Underdog Eastern baseball upsets Rancocas Valley for South Jersey Group 4 championship
EASTAMPTON TWP. – Rob Christ was out of ideas.
The Eastern Regional High School baseball team’s head coach had tried every tactic he could think of to get his players to believe in themselves.
“I coddled them, I pushed them, I kicked them in the butt, then I ignored them, then I laughed with them, I felt like I had no answers,” Christ said.
It was the middle of May and the Vikings were floundering, going 2-5-1 in their first eight games of the month. During one practice, Christ had seen enough.
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“I said I honestly feel like I’m wasting my time, I’m going to go home,” he told the team. “… Listen, I’m trying so hard here, I don’t know what else to do.
“I just felt like I was failing.”
His words struck a chord with the kids.
“We were like listen, we’ve got to do something,” senior captain Pat Karbach remembered. “… Everybody wants to win. … If everybody just listens, we could be something.”
Those words proved prophetic Friday as Eastern, the No. 11 seed in the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs, finished off a stunning sectional tournament with their fourth upset, downing fifth-seeded Rancocas Valley 2-0 to capture the program’s fourth championship, all of which have come in the past 11 years.
“This team has come further than any team I’ve ever had,” Christ said. “We start three freshmen, two seniors in our starting nine, we’ve come so far, and I don’t want to say fast, but this latter part of the season, all of a sudden, all the things I’ve been telling them that they can be, they’ve become.”
Pitching paves the way
Junior captain Sam Winsett couldn’t say whether he believed a championship was in the cards when the playoffs began, but he knew without question the Vikings had a chance with Karbach and sophomore Logan Dawson on the mound.
“You only need two guys,” he said, explaining how two pitchers can carry a team to a title.
That’s exactly what Karbach and Dawson did.
They’ve thrown all but one inning for Eastern in four tournament games. They’ve allowed 2 unearned runs on 16 hits and 7 walks in 25 frames, and they combined for another gem against the Red Devils.
Karbach got the win. He went 5 2/3, giving up 4 hits and a walk while striking out 5.
“That’s Pat man,” Winsett said. “He just goes out there, you can tell from pitch one he’s locked in. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him. Our guys, we’re like we have to get two (runs), we only have to get one for Patty. When you have a lineup and you talk to ’em and say we got to get one for our pitcher, to get one, that’s nothing. We got a guy like him where he’s every day coming out right at these guys, Pat’s a dog.”
Dawson earned the save, getting the final four outs. He got into a jam in the seventh as Rancocas Valley had runners on the corners with two down, but he struck out Gavin Gilmore to end the game and start the celebration.
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Defense shines behind Karbach, Dawson
Vinny Milillo had an interesting third inning.
In the top of the frame, his grounder got the first run in for a 1-0 Eastern lead. However, later in the frame, he got caught in a pickle on a throw down to second, which led to baserunning confusion and a disastrous double play for the Vikings.
That could wreck a lot of players, particularly a freshman like Milillo, but the second baseman showed what he was made of on the second pitch in the bottom half of the inning, making a great backhanded stop ranging to center field and throwing out the leadoff batter.
“I said to my coaches that’s one hell of a play, and no one is even noticing,” Christ said.
He did the same thing in the top of the seventh. Those were just two of several nice defensive efforts from Eastern, which included a spectacular diving catch by center fielder Bill Bentliff, also in the bottom of the third.
“All I do is throw the ball over the plate and I knew guys would make plays,” Karbach said. “Vinny and Sam are locks in the middle, Logan over there at third has been amazing, Billy made a diving catch today, it’s just so easy to pitch when you know you have a bunch of guys you know will work as hard as they can.”
Game notes
Eastern led 1-0 going into the sixth inning despite not having a hit. Milillo broke up Joe Dinneen’s no-hitter with an infield single and came home on Caleb Hahm’s RBI double to left field to go up 2-0.
Rancocas Valley left a pair of runners on in the sixth and seventh innings.
Dinneen was outstanding in defeat. He went the distance, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits, a walk and 3 hit batters. He fanned a pair.
“He came on the biggest stage of his career and he did it,” head coach Dan Haverstick said. “… I can’t be prouder of him.”
Rancocas Valley was making its first finals appearance since 2014. That year, the Red Devils also lost to Eastern.
“This group, the way they have thrived just coming together as a family, the way that they bond, the way they have fun, it’s something that, they are champions to me,” Haverstick said.
What’s next
Eastern will visit Old Bridge in the state semifinals on Monday. Time to be determined.
Old Bridge won the Central 4 crown with a 2-1 triumph over North Brunswick.
They said it
“I’m superstitious. We were the 11 seed (in 2014) and we beat R.V. here at R.V. I’m No. 11. I really, really felt confident today. … I just felt like this team was going to win. I really did.”
– Eastern head coach Rob Christ on the team’s improbable championship run
“We’re not done yet. Although we’re the 11 seed, why not us? Honestly. Why not us?”
– Eastern senior Pat Karbach
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 Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Eastern baseball shuts out Rancocas Valley to win South Jersey 4 title
