Mighty Oaks swept out

Salem CC swept out of Region XIX baseball playoffs by Brookdale, second game hopes dashed by 16-run first inning

REGION XIX PLAYOFFS
Brookdale 11-18, Salem CC 3-3
FINAL FOUR TOURNAMENT
At Rutgers-Camden
Thursday’s first-round games
Camden vs. Brookdale
RCSJ-Gloucester vs. Middlesex

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

LINCROFT – It certainly wasn’t way the Salem CC baseball team had hoped their stay in this year’s Region XIX playoffs would go, but, after all, it was a tall order.

The Mighty Oaks thought they had caught a bit of a break when they got some outside help to jump up to the seventh seed in the bracket on the last day of the regular season, but second-seeded Brookdale proved just as challenging as the top seeded team they felt fortunate to avoid.

It was anything but easy. They were run-ruled in both games of their first-round playoff doubleheader Saturday, falling to the Jersey Blues 11-3 in seven innings and 18-3 in five.

“We knew coming in we’d have to play good baseball to be successful,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “Brookdale’s a good team. They took advantage of the mistakes me made.”

Game 2 started savagely. Brookdale scored 16 runs in the bottom of the first and held an 18-0 lead when play was halted before the start of the home third for lightning in the area. The big inning lasted longer than the delay.

The Jersey Blues (41-10-1) sent 20 batters to the plate; two guys batted three times. It was only 7-0 when starter Logan Peters got the second out of the inning, but the next nine Brookdale hitters reached safely. There were 11 hits, three errors, two walks, two hit batsmen, five wild pitches and a passed ball.

“It didn’t feel too great,” outfielder Cliff Wysinger said.

“I didn’t realize they batted around (that many times),” first baseman Tyler Hacker said. “The leadoff hitter saw me three times at first base. I didn’t realize until after we got back to the dugout. I felt we had played four or five innings.”

Peters was out after 14 batters and Anthony Pizzuti’s three-run homer that made it 12-0. Holt said the left-hander was making good pitches and stayed with him that long because he was still going to make enough of them to get out of it. He did. Brookdale just hit them.

“Honestly, Logan didn’t pitch bad, they just hit it where we weren’t,” Holt said. “They’re a good-hitting team. They kept finding hole — all day. He was making some quality pitches and those guys were finding those holes. We could’ve had 15 guys out there today and it seems like they would have found that (open) spot.”

In the big inning alone, Pizzuti was 2-for-2 with four RBIs; Ryan Tan was 2-for-2 with three RBIs; Ray Mulhern, was 2-for-3 with two RBIs; and Ryan Adams had two hits.

If that weren’t bad enough, the Mighty Oaks had to sit through a 32-minute lightning delay with the big inning and margin staring at them from the scoreboard. And they still had to play when they were way behind.

“It especially feels worse because it’s the last game,” outfielder Jason LeBold said. “You don’t want to say it knocks the wind out of your sails because you always want to say you’re in the game and try to come back, but it is a tough thing to do because you feel almost unmotivated. Sixteen in the first is pretty tough and we know the rules are different in the playoffs so that makes it even harder for the comeback, but you have to stay in it and never give up.”

They did go down swinging. They scored three runs in the fifth on run-scoring singles by Aiden Nestor and LeBold before Hacker flew out deep to center for the final out of the season.

“At the end of the day we’re two-and-out,” Holt said. “It’s not where we want to be, but I try to look at the big picture. We’ve established a program here that’s expected to be in the playoffs now. It’s no long an ‘if we make it” kind of deal. That’s something to hang our hat on.”

The opener started well for the Mighty Oaks (23-28), as they held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 after batting in the third. Hacker, playing in his 100th game in a Salem uniform, homered in the first inning. LeBold put them up 2-1 in the third with an RBI single.

Salem starter Pat Seitzinger got one time through the Brookdale lineup with just one run scoring, but the Jersey Blues got him the second time around, batting around to score four in the third. Reliever Louie Rivera didn’t have Seitzinger’s early luck as the Blues reached him for four runs across two innings in his only time through their lineup.

The Blues scored four in the third on a leadoff walk and five consecutive singles and five in the fourth, highlighted by Nicco Maribo’s RBI double that ended Seitzinger’s day and Pizzuti’s first two-run homer off Rivera.

“They didn’t really hit a lot of balls hard in my opinion,” Seitzinger said. “They had four ‘real’ hits in my opinion. The rest were endcap singles; tough break.

“I was confident. The first inning went well, struck a kid out (Pizzuti). Second inning they hit that home run, but a solo shot, don’t really hurt. Third inning they got some lucky hits in my opinion and gave up four runs. It’s tough.”

Hacker drove in the Mighty Oaks’ third run of the opener with a single in the fifth. It was his 94th career RBI, tying Demetrius Deramus for second on the school’s all-time list since the program’s revival. He finished his Salem career as the school’s all-time leader in stolen bases since the revival (92) and second in hits (121).

Holt called him “a heck of a baseball player.” The Florida native appreciated the compliment and the faith the coach placed in him from the start.

“I think Coach Holt took a chance on me (when) no one did,” Hacker said. “All the stuff in high school, getting injured, that kind of stuff, it was like I quit baseball. I get it, but he brought me in, took a chance on me and gave me a shot, and that allowed me to prove myself not only to him, but to myself again and everyone else in the country. If it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to show my skill set.”

Salem CC	101	100	0-	3	5	4
Brookdale	014	510	x-	11	15	1

Salem CC	000	03-	3	5	3
Brookdale	(16)20	0x-	18	16	1