Friday, April 24, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Justin Van Grouw struck out 9 in 5 2/3 innings of work, hit a home run and added a two-run double as Indian Hills improved to 5-4 on the season with an 8-4 win at Old Tappan.

OLD TAPPAN -- Justin Van Grouw get plenty of chances to make an impact on a high school baseball game. As a starting pitcher, nothing happens until he throws the ball, and he does that well enough to have earned a scholarship to Wake Forest University. As the No. 3 hitter in the Braves lineup, Van Grouw gets at least three chances a in a game to make something happen with the stick. For his younger brother, Ryan, the opportunities don't come as often so when they do he has to be ready when called upon. On Thursday at Old Tappan both Van Grouws put their stamp on the game, Justin for all seven innings and Ryan with one timely swing of the bat.

Justin Van Grouw hit a third inning home run to give his team the lead for good, added a two-run double in the top of the fifth inning and struck out nine batters in 5 2/3 innings of work on the mound before leaving with a three-run lead.

When an error and a wild pitch allowed Old Tappan to sneak back to within a run in the bottom of the sixth, Ryan Van Grouw got his chance in the top of the next inning and made the most of it. Ryan Van Grouw, a left-handed hitter, was called upon to pinch hit with one out and two runners on base.

Rob Pulsonetti rounding third after his second inning home run drew Old Tappan even at 2.

Ryan Van Grouw jumped on a first pitch fastball and yanked it over the right field wall for a three-run homer run that made the bottom of the seventh a lot easier to get through in Indian Hills 8-3 win in an NBIL crossover matchup.

“Coach [George Hill] told me to swing a bat before the inning started so I knew I was going to get an at bat and I was glad that it came with a chance to drive in some runs,” said Ryan Van Grouw, a junior. “I was sitting on a fastball because I knew [Old Tappan starter Alex Caravella] wanted to get ahead [in the count] and I was able to pull it.”

Ryan Van Grouw’s shot rebuilt the Braves’ cushion, Dan Valladares worked around a two-out walk to throw a scoreless bottom of the seventh inning and Indian Hills had an important win as it kicks off a three-game, three-day gauntlet in the NBIL. The Braves (5-4) got back over the .500 mark for the season before facing off with heavyweights Wayne Hills on Friday and Ramapo on Saturday.

The eight runs and 14 hits could not have come at a better time for Indian Hills, which has been struggling with the bats this season.

“We’ve been awful, to put it mildly, awful at the plate. Our last game we struck out 13 times, seven of them looking and we lost 1-0. Now the pitcher we faced was very good, but we didn’t do much to make it hard on him,” said Hill. “This was a quality win for us. With the way the weather has been everybody is backed up with games, but for us this was big because we have Wayne Hills and Ramapo coming up there is not going to be a lot of rest.”

Indian Hills' Chris Turton making the pivot on a double play that closed the fifth inning.

Indian Hills got started early by taking advantage of a couple of Old Tappan mistakes. After Jared Avidon drew a walk leading off the game, he went first-to-third on a single by catcher Dan Dodd. Justin Van Grouw drove in the game’s first run before a throwing error and an infield single that was the result of a late throw to first base allowed Dodd to make his way around the bases for a 2-0 Indian Hills lead.

Old Tappan made up that deficit with one swing in the bottom of the inning when Rob Pulsonetti got a ball up into the wind and knocked it over the left centerfield fence that scored himself and Jeff Pinelli, the courtesy runner who came on after Caravella drew a lead off walk.

But lost in the fact that he lost the lead, was the fact that Justin Van Grouw was throwing hard when he wanted to and getting his breaking pitches over the plate, including his old-school overhand curveball that can be a knee-buckler.

He struck out two in the opening inning and had seven through the first three innings and gave his team the lead back at the plate with his solo home run in the top of the third inning that was nearly chased down by Old Tappan’s Thomas Messina, who ran out of room and then into the wall as the ball barely cleared his glove.

Senior Alex Caravella threw 6 2/3 inning for Old Tappan.

Dodd and Chris Turton hit back-to-back singles to open the top of the fifth and Justin Van Grouw came through again, lacing two-run double into the left centerfield gap that put Indian Hills up 5-2 and he got a 6-4-3 double play started by Kurt Stritmatter and turned by Turton to get out of the bottom of the fifth.

Justin Van Grouw (5 2/3 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 9 K, 5 BB, 1 HBP), who is just now returning to form after having his appendix removed the day before the preseason started, retired the first two batters he faced in the sixth before a Ben Bernstein single and a walk to pinch hitter Steve Cassamento prompted Hill to bring on Valladares.

A botched pickoff play at second base and a wild pitch allowed Old Tappan to score twice in the inning. Despite having just three hits through six innings, the Knights, the defending Group 3 state champions, trailed by only one run at 5-4.

But then Ryan Van Grouw stepped into end the comeback and drop Old Tappan to 4-4 on the season. And with their backlog of rainouts, the Golden Knights face a four-games-in-three-days scenario, including a Saturday doubleheader, and head coach Tim Byron knows his team will have to turn it around in a hurry.

Ryan Van Grouw heading to the plate after his pinch hit, 3-run homer in the seventh inning.

“We are hurting ourselves. We are not getting any timely hits. I thought today was the kind of day where you would want to get up there and swing the bats. With the way the wind was blowing anything in the air had a chance to go out, but we took too many first pitch strikes, too many fastballs for strikes against a kid with good stuff,” said Byron. “I think our strong point is our pitching and once we get in a groove we are going to be all right towards the end, but we are putting ourselves in a tough hole to try to qualify for some of the tournaments we want to get into. It’s always nice to finish strong, but you have to be able to put yourself in a position to be able to do that.”

As for Indian Hills and Justin Van Grouw, who was pitching into radar guns held by two professional scouts hanging out behind the backstop, they are hoping that Thursday’s win is the one that starts putting them in the position to make a run at the county and state tournaments.

“This was the first good outing that I have had all year so it was good to get past that breaking point and now I can look forward to the rest of the season,” said Justin Van Grouw. “We know that this week is going to be make-or-break, so hopefully we can carry this momentum into our next game against Wayne Hills.”

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