‘Valley Storm’ player/manager steals the show in Last Dance World Series opening win
Jake Lutz stood in the batter’s box but was not alone during his pressure-packed at-bat in the top of the fifth.
Staring at a two-run deficit against Ramsey in Tuesday’s Last Dance World Series opener, Lutz – a recent 19-year-old graduate of Pascack Valley serving as “Valley Storm’s” player/manager – remembered some words of baseball wisdom from his biggest fan.
“My dad always told me that two-out RBIs win games,” Lutz said. “And I swear during that at-bat I stared at my bat and just said, ‘Be with me.’”
In May of 2019, Rick Lutz Sr., Jake’s father, was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. It subsided briefly, but returned in December. On March 26, he died at the age 49.
Due to strict coronavirus laws in place at the the time of his death, there was no funeral and no wake for a proper goodbye.
Then, there was no baseball – until now.
“So this tournament is for him,” said Jake, pointing to the left sleeve of his jersey where a memorial patch honoring his late father resides. “I know I’m playing for him and I know my teammates are, too.”
With his father close in mind and his team in need of a spark, Lutz laced a shot through the right-center field gap at Don Bosco Prep High School in a momentum-swinging fifth inning. Teammate Zach Novakowski scored easily, but Lutz wasn’t content with an RBI triple as the Ramsey relay made its way home.
Lutz rounded the bag at third and just kept going, sliding in ahead of the throw at home for a game-tying, two-run inside-the-park home run – the first time he’d ever done that, he said – with two outs.
He knows that’s what wins baseball games.
The highlight-reel moment served as the defining moment Tuesday in Valley Storm’s eventual 8-4 win over Ramsey, with Lutz – heading to Wagner this fall – pushing all the right buttons as manager and delivering when his team needed him most on the field.
Lutz, who served as catcher Tuesday (and will pitch Wednesday) despite being the shortstop on his high school team, finished 3-for-4 with a walk, 4 RBI and one run scored as the team comprised of primarily Pascack Valley players overcame an early 4-1 deficit by outscoring Ramsey, 7-0, over the final three innings.
Cole Porter, Pascack Valley’s closer in 2019, was dominant in relief, firing four scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out seven, while Wes Baronian and Joe Stephan – batting eighth and ninth in the lineup, respectively – combined for four hits, three walks, five runs scored and one RBI.
“We’ve always been a comeback team, but I thought we were going to go first on the board today,” Lutz said. “But our team had electricity. We were sparking and in the game at all times.”
Pascack Valley will take on Don Bosco Prep, an 11-0 winner against Cliffside Park on Tuesday, on Wednesday in Game 2 of the three-game pool play round of the Last Dance World Series.
Valley Storm is in a unique position in this highly unique 222-team statewide tournament, operating under a player/manager, but Lutz is confident he has the confidence of his teammates in his decisions.
“I think they trust my decisions based off everything I’ve been through my whole life,” Lutz said. “At first, this felt like something different than a high school baseball game with everything going on. But we eventually loosened up, played like ourselves and started having fun. That’s what our team is about.”
JJ Conrad can be reached at jjconrad8@gmail.com