“That was amazing, just amazing. That was the best high school baseball game that I have ever been a part of,” said Dumont head coach Jason Cannici. “Win or lose it was a great game, but it was sweeter because it was my kids and they worked so hard all year to get in this position and they deserved the outcome they got. We made mistakes, but we battled back and River Dell is a great team, so this is special for us and for the school. We see that banner [with 1988 being the last league title] every day and now we can add something to it.”

That being said, now we can take our time laying out all the twists and turns of one of the best games played in North Jersey all season.

Dumont took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and made it 3-0 in the bottom of the second when Alex Macchio, the Huskies’ No. 9 hitter, hit a solo home run. River Dell chipped away with unearned runs against Dumont starter John O’Rourke, a senior left-hander who was brilliant on the mound for eight innings.

The Golden Hawks got one in the fourth inning and, staring at a 3-1 deficit entering the top of the sixth, River Dell went from having the bases empty with two outs to a three-run rally that was set up by a throwing error that allowed Blake Crouch and Scott Wiggins, a pinch runner for Nick Palotta, to score to tie the game. An infield single by Joe Abbedessa and a clutch two-out double by Lincoln LaGrotteria, River Dell’s No. 9 hitter, gave the Hawks their first lead of the game, 4-3, heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Normoyle nearly tied the game with one swing when he crushed a flyball to centerfield leading off the sixth, but RD centerfielder Chris Bova got back to the temporary fence to make the catch, then tumbled over it gave way when he made contact with it with the ball already in his glove. After the next hitter, Nick Soppes blooped a single and moved to third on a fly out, River Dell went to its bullpen after 5 2/3 solid innings from Ryan O’Neill (5 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 0 BB) and Crouch got a called strike three on the first batter he faced to end the sixth inning with River Dell still up 4-3.

Bova’s catch was one of many defensive sparklers for the River Dell defense, which played 8 2/3 innings of defense and committed just a single error and that came in the first inning. Another of the Hawks’ gems kept them in the game early came in the fourth inning when Rudy Morin singled with one out and Chris Kraykowski executed a perfect hit-and-run, slapping a single the other way and into right field as Dumont put runners on the corners with one-out and the Huskies leading by two runs at that point.

The next batter, Joe Palazzola, hit a chopper that was ticketed for centerfield before shortstop AJ Meccia got to it directly behind the second base bag. With his momentum carrying him to the outfield, Meccia used a backhand flip to get the ball to LaGrotteria, who got the force at second and them made a perfect pivot to complete the double play and save at least one run.

But even trailing by a run through six-and-a-half innings and through no fault of his own, O’Rourke was consistent pitch after pitch, inning after inning and he kept Dumont so close that one mistake by River Dell in the bottom of the seventh was enough to tie the game.

“I was never really worried about it. I knew we were going to get the runs we needed,” said O’Rourke. “Everybody makes mistakes and we made some on defense that gave away runs, but we have the best lineup in the league, we’ve shown that all year, and I knew were going to find a way.”

But nobody could have scripted the manner in which Dumont would tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Kraykowski led off with a single up the middle, went to second on a ground out and was at third with two outs after a swing and a miss at a strike three in the dirt. Derrick Cullen then drew a walk to put runners at the corners and, two pitches later, he made one of those awkward starts toward second base as the pitcher started his motion.

The design of the play is to force a balk, the result was just that and Kraykowski was awarded home with the tying run that forced extra innings.

“It doesn’t get much tougher than that. We were one strike away. We told everybody that the walk-off was coming, but we got beat again on it,” said River Dell head coach Brandon Flanagan, whose team lost a county tournament game in similar fashion in 2006. “They executed, we did not and they were the home team, they got the last licks, and that put a little more pressure on us. Beginning of the year I said Dumont was the best team and they proved it today.”

Both teams had their chances in extra innings. River Dell had two on with two out in the top of the seventh, but O’Rourke (8 IP, 4 R, 0 ER, 8 H, 6 K, BB) recorded the last of his six strikeouts to end the inning.

Dumont nearly ended the game twice in the top of the seventh as Normoyle led off with an infield single and moved to second on a wild pitch. When Soppes delivered a single to leftfield, Cannici sent the runner, but a perfect throw to the plate from Jake Mauriello was in plenty of time to get the first out of the inning when Kevin Sonnet slapped a tag on Normoyle at home plate.

Soppes went to second base as the throw went home, Flanagan elected to intentionally walk Joe Hrnciar to set up force plays across the infield and Dumont foiled the strategy with a double steal as Soppes, the catcher got to third base. But Crouch induced a pop fly for the second out of the inning and Meccia came through again, making a sliding backhand stop of a Kraykowski ground ball, then locating it in time to fire across the diamond for the third out that sent the game into the ninth inning.

It also meant the end of the day for O’Rourke and Morin came on to encounter a tense moment when, with one out, Sonnet reached on an error and moved into scoring position with two outs on Meccia’s sacrifice bunt. That set the table for Mauriello, River Dell’s cleanup hitter, who delivered a single to left field only to see the perfect relay from Kyle Cullen to Derrick Cullen to Soppes cut down Sonnet at the plate.

Crouch, who brought a knee-buckling curveball with him when he came on in relief from right field, got the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth before Derrick Cullen singled and stole second base. Kyle Cullen then drew a walk to set it up for Normoyle, who was looking to swing early in the count rather than allow Crouch to set up his deuce.

“I wanted a fastball and I got one of the first pitch,” said Normoyle of his game-winning at bat that set off a wild celebration between home plate and the pitcher’s mound. “It’s a great feeling and it was a great game to play in. It would have been really disappointing if we lost after all of that, so I was just glad I got the chance to come through.”

The loss dropped River Dell, which will play Ramsey in the Round of 16 in the Bergen County Tournament on Saturday, to 14-8 on the season and 13-3 in the BCSL-American Division with two league games left to play. The Hawks are also the No. 5 seed in the North 1, Group 2 state sectional playoffs and will host No. 12 Pascack Hills when the tournament gets underway on Monday.

Dumont improved to 17-4 on the year and finished their league schedule with a 15-3 mark. Westwood also had three league losses with two games left to play as of Thursday and Dumont swept the season series between the two teams. If there is a tie-breaker to determine the BCSL-American Division championship then Dumont has it wrapped up. If, as in some leagues, there is no tie breaker employed than the Huskies have locked up at least a share of the title.

No matter the semantics, Dumont was celebrating a league championship after Thursday’s game and rightfully so. And even though the Huskies, seeded sixth in the Bergen County Tournament will play No. 22 Paramus in the Round of 16 on Saturday and will open the North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament as the No. 3 seed against No. 14 Mahwah at home on Monday, the league title was goal No. 1 for this season.

“I told the seniors before the season that it would be sweet to add a league title to that banner in the gym this year after 20 years,” said Cannici. “Even though we lost to River Dell at their place when we played them the first time, we played them hard and we came in here with a lot of confidence. We had to work for this and that makes it that much more special for us.”