It lost its AD, its friend & then its season, but Bergen Catholic remains on a mission in ‘Last Dance’

First, they lost their beloved athletic director.

Then, they lost their beloved friend.

So, when Bergen Catholic’s Last Dance World Series baseball team faces any on-the-field adversity – like a late two-run deficit or committing seven errors Tuesday in the North semifinals to make things significantly more difficult on itself against powerhouse Delbarton – just know this:

“We’ve been through a lot worse,” senior pitcher Angelo Deer said. “But we pride ourselves on persevering.”

The BC Crusaders did, in fact, persevere and prevail against a team resembling last year’s Non-Public A state champion Green Wave, 4-2, behind strong pitching from Deer and Aidan Martin and a clutch three-run, go-ahead triple from Luis DeLaCruz in the fifth – to advance to Wednesday’s North championship game.

It’s an accomplishment that undoubtedly would have made their former athletic director, Jack McGovern, who died Oct. 4 of last year, and friend and classmate, Kyle Egan, who died 41 days later, proud. 

“It’s been a tough year for these kids,” Bergen Catholic coach Bob Muggeo said. “But I’m proud of how they’ve handled everything that has come their way. It says a lot about their resiliency.”

Now, after the pair of heartbreaking blows – followed by the emergence of Covid-19 robbing this team of a spring season which would have been dedicated to their pair of forever Crusaders – Bergen Catholic is one win away from some hardware and two wins away from a state title as one of four teams left still standing in a tournament which started with 222.

The Last Dance continues to serve as Bergen Catholic’s tribute to McGovern and Egan – and it showed Tuesday in the gutsy come-from-behind win.

“They were both such a huge part of the Bergen Catholic community,” said Deer, with the initials ‘KE’ and ‘JM’ inscribed on the brim of his hat. “Kyle, what a great kid. Everyone loved him. And Mr. McGovern, he loved all of the athletes here, and always supported us no matter what. 

“It was a big blow to all of us and right now, we’re mostly playing for both of them now.”

Bergen Catholic did not make things easy on itself at TD Bank Ballpark against a Delbarton program one year removed from a Non-Public A state championship and fell behind early, 2-0, after a four-error inning led to two Delbarton unearned runs. 

The Crusaders cut that deficit in half in the third when Liam Derubertis led off with a walk and later came around to score on an RBI single from DeLaCruz – the first of a four-RBI game for the rising senior catcher from Jersey City.

Two innings later, DeLaCruz laced a bases-loaded, three-run triple – after an impressive nine-pitch at bat – down the left field line to bring home Zach Wasserlauf, Lukas Tsai and DJ Chatrnuck and give Bergen Catholic a 4-2 lead it would not relinquish.

“This game was kind of similar to our whole year,” Deer said. “Everything happened and came at us fast and we had to roll with the punches. And like we have all year, we have stayed strong through tough times. Now, we’re playing baseball now, having fun and I’m proud of these guys for handling everything the way they have. We keep going through it all. [We] keep bringing the same energy and same attitude.”

The North title will be up for grabs Wednesday night at Skyland Park in Augusta, where Bergen Catholic will take on Cranford, which defeated Don Bosco Prep, 12-0, in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

“We had every reason to fall apart in those first couple innings today,” Muggeo said. “But listen, errors happen. Mistakes happen. But it’s how you respond to that adversity that determine your success. And these guys responded.”

Just the way McGovern and Egan would have loved.

JJ Conrad may be reached at jjconrad8@gmail.com