State champions look to defend respective titles in Last Dance bracket
There’s something to be said for mindfulness.
For the high school senior baseball players of New Jersey, they may not have gotten the storybook finales they envisioned. But, the opportunity to live out another chapter of their brotherhoods on the diamond not only grants them a ‘last chance’ to win, but also to take in the moment — even for the likes of state champions.
Of the 2019 season’s six NJSIAA state champions, three opted in to the Last Dance World Series tournament with aspirations of chasing a reminiscent feeling of last spring’s triumphs; those clubs being Ridgewood, St. Mary’s, and Delbarton (Emerson, Wall Township, and Pascack Hills not participating). However, even for the perennial powers of the Garden State, the true focus isn’t just dominating.
“I think that the people who put so much blood, sweat, and tears into organizing this event deserve so much credit,” said Delbarton coach, Bruce Shatel, whose team won the Non-Public A State Tournament bracket last season. “It’s unbelievable how many moving parts there are to this tournament and for them to get this off the ground, I think it has zero to do with winning and losing. It has to do with enjoying your classmates.”
While winning will always remain a priority, given the circumstances of COVID-19, it’s hard for Delbarton to dismiss playing baseball for these core values. And that’s even despite riding off of a state championship and a 26-3 campaign.
“What I told my team is when we do anything, we do it with a purpose, and when we started getting organized workouts together, [we thought] let’s make it worth our while and put our best foot forward even though that is not the priority. The priority is for us to be able to play this great game again, [and] play it with the guys that you’ve been playing it with for the last four years.”
Shatel, who is equally accomplished at the helm of Delbarton’s power house hockey program, is no different than those with a lesser resumé when it comes to appreciating the joys of coaching and how it can touch young athletes.
“I think personally, I don’t talk about how thankful I am to be able to be doing something that has a purpose where you can coach again. It’s been a real smile for me to have this opportunity because one: I love my team, and two: I love what I do. And, when I didn’t have that for three months, I was just in shock,” said Shatel. “I see people shutting down, I hear rumors about what is happening to NJSIAA fall sports, winter sports potentially and maybe even into the spring.
“You just can’t take it for granted right now, so that’s why being out here right now is just fantastic.”
With that virtue in mind, the three defending champions also saw the tournament as an opportunity to keep their good fortunes alive. Compartmentalizing last year and seeing this as a different animal was one approach.
“Last year was last year and this year is a whole new identity, if you will—trying to find it and it’s really just trying to get some momentum and start playing again here,” said Ridgewood Head Coach, Kurt Hommen, skipper of the 2019 Public Group 4 champions. “We’re just looking day to day, we’re not even looking down that far. That was states and counties—last year was pretty special. We just want to get our kids as many games together as possible. That’s the main thing. If we win it, that would be great.”
Some took this opportunity with a streamlined approach by viewing the tournament as any other season’s playoff run and going “back-to-back.”
“We’re here and we expect to win a state championship,” said 2019 Coach of the Year recipient, Dennis Hulse, who guided his St. Mary’s team to a Non-Public B championship. “These kids think we’re going to go six/seven and zero. So as a coaching staff, we’re playing into that and we’re going to stress ‘let’s just try to win six/seven games if we can,’”
Once the tournament was confirmed, teams held their informal practices run by a mix of alumni, parents or former coaches to prepare. The veteran-led squads had no doubts that clicking would come back naturally.
“Most of us play on the same summer team, so we’ve been playing together for four or five years. So, we never lost our chemistry and we were able to hop back into the swing of things like nothing ever happened,” said the Princeton-bound first baseman for Delbarton, Kyle Vinci.
With a lot of returning talent and little time to strategize with head coaches, the high-caliber teams would bank on the confidence in their own abilities and the familiarity come time to show for the first game of pool play.
“In the beginning, during the captain’s practices, we went over it and started to get comfortable as some of the guys were new to this level. Honestly, I think we came very prepared, so we’re good,” said Ridgewood catcher and Rider recruit, Brian Skettini—one amongst a bevy of Division I talents on the lone public school defending champion in the tournament.
Of course, having the momentum of a state championship behind you helps, too.
“We’ve had chemistry because of last year. We all gel together really well. Me and my catcher had been working together for a little bit, so there wasn’t any problems with that and I trusted my fielders enough and they trust me enough,” said St. Mary’s pitcher and second baseman, Vin Vargas, who is committed to Neumann College.
Once the tournament was finally underway, players were fulfilled with gratitude for the gift of playing together again.
“It’s great just to get one last chance to play with some of the guys we’ve been playing with for four years now,” said Vinci. “Without the season, it was pretty upsetting, but [it’s great] having this last chance to play with some of these guys who I won’t get to play with again.”
While there were some small wrinkles to iron out, the talent and experience overwhelmingly prevailed in the first few games for Delbarton, who tore through pool play like paper after posting 39 runs for and surrendering only two against in their three wins.
Having been tossed into a blender — along with the other 219 participating teams — it was inevitable that everyone would be staring down unfamiliar competition from opponents outside their respective groups this summer.
“I don’t think we feel any pressure because of it [last year]. I think we have a great team. We had a great team last year, we have a great team this year,” said Vinci after blasting a grand-slam in a 16-0 contest against an outmatched Parsippany Hills team. “I think this is going to be a bit different because it’s much bigger with a lot of different teams and we’re going to be facing some teams we haven’t seen before.
“It would be awesome to keep moving on and winning the whole thing, but we don’t have any pressure from last year.”
Ridgewood would also dominate their pool — cruising to three wins by outscoring their counterparts 22-4. They would however face a challenge from Wayne, surrendering two early runs before tallying four unanswered to solidify the victory and, along with Delbarton, advance to the North Bracket Round of 16.
“We just got to come prepared to play every single day and not worry about what people think of us or anything like that—our seed, anything. We just got to come and win every game that we can,” said Skettini.
St. Mary’s, however, would face a stunning 6-0 defeat to Wood-Ridge after a hot 2-0 start, as the Gaels seniors would bid their farewells earlier than expected.
“Us getting out here — it’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be for the seniors, but knowing our program, our players — they’re as competitive as can be from the first pitch on and they’ve taken every pitch serious, every game serious,” said Hulse.
Wood-Ridge will have the distinct pleasure of facing Delbarton’s ferocious artillery of bats and arms, while a hot Nutley team will play tango with Ridgewood. As for all remaining teams who have the luxury of playing at least one more game, the unique high school baseball experience will be savored.
“We were together for a week in March and then we were shut down until the end of June. So that’s a big layoff. And, I know some guys had some stuff going on with their club, but it’s different I think when the lights go on in a game situation for your high school team. It’s more of a team feel than an individual feel in my opinion,” said Shatel.
Delbarton and Ridgewood will play 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater and Skylands Stadium in Augusta, respectively. Their seniors will not only get a chance to bring themselves one step closer to another championship, but another seven innings of life-lasting camaraderie. It’s an endeavor only to be appreciated by staying mindful of the present, and those who fight for that privilege hardest will earn an extension — and just maybe — a second consecutive championship in New Jersey.
“They all miss being together and that’s the great thing about this tournament,” said Hommen. “Win or lose, it’s just having a chance to get back out there with them, and that was the main thing. Winning is nice, but that was the best part of it, just getting together again.
“Just enjoy your time together, there’s not much left. Hopefully you can get a couple more games together and maybe advance, but just enjoy the time together—that was the message.”