Jefferson Township grinds out edgy victory over Bridgewater-Raritan
AUGUSTA — Patience is a virtue, and for Jefferson Township, it was the answer key to a puzzling Bridgewater-Raritan equation in a 5-3 triumph on Tuesday.
The Falcons were out-pitching and out-hitting a sound Panthers team, but the scoreboard said otherwise through four innings.
“I don’t think we played well defensively. Zach [Roskowsky] let up one hit in four innings and we let up three runs. The key to the game was [that] in those tough situations, we limited the damage,” said Head Coach Jason Kalish. “There were a couple of innings that could have gotten out of control there—bases loaded and two men in scoring position and he kept us in the game. He’s our number one for a reason. We didn’t help him much defensively, but he battled and kept us in the game.”
Roskowsky exercised the patience required to keep steady pitching flowing while the fielding progressively recuperated behind him.
“I knew my team was going to pick me up eventually. Errors happen. It really just relies up to me to keep throwing, keep picking up my teammates, keep throwing strikes, and I knew my defense was still going to be behind me the whole game,” said Roskowsky.
The senior ace found his own groove by serving the right english on the ball in order to retire Panther batters, as that would set the tempo for the Falcon offense to answer.
“My changeup was working good and I was really just trying to hit the outside corner a lot the whole game,” said Roskowsky.
It wasn’t until cleanup hitter, Jason Taylor, launched a two-run RBI double that Jefferson finally broke ground, and from there, the Falcons seized the momentum and held on tight. The RBI crack would be his second of the contest and sometimes, keeping it simple is all that’s needed to come up big in sports.
“[I’m] not trying to kill the ball. [You have to] just come out here and stay within yourself [and] put the ball in play and things [will] happen,” said Taylor. “We know we’re a good team and we’ve come from behind before, so it’s just playing baseball—whether you’re in front or behind.”
The offensive boost came from Taylor came as no surprise to his team, as the Junior DH’s bat has been a reliable lineup up weapon for several years now.
“Jason’s been starting for me since his freshman year and there’s no situation that’s too big for him. He bats clean up for us for a reason and he’s a great hitter and I have all the trust in the world in him,” said Kalish.
As a seasoned varsity veteran, Taylor came to the ballpark with his eyes open to educate himself on what kinds of deliveries to prepare for, and it was a quick adjustment from there.
“When they had the lefty on, I was watching him warm up and it was [all] outside fastball. So, I kind of closed myself off to the pull side and I was just thinking ‘if he’s gonna throw something outside, I’m gonna hit it that way.’ That’s just what you gotta do, you gotta hit it where it’s pitched,” said Taylor.
The Falcons will look to extend their gritty efforts into a 1:00 p.m. date with the likes of Don Bosco at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls on Wednesday, as eight remain in the North Round of 16 of the Last Dance World Series.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity to keep this going. It’s a good group of kids and the more time I get to coach them and spend with them, the better for us,” said Kalish. “I have guys [left] that haven’t pitched a lot of varsity innings. We used our number one and two today, so we’re going to have to get creative with tomorrow and if we throw strikes and make plays, who knows? If there’s ever a game that upsets happen, it’s baseball. So, we’re just going to have fun tomorrow and see what happens.”