Unique circumstances offer Ridgewood one ‘Last Dance’ to build on historic ’19 season
The buzz felt like normal inside the Ridgewood dugout, even if the circumstances were not.
The teammate camaraderie. The pressure-packed moments. The highs and lows of postseason baseball.
“It felt like the environment of a state playoff game,” said Ridgewood LF Reed Darienzo, bound for UMass-Boston this fall. “It felt like everything was on the line.”
The truth is, Darienzo and some of his recently graduated senior Ridgewood teammates have played in – and won – bigger games than Thursday’s gritty, 4-2 victory over the Wayne Wolfpack (Wayne Valley) to punch their ticket into next week’s Last Dance World Series North Round of 16.
But the spring of 2020 was supposed to be the year Ridgewood baseball built on arguably its best season in program history one year ago – a season it captured its first Bergen County title crown, its third straight sectional title and first Group 4 state title.
The Maroons had much to replace from last year’s historic team, but Covid-19 and the worldwide pandemic that ensued robbed them of that opportunity.
“We had a lot of kids who saw last year’s state wins, the county wins and really had that mindset going into this year of, ‘This is our chance,’” Ridgewood High School and Last Dance coach Kurt Hommen said. “We brought 3-4 starters back, but we had a lot of kids next in line who wanted to establish their own identity and didn’t have that chance. That was the hard part.”
So, in the moments shortly after Ridgewood’s Ed Chanod notched his third strikeout to earn the save Thursday – with the tying run at the plate – the postgame celebration centered not so much around the fact the Maroons would be guaranteed at least one more game together as one of 32 teams throughout New Jersey left standing after pool play action.
Instead, “We’re just happy we get to keep practicing together for another week,” said Aiden Brusey, who earned the win in relief after tossing three innings of hitless ball before turning it over to Chanod.
And while a few-week summer tournament can never fully replace a full season’s worth of memories and trophy chasing, this group of Maroons – some who may never play organized baseball again – is focused on building that identity of their own.
It might not be NJSIAA-sanctioned, but it’s still baseball – with Thursday featuring clutch hits, highlight-reel plays and enough nail-biting moments you’d think a sectional title was up for grabs.
“There was a playoff-type atmosphere to it,” said Hommen, who knows a thing or two about playoff baseball with more than 500 career high school coaching wins in the last three decades. “A little pressure, which they responded to. That was good to see.”
Brusey, a JV pitcher in 2019, is one of the few contributing underclassmen – recently finishing his junior year – on Ridgewood’s Last Dance team that didn’t have his high school career cut short by Covid-19.
Thirteen of his teammates this tournament, however, were denied their senior years.
Few took part in last year’s banner high school season, while many others were waiting their turn in the varsity spotlight.
Now, it’s simply about making the most of their final opportunities – together.
“Nowadays, you can’t really take anything for granted, but especially baseball,” said Darienzo, who gave Ridgewood its first lead of the night, 3-2, with an RBI single in the fifth to score Alex Fernandez (2-for-3, two doubles) after the Maroons fell behind early, 2-0, in the first.
“To have it taken away and then given back with a tournament like this, it feels great to be out here. Practices or games, you’ve just got to cherish it and that’s what we’re all trying to do.”
Said Brusey: “All the seniors, and everyone else, we’re all playing for each other and fighting for that next game. We never know when that last game will be now and some of us might not ever get the chance to play with each other again. So right. now, we’re enjoying it. It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun.”
GAME NOTES: Wayne took a 2-0 lead in the first on a 2-run home run from Matt Krefting. It would manage just two more hits over the final six innings, a bunt single from Pete Botbyl and a bloop single from Daniel Ramos in the third. … Ridgewood cut a 2-0 deficit in half in the second when Jordan Fisse led off with a double and came around to score on an RBI double from Colin Feeney. … Ridgewood tied it at 2 in the fourth when Fisse, again, started a rally with a hit by pitch and later scored on an RBI triple from Joey Pagano. … Ridgewood took a lead it would not relinquish in the fifth when Alex Fernandez, batting tenth, provided his second leadoff double of the night. He scored one batter later on an RBI single from Darienzo. Matt Favieri later brought Darienzo in on an RBI double. Ridgewood later loaded the bases, with no outs, but failed to tack on to its lead. … Wayne came about five feet from tying the game in the bottom of the sixth when Kyle Corso launched one to deep left, with one man on and trailing, 4-2, before Darienzo settled under it just in front of the fence. Behind three walks in the inning, Wayne loaded the bases later in the inning before Brusey ended the threat, on a 3-2 count, by inducing an inning-ending ground out to second. “I just had to throw a strike and force the batter to put it in play, put the pressure on him rather than have it on me,” Brusey said. … Wayne had three opportunities in the seventh with the tying run at the plate following a leadoff walk from Brett Tomback, before Ridgewood’s Chanod slammed the door shut with three consecutive strikeouts. … Ridgewood’s Rider-bound catcher Brian Skettini reached base three times, via two walks and a hit by pitch. … Ridgewood outhit Wayne, 10-3.
JJ Conrad may be reached at jjconrad8@gmail.com