Bergen DeLa’Cruises’ over Delbarton in 4-2 triumph

BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP — Just as Billy Joel says, “there’s a heaven for those who will wait,” and for Luis DeLaCruz and the preseason No. 27 nationally ranked Bergen Catholic Crusaders, they’ve arrived to their celestial fate. Not only has their four-month patience paid dividends thus far, but so did their five-inning grind in Delbarton’s rearview mirror on Tuesday — as the Crusaders advanced to the North championship in a 4-2 decision.

The defending Non-Public State A champions held a firm grip on a precarious one-run deficit before the Bergen Junior catcher busted open a three-run go-ahead double in the fifth inning that would solidify the scoreboard at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, NJ.

“I was just thinking to put the ball in play. [There were] no outs, bases loaded, [and] we were only down by one. I was trying to get a sacrifice fly to tie the game and when you put the ball in play, something happens sometimes. It was a hanging curveball. I got it out in front—it felt good,” said a gratified DeLaCruz.

DeLaCruz exercised patience and poise and the plate when he battled nine pitches before belting a line drive to left field that would land him on second and his three base-running teammates at home.

“He got in a position today where they had to make a pitch to him and he delivered. Having Tywone [Malone] in the lineup behind him prevents teams from pitching around him. Although in that situation, bases were loaded anyway. He’s a very good player,” said Head Coach Bob Muggeo.

The Junior not only led by example offensively (he would drive in the first run as well off a single), but he massaged his pitching staff through a six error outing that could have been disastrous.

“It was good because [there] was nothing hit hard. [There] was a couple errors on our third baseman [had]. [When] they got up 2-0, they were hyped. I just kept telling Angelo [Deer] ‘throw strikes,’ that’s it. They were not hitting the ball hard—they only [had] four hits the whole game,” said DeLaCruz.

While dethroning the perennial power of Delbarton is surely to be temporarily satisfying, the close victory against an elite foe is viewed as standard operating procedure for Bergen.

“These [Delbarton] are familiar faces. [It’s] nothing extra because we didn’t have a season this year. Had we come off a season where we played them a time or two, yeah I probably would have made that argument [having a chip on our shoulder], but their team from last year graduated [and] our team from last year graduated, so it’s just two good teams playing baseball in the summertime now,” said Muggeo.

DeLaCruz’s clutch output on the Green Wave both at and behind the plate helps propel the Crusaders to a date with the Cinderella story-Cranford Cougars, who smelted the Ironmen of Don Bosco into molten with a 12-0 obliteration afterwards.

“We’re just happy to be where we are at right now and [I] look forward to another chance to be with our guys. I really feel like this tournament has given us some closure to the season,” said Muggeo. “Whether it’s three games, seven games, or whatever, it still gives us a little bit of closure, which I think we needed. We were a day away from leaving to go to Florida when we pulled the plug on everything and this just gives us an opportunity to get on the field and have a sense of where things could have been.”

Muggeo, DeLaCruz, and the rest of the star-powered Crusaders will have their chance to taste those possibilities at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Skyland Park in Augusta, NJ.