Don Bosco Advances to Rounds of Four, Beats Jefferson 3-1
Don Bosco Prep advanced to the North round of four in the Last Dance High School Baseball Tournament yesterday afternoon after beating Jefferson Township 3-1. The game was an intriguing and close one, as Don Bosco pitcher Caden Dana secured the win for the Ironmen after he was put in with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to close out the game.
Don Bosco head coach Mike Rooney commented on the effort from his team the past two days.
“We’ve pitched the ball incredibly well,” Rooney said. “We’ve had guys, senior leadership, step up and do a fantastic job. That really got us through the last two days. I guess there’s a little bit of a survive and advance mentality in a situation like this, and you know a wins a win so we’re moving on, but we’ve got to clear things up a little bit if we’re expecting to play in the championship or even the semifinals.”
Kevin Jaxel started off on the pitchers mound for the Ironmen, with Jefferson shortstop Johnny Knox at bat for the Falcons. After he got out on first base, catcher Austin Jack hit a line drive to middle field, leaving him safe on first. Jaxel then struck out left fielder Zach Roskowsky, and Jack got out at second to end the inning with no score.
Jefferson pitcher Jack Urbano was on the mound first for the Falcons. Jack Cannizzaro was the first to bat for Don Bosco, where he hit a fly to middle field and a Falcon was waiting to catch it. Urbano walked second baseman Johnny Pilla, struck out center fielder Charlie Granatell and soon after that right fielder Nick Carr hit a ball to right field. This allowed the Ironmen to score a run, and the inning ended 1-0 Don Bosco.
The second inning went quick, Don Bosco made two outs at first and middle field and then Jaxel ended it by striking out right fielder CJ White. In the bottom of the inning, the Falcons caught two fly balls to right field on the first two batters. They ended the inning by making a great catch on a line drive to right field from Don Bosco shortstop Jake Brazzano.
Jaxel talked about the effort that contributed the Ironmen’s win today.
“We just really rolled into it today,” Jaxel said. “We came out and just kind of had that killer mentality to go get everybody and really stick it on.”
The Falcons loaded the bases in the top of the third with hits from center fielder Justin Cece and Knox, both into left field. Jack then stole first after the Don Bosco catcher mishandled a pitch. Jaxel struck Roskowsky out to keep Cece from scoring, but designated hitter Jason Taylor walked, tying the score at one. The bottom of the third went quick as two hits from Don Bosco by third base were caught by Jefferson players.
The fourth inning started with a line drive from Urbano to Jaxel, who caught it for the first out. A questionable play came next as White looked to be out at first after a bunt, but was called safe by the umpire. Jaxel then tried to get White out twice at first while taking a lead, but was unsuccessful. After Jaxel struck out Jack, they were onto the bottom of the fourth.
After two outs from hits to middle field and a foul behind the batters box, left fielder Noah Rodriguez hit a double to get Don Bosco on the bases. Michael Dreznin scored another double to bring a run in, giving the Ironmen the lead once again. Dreznin made the score 3-1 after a hit from catcher Kevin Stefanski. Jefferson changed their pitcher to Knox and the inning ended with Don Bosco up by two.
The Ironmen switched their pitching to Clayton Poliey midway through the top of the fifth, where he struck out Urbano to keep the score 3-1 Bosco going into the bottom.
Three Don Bosco hits were all caught by Jefferson players in this part of the inning, getting three outs quick and keeping the Ironmen from extending their lead even more.
A similar occurrence happened in the top of the sixth. Poliey struck out Kris Mankin and the infielders and outfielders took care of the rest, getting an out at first and then Dana catching a hit for the third out. This gave the Falcons only one more opportunity to catch up, or the game was over.
Jefferson played hard to keep Don Bosco off the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but it did not matter as they would not score more runs in the top of the seventh. A late inning hit from Taylor left the Falcons hopeful as he got to first, but after Dana came into pitch it was game over. He struck out first baseman Mike Novak, and then a teammate caught a Jefferson hit to right field to send Don Bosco to the next round of the tournament.
“We’ll do it,” Rooney said. “The work ethic is there, the talent is there, we just need the reps over the next couple of days just to learn from every single somewhat mistake we made over the last two.”
The Ironmen will play next week in the rounds of four to continue their run for the Last Dance World Series High School Baseball tournament.