May
30, 2006
WAYNE -- Brad Smith was spending his Sunday as millions of others were doing on this summer-like Memorial Day weekend. He was enjoying a picnic, until a phone call changed all of his plans.
Lakeland first-year manager Rick Capozzi was on the other end of the line, telling his sophomore pitcher to take in a movie. The film was For the Love of the Game, with Kevin Costner as a major league pitcher.
Smith took his coach’s advice, viewed the flick, then came out on Monday morning in the Passaic County tournament championship game and delivered an effort deserving of an Oscar nomination for Best Clutch Performance by a Sophomore.
Working in 87-degree heat, Smith spun 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing his Lancer teammates to finally figure out Passaic Tech hurler Anthony Collazo and defend their county championship with a 3-0 victory at Passaic Tech.
Lakeland closed its season at 22-5 and won its third county title in four years, and in doing so ended Passaic Tech’s 7-game winning streak. The Bulldogs, the 2004 champ, finished 16-12 after missing out on the state tournament.
So, why that movie, coach?
“One reason,” he answered. “I know the pressure that they can put on with the cheering and the yelling, and there’s the part in the movie with ‘clear the mechanism,’ and I told him to watch it and go home and listen to loud music and focus on something and see if you can block it out.”
“In the movie, Kevin Costner’s on the mound, and he’s saying, ‘clear the mechanism’, block everyone out, don’t hear anything,” Smith related. “That was the motivation.”
Smith stayed clear throughout, even in a second inning where Passaic Tech loaded the bases with one out. Jonathan Marichal started the frame with a single down the left field line and, after a strikeout, Benedy Mejia reached on an infield single to the right side and Carlos Duarte walked on four pitches, putting his manager to the test.
“I was close (to making a switch) in the second when he loaded the bases,” Capozzi acknowledged, “but Brad’s been in the conference championship game and he’s pitched some big games, so I gave him a shot.”
Smith rewarded the decision by striking out the next two hitters, including an 8-pitch battle on the first whiff.
“I’m a ground ball pitcher,” Smith said. “I’ve had times where I’ll strike guys out, but mostly its ground balls and the guys behind me making the plays.”
That was the last true threat for Tech, which never got another runner past second base. The only trouble was that Lakeland wasn’t having any more success with Bulldog lefty Anthony Collazo (2-2).
Collazo was something of a surprise starter, having tossed a couple of inning in the semifinal win on Saturday and dealing with an assortment of injuries throughout the season. Still, he matched Smith zero for zero.
“This is the Anthony Collazo that we were waiting to see all season,” PCT manager Jim Lentine said of the junior. “This was what everyone was expecting him to be. Maybe today he caught up. I guess he needed an 87-degree day to finally loosen up.”
He, too, escaped a bases load jam after Lakeland juiced the sacks in the third. John Slootmaker led off with a single to center, and was sacrificed to second. Ryan Burke walked and Matt Tomczyk laced a hard single to center that got there so quick that Slootmaker had to hold at third. Collazo then struck out the next hitter and ended the frame with a groundout to short.
The two continued their pitcher’s duel, and while the Lancers weren’t scoring, Capozzi was getting the innings out of Smith that he had hoped for.
“After he got into the groove, things fell into place,” he said. “I knew the deeper we could get him the better off we were, because I had Slootmaker (who had two complete game victories over PCT in the regular season).”
In the bottom of the fifth, Lakeland finally broke through. With one out, Brian DePree was hit by a pitch, and he stole second while the next batter was striking out. The theft became pivotal when Tomczyk sent another single to center, this one not nearly as hard, to score DePree.
“That’s baseball,” Capozzi said. “The first one he rips and it’s too hard, this one finds a hole and we get the run.”
Dave Heerse then nubbed one towards third. He beat out the throw for an infield hit, and when that throw got away from the first baseman, Tomczyk scored and Heerse went to second. He came around when a pop up was dropped in the infield top make it 3-0.
“It should have never happened,” Lentine lamented. “It’s 0-2 and we hit the batter, we drop a pop up, the one hit’s a bleeder. They’re a great team, and we played them tooth and nail, but they made the plays and we didn’t.
“I wish it would have been a home run (that beat us), or two home runs. I would be able to sleep easier.”
Now pitching with the lead, Smith got the first two hitters in the sixth before Juan Padilla smacked a single. Capozzi immediately went to the mound and brought in Slootmaker.
“I told John, when one baserunner gets on, you’re coming in,” Capozzi recalled. “I didn’t tell Brad that, and he was kind of surprised when I went out there to get him.”
“I never want to come out,” Smith said. “Any pitcher doesn’t want to come out. I think I was pitching a pretty good game.”
The Lancer ace struck out the next hitter to end the inning, and worked through a nervous seventh, walking two batters to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs. He got an innocent pop to first base, setting off the celebration.
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