Sunday, May 25, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

EMERSON – Whenever any team gets through the regular season and into the Bergen County Tournament undefeated, the pressure increases with each passing round as it runs into tough competition playing with nothing to lose. On Saturday it was New Milford’s turn to take a crack at the two-time reigning champ Bergen County champion Don Bosco Prep and the Knights came into the game with a puncher’s chance. But the notion of an upset was dashed in just one inning as Don Bosco used the long ball to score a quick TKO.

Ben Luderer and Michael Vargas each hit two-out home runs in the first inning as top-seeded Don Bosco put up eight runs and breezed to an 11-1, five-inning triumph over eighth-seeded New Milford in yesterday’s Bergen County Quarterfinals at Emerson High School.

Vargas and Anthony Gomez led off the bottom of the first with base hits off of New Milford starter Matt Wunder. Brett Knief brought home the first run with a sacrifice fly, an error allowed another run to score before Steve Proscia’s RBI single made it 3-0. Luderer followed with a two-out, two-strike bomb to left to bump it to a five-run lead. Three batters later, Vargas crushed a Wunder offering to deep left for a three-run shot and an 8-0 lead.

“We gave them some extra outs, which is the ultimate of mistakes against a lineup like this,” said New Milford head coach Dennis Sasso. “Giving a team extra outs will always come back to hurt you. It just gets magnified when you are playing against a team like this that has tons of talent up and down their lineup. But we never quit and we battled all the way until the very end.”

That was more than enough run support for Bosco starter Mike Dennhardt. Coming into the game, the Boston College-bound senior was the only pitcher in North Jersey to throw a meaningful amount of innings and not give up an earned run. But New Milford came into the game with an aggressive approach at the plate and got Dennhardt into trouble in the second inning before breaking his scoreless streak in the third.

Singles by P.J. Doherty and Mike Vigna sandwiched around a walk to Andrew Presmal loaded the bases with two outs. Dennhardt ran the count full to Rob Hackett before sending him down swinging to end the inning.

In the third inning, Dennhardt’s streak without giving up an earned run that spanned nearly 50 innings came to a screeching halt with one swing of the bat. New Milford standout Will Walsh smoked a Dennhardt fastball to dead center for a long home run.

“It’s disappointing to give up an earned run, but I guess it was bound to happen,” said Dennhardt. “He beat me that at-bat and that’s pretty much all I can say. I just had to come back and focus on the next batter.”

With numerous pro scouts in attendance, he allowed just one hit the rest of the way to lift the two-time defending Bergen County champ into next weekend’s semifinals against No. 4 Ramapo.

Dennhardt allowed a season-high five hits, walked two, and struckout six for Don Bosco (26-0). Vargas and Eric Pfisterer each had two hits for the Ironmen. Proscia also hit a homerun in the second inning, his Bergen County record seventh in tournament play.

The Seton Hall-bound Walsh went 2-for-3 with the home run for New Milford (20-6). Doherty, Vigna, and Hackett had the other hits for the Knights.

“The one thing we always talk about is getting on the scoreboard first and dictating the tempo of the game,” said Don Bosco head coach Greg Butler. “We have the pitching and we can hit the ball well. We want to get a lead, then hold onto the lead with defense. We were very patient at the plate today and I think it showed over the first two innings.

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