South Plainfield (2) at Old Bridge (3), Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, Final Round - Baseball
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By Josh Rosenfeld
Mike Anastasio had just coached his alma mater, Old Bridge, to its first Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship. How did he plan to celebrate?
"I'm going to Disney World!" Anastasio shouted for all to hear.
He was serious. Anastasio had signed up to chaperone the Old Bridge senior class trip to Disney, which left at 2 a.m. this morning.
Anastasio and his senior-laden club were already walking on air after second-seeded Old Bridge earned a 3-2 victory over South Plainfield, No. 20 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to claim the first GMC title since the school opened in 1994.
Jon Young (9-2) went the distance and tamed the mighty South Plainfield lineup by allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out five. South Plainfield touched Young for two runs in the top of the sixth and had runners on second and third when the inning ended, then squandered a lead-off hit in a scoreless seventh inning.
The game was scoreless for the first five and a half innings, much to Anastasio's liking.
"I'm thinking it's in my favor," Anastasio said. "I knew that Johnny was going to get his second wind. He'll probably hit a little bump in the road and you know they're going to hit the ball. I just hoped they hit it at somebody."
Young didn't mind the scoreless duel, either.
"I was very confident. I was thinking the whole time that I had to keep throwing up zeroes," Young said. "Whoever scores the first run is going to win the game. I knew our bats were there."
Anastasio preaches small ball, somewhat out of necessity, and that is what got Old Bridge (18-10) going.
Anthony Jichetti led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to left and was promptly bunted over to third by Brian Knoth. Payam Agha Ghassem then laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt up the first-base line for a hit when South Plainfield pitcher Charlie Huber could not field cleanly.
"You live by the sword, you die by the sword," Anastasio said. "Not that we thought that they would make errors, but I just wanted to put the pressure on and move guys over. Play baseball. All of those crazy, stupid drills that we did that they hated? I'm glad we did them."
Tom Garvey battled through a nine-pitch at-bat for another double to left scoring Agha Ghassem. Young then singled in Garvey for a 3-0 lead.
South Plainfield (21-9), seeded fourth, came roaring back with the top of its lineup batting in the top of the sixth. Mark Tomei walked and took second on Ryan Hutchinson's single through second. Brandon Downes then singled in Tomei, but Hutchinson was nailed rounding second by third baseman Vin Dacunto on a perfectly executed cut-off.
Downes advanced two bases to third on an errant pick-off attempt and scored on Stephen Petriello's single up the middle to make it a 3-2 Old Bridge lead. Dan Hansen singled Petriello to third and Eric Niemayer, running for Hansen, stole second while attempting to get hung up in a round down to allow Petriello to score. He didn't, and Young escaped with a strikeout and a ground ball to Dacunto.
"That's what we always do. We have a knack to come back, sometimes a little too late," South Plainfield coach Anthony Guida said. "I always feel confident. We had the top of the lineup coming up. It was a very good game, down to the last pitch, the last play and that's the way championship games should be played."
Nick Ross led off the South Plainfield seventh with a pinch-hit single between first and second but was forced at second on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Young then caught the .500-hitting Tomei looking and got Hutchison to hit a game-ending ground ball to third.
"You can't be worried about what you hear about a team," Young said. "You just have to go out there and throw your game. Don't throw to the batter, be a pitcher."
Young did just that and he and his classmates were off to Disney World. As champions of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.
Old Bridge wins GMCT final
Written byGREG TUFARO
EAST BRUNSWICK — After escaping a first-and-third jam to preserve a one-run lead in the previous inning, Jon Young wasn't about to let the South Plainfield baseball team push across the tying run in the top of the seventh.
The senior right-hander struck out the league's most dangerous hitter before inducing his 13th groundball out to strand a runner at second in Old Bridge's 3-2 victory over the Tigers in Wednesday night's Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final at East Brunswick High School.
The league championship was the school's first since Madison Central and Cedar Ridge merged to form Old Bridge in 1994. Madison Central won a GMCT title in 1989 and a Middlesex County crown in 1977.
"I knew I couldn't let up one more run,'' said Young, who improved to 9-2 and will attend Rutgers University on a partial baseball scholarship in the fall. "I had to do whatever I could. The strikeout came in handy.''
Pinch-hitter Nick Ross led off the seventh for South Plainfield with a single to right. Ross was erased at second when pinch-hitter Rob Eggert bunted back to Young, who alertly gunned down the lead runner on the sacrifice attempt. That brought Mark Tomei, who entered the game with a conference-best 56 hits and a .506 batting average, to the plate.
After fouling off three consecutive 1-2 pitches, Tomei was caught looking as Young's fifth strikeout victim. Ryan Hutchinson grounded out to shortstop Taylor Amato, who recorded his eighth assist, to end the game.
"It was a tough two days,'' said South Plainfield coach Anthony Guida, referring to his Tigers having a 12-game winning streak snapped with Tuesday's 10-6 loss to Mendham in the North 2 Group III final and falling to the Knights 24 hours later.
"It's tough to lose consecutive days in a semifinal and a final. We asked them to leave it all on the field, and I think they did. It gave us an opportunity to win a game. We had an opportunity with the tying run on base and the guys that we wanted up.''
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South Plainfield starting pitcher Charlie Huber (6-2), who traded zeroes with Young, coasted into the fifth with a one-hit shutout. Huber threw just 35 pitches through the first four innings. He threw 34 pitches in the fifth alone and was succeeded by closer Nick DeMarco.
Anthony Jichetti led off the fifth for Old Bridge with a double down the left-field line. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Payam Agha Ghassem, who had the Knights' only other hit - a third-inning single - laid down a perfect safety squeeze to plate Jichetti. The bunt to the first-base side of the mound was a tough fielding chance for the left-handed Huber.
"He gave me the sign and I wasn't expecting it,'' Ghassem said of Old Bridge coach Mike Anastasio. "We work on it in practice every day. I knew it was going to come in handy. I had to get it down. It was the perfect pitch. I tried to get it to the right side. The pitcher luckily bobbled it.''
No.‚9 batter Tom Garvey followed with the best at-bat of the night. He fouled off three straight full-count offerings before lacing an RBI double to left field for a 2-0 lead. Young capped the rally with an RBI single to right on another full-count offering.
"Thank God it was three runs and not two,'' said Young, who drove a fastball that was up and away to the opposite field. "I shouldn't have been swinging at that pitch, but somehow I got the bat on it and I had a nice rip, so I'll take it.''
South Plainfield rallied for two runs in the top of the sixth. Tomei drew a leadoff walk on a full count. Hutchison singled to right. Brandon Downes followed with an RBI single to left. Hutchison was erased after making a wide turn at second on a 7-5-4 relay. Downes took third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on Stephen Petriello's single to center. After Dan Hansen singled to put runners on the corners, Young worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.
Anastasio never considered removing Young, whose nasty two-seam fastball, which he kept down in the strike zone, never lost its bite.
"Jon is our guy, plain and simple,'' said Anastasio, a 1983 Madison Central graduate. "I've seen him all year. In the middle of games like this it looks like he's flattening out a bit. But he's got another gear, and he showed it tonight. That's why he's going Division I. When you push him, that's when he's at his best.''
South Plainfield starting pitcher Charlie Huber (6-2), who traded zeroes with Young, coasted into the fifth with a one-hit shutout. Huber threw just 35 pitches through the first four innings. He threw 34 pitches in the fifth alone and was succeeded by closer Nick DeMarco.
Anthony Jichetti led off the fifth for Old Bridge with a double down the left-field line. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Payam Agha Ghassem, who had the Knights' only other hit - a third-inning single - laid down a perfect safety squeeze to plate Jichetti. The bunt to the first-base side of the mound was a tough fielding chance for the left-handed Huber.
"He gave me the sign and I wasn't expecting it,'' Ghassem said of Old Bridge coach Mike Anastasio. "We work on it in practice every day. I knew it was going to come in handy. I had to get it down. It was the perfect pitch. I tried to get it to the right side. The pitcher luckily bobbled it.''
No.‚9 batter Tom Garvey followed with the best at-bat of the night. He fouled off three straight full-count offerings before lacing an RBI double to left field for a 2-0 lead. Young capped the rally with an RBI single to right on another full-count offering.
"Thank God it was three runs and not two,'' said Young, who drove a fastball that was up and away to the opposite field. "I shouldn't have been swinging at that pitch, but somehow I got the bat on it and I had a nice rip, so I'll take it.''
South Plainfield rallied for two runs in the top of the sixth. Tomei drew a leadoff walk on a full count. Hutchison singled to right. Brandon Downes followed with an RBI single to left. Hutchison was erased after making a wide turn at second on a 7-5-4 relay. Downes took third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on Stephen Petriello's single to center. After Dan Hansen singled to put runners on the corners, Young worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.
Anastasio never considered removing Young, whose nasty two-seam fastball, which he kept down in the strike zone, never lost its bite.
"Jon is our guy, plain and simple,'' said Anastasio, a 1983 Madison Central graduate. "I've seen him all year. In the middle of games like this it looks like he's flattening out a bit. But he's got another gear, and he showed it tonight. That's why he's going Division I. When you push him, that's when he's at his best.''
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