Mighty Oaks split with No. 2 Northampton, remain confident playing for series win Sunday
REGION XIX TOURNAMENT
(Best-of-3 series)
No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester bye
No. 4 Middlesex 7-15, No. 5 RCSJ-Cumberland 6-7
No. 3 Brookdale 9-9, No. 6 Ocean 2-5No. 7 Salem CC 14-2, No. 2 Northampton 11-14
Sunday’s game
Salem CC at Northampton CC, 2 p.m.
REGION XIX/NORTH ATLANTIC DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
(Double-elimination format)
May 17-19
First-round games
Middlesex vs. RCSJ-Gloucester, 11 a.m.
Salem-Northampton winner vs. Brookdale, 11 a.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The mood around the Salem CC dugout changed from the first and second game, but the Mighty Oaks haven’t changed course on their drive for the prize.
The Oaks split their Region XIX playoff doubleheader with No. 2-ranked and second-seeded host Northampton Saturday. They took the opener 14-11 for their first Region XIX playoff win game in 13 years, but lost the second 14-2 in five innings.
The split sends the series to a winner-take-all rubber game here Sunday at 2 p.m. Hard-throwing J.D. Wilson is scheduled to draw the start for the Oaks (27-24).
If the seventh-seeded Oaks win, they’ll move into the Division III North Atlantic District/Region XIX Final Four at RCSJ-Gloucester next weekend playing for a trip to the JUCO World Series.
“The one thing this team has done all year is rebounded well,” Oaks coach John Holt said. “We talk about it , it’s been kind of one of our creeds all year :‘So what, next pitch.’
‘So what, we’ve got to come out and play tomorrow. I won’t say we expected it (a split), but we prepared for it.’
The win in Game 1 may have shocked the region but it didn’t the Oaks.
They beat a then-third-ranked Brookdale earlier in the season, so they knew they could play with the elite, and they’ve also played their best baseball in the second half of the season, putting together an impressive run just to make the tournament field.
They took the Spartans’ hardest punch several times in Game 1 and turned them away.
The Oaks had 16 hits in the opener, with Demetrius DeRamus, Matt Murphy and Angel Velez all hitting homers. Velez had four hits and DeRamus and Murphy each had three. Yen Rodriguez and Jared Vandersteur both had two.
“They played hard, they stayed in the game,” Holt said. “The whole roster was in the game the whole day. That’s how we’ve got to play to win.”
There were five lead changes in the first game. The Oaks jumped on top 6-0 after two innings, thanks in part to DeRamus’ three-run homer in the second, but found themselves trailing after the fourth (7-6) and seventh innings (10-9).
“It was getting annoying, man; I just wanted those guys to stay down,” Velez said of the back and forth.
They took the lead for good with two in the eighth. Murphy’s leadoff homer tied it 10-10 and Velez scored the go-ahead run when the Spartans threw away Wilson’s grounder into a three-base error.
They extended the lead with three in the ninth on Murphy’s sacrifice fly and Velez’ second homer of the year, a two-run shot.
The Oaks handed it to Ben Foote to close it out. The Woodstown grad got out of a jam in the eighth and then with a four-run lead worked his way through the top of the Northampton order in the ninth. He induced Robert Furino, who homered twice in the game, to pop out to first baseman Lee Rodriguez for the final out.
“I just knew I had to throw strikes and get guys out and just keep my guys in the game,” Foote said. “They played defense behind me, so I knew we had it. It was an intense game but I didn’t let it bother me. Once I got my number called to go warm up I knew I just had to go in and throw strikes.”
The second game was as bad as the first game was good for the Oaks.
Salem starter Aiden Ewe had been pitching well since losing the hitch in his delivery – 4-0, 1.60 ERA in his previous five appearances – but he ran into some issues that Holt said were “out of his control” and got roughed up.
He had given up only six runs in his previous five appearances, but was charged with 11 in 2 2/3 innings. The Spartans scored six runs in the first inning behind four walks, a hit batsman and only two hits to take control.
The Oaks got two runs back in the second on a bases-loaded walk to Nick Ciesielka followed by a fielder’s choice on Rodriguez’ grounder to short. Northampton then scored five in the third to move into run-rule territory.
“Getting a split isn’t a bad thing,” Holt said. “We continue to match up well going into a Game 3. Like I’ve said before there’s a reason they’re the second-ranked team in the country. We showed we can hang with them and I feel pretty good about tomorrow.”
“We still have a chance to come play tomorrow and win,” Velez said. “That’s the only thing on our mind right now.”
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