Bergen Catholic Shuts out Mount Olive in Round of 16
Bergen Catholic varsity baseball faced off against Mount Olive yesterday in the round of 16 at the Last Dance World Series baseball tournament. The Crusaders dominated the field, beating the Marauders 10-0 in six innings at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls.
Angelo Deer started off the pitching for the Crusaders. After walking shortstop Dylan Onorevole of Mount Olive, Deer struck out right fielder/pitcher Brian Bienus and ended the top of the first inning quick.
The bottom of the first was a sight to be seen. It went on for over an hour as the Crusaders kept scoring runs, making the score 6-0 by the end of the first. Marauder pitcher Will Paoli did his best on the mound while Bergen Catholic kept hitting the ball.
Crusader left fielder Patrick Cerami started the second half of this inning strong for his team, getting onto first and then stealing second. The first run was brought in after center fielder Amari Paula hit a ball into right field, giving him a single and putting Bergen Catholic on the board. Paula scored a run after stealing second and catcher Louis De La Cruz hit a ball into left field. De La Cruz along with right fielder Lukas Tsai were among the Crusaders to score next.
A double from second baseman Zack Wasserlauf brought the score to 6-0 as Mount Olive brought in a new pitcher, Jason Musal. Musal managed to end the inning after striking out Paula and the Marauders had a lot of runs to catch up on going into the second inning.
Deer stayed on the mound as Mount Olive left fielder Gavin Lockwood hit a single to middle field. He then tried to steal second, but Deer threw the ball to first baseman Andrew Cronin just in time to send Lockwood back to the dugout. After a second out, Paoli hit a grounder for the Marauders and got out, putting the Crusaders back at bat.
The bottom of the second and top of the third was quick as well — Bergen Catholic scored another run and extended their lead to 7-0.
Bergen Catholic did not score any more runs in the bottom of the third inning, but they did steal two bases. Mount Olive pitcher Leo Demm kept them from getting on base otherwise by striking out Cerami and Paula.
The fourth inning allowed the Crusaders to extend the lead even more, scoring two runs while Mount Olive still did not get around the bases.
The score was 9-0 Bergen Catholic at the top of the fifth. The Crusaders kept Mount Olive off the bases by getting three outs quick in order to keep their lead.
Bienus was on the mound for the Marauders in the bottom of the fifth. Mount Olive changed the momentum as Bergen Catholic hit a ball to left field and a Mount Olive player caught it, quickly throwing it to first base for a double out.
Pitcher/first baseman Joey Lemongello started at bat for Mount Olive at the top of the sixth, hopeful to change the Bergen Catholic lead. He then hit a pop fly to right field, where a Crusader was waiting to catch it. The other two outs came quickly as it looked like Bergen Catholic had this game.
The Crusaders looked to extend their lead even more to end the game with third baseman Gavin Baratta up at bat. He cranked a grounder to right field, past the Mount Olive infielders as Baratta ran to first base. Tsai then hit a single to put hitters on first and second base.
Knowing he could bring some more runs in for his team, Crusader designated hitter DJ Chaturnuk hit one out into left field to put himself on first, leaving the bases loaded for Bergen Catholic. After a Crusader batter was hit with a pitch, Baratta was brought in from third, and Bergen Catholic now had 10 runs — the game was over in the bottom of the sixth.
Tsai talked about the experience of the Last Dance tournament, and how it has given his team another opportunity to be together and play baseball again.
“It’s awesome getting the chance to play with these guys [even after the season was lost to COVID-19],” Tsai said. “This group went through morning workouts together, late workouts together, and this family was being built up and then we lost the chance to have a season. But it’s a great group to be a part of and play here. It’s not about any one person individually here. We’re trying to win this as a family.”
He also commented on his team’s play today and throughout the tournament so far.
“It would mean a lot to us [to win the whole tournament],” Tsai said. “We’re playing for each other. We’re just having fun. We’re playing with high energy. We’re working hard for each other.”