little bit,” said Giordano, who threw plenty of off-speed pitches and balanced it with his fastball. “I threw a lot of off-speed stuff, mix it in with a fastball, and it worked.”
By the numbers
Pascack Hills had five singles and a double, with Giordano doubling to center in the first. Kyle Wenckus, the leadoff hitter, joined Giordano, Busanic and Musco in the hit column, with a single up the middle in the third.
Rumson-Fair Haven (22-6) had a double, two singles and three walks. Parker Shenman and Kenney each had a single and walk. Griffin Shenman, the No. 9 hitter, led off the third with a double to left that was ruled a hit because the ball was lost in the midday sun. Brayden Dill led off the second with a walk, the second consecutive inning that Giordano issued a leadoff walk.
They said it
“I just had to stay in the moment,” Giordano said of the final inning, in which he induced a 4-3 groundout and back-to-back strikeouts. “You can’t let the moment get bigger than you. You’ve just got to throw strikes, and that’s it.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Pascack Hills NJ baseball shuts down Rumson to win state title
