Sunday, May 31, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Bobby Graber allowed two just two hits in a complete-game shutout of three-time defending champion Don Bosco Prep in the semifinals of the Bergen County Baseball Tournament.

DEMAREST -- It would be heresy, at least in baseball terms, to use the words vulnerable and Don Bosco Prep in the same sentence the past three seasons. Just two days ago the Ironmen were riding a 55-game winning streak against New Jersey competition and when talking about the Bergen County Baseball Tournament it was necessary to use the words three-time defending champion before the proper nouns. But after losing to rival St. Joseph Regional in the state tournament on Friday Bosco had little time to regain its footing before running headlong into Ramapo on Saturday in the county semifinals.

If Ramapo was going to have a chance to kick Bosco when it was down, it was going to have to be early.

“We had all week to prepare for this. We knew it was a big game, we were here last year and there was no intimidation factor,” said Bob Graber, Ramapo’s No. 5 hitter and its starting pitcher (but we’ll get to that later). “Our game plan was to strike early. We knew they were coming off a loss to St. Joe’s, a tough loss, and when teams come off a game like that they are vulnerable early.”

Anthony Simon was one of only three Bosco baserunners to make it as far as second base.

Whether there was any lingering effect from Friday is unquantifiable, but what could be counted were the four runs that Ramapo put on the board in its first at bat. And the way the Green Raiders did it, with a two-run double by Sean Munier, a situational groundout by Graber and Tommy Breault's two-run homer that was crushed into the trees across the street behind the leftfield fence, were emphatic.

Ramapo added two more runs in the second inning and then rode Graber all the way home to a 6-0 victory that put the fifth-seeded Green Raiders into the record book as the team that ended Don Bosco incredible run of success and into the tournament final on Sunday against second seeded St. Joseph.

Don Bosco Prep’s offense consisted of just two singles, one by Anthony Gomez in the top of the first inning and the second on an infield single by Brett Knief in the top of the fourth inning. It was a dominant performance on the mound by Graber, who was in control from start to finish. In his complete game, Graber struck out three, did not walk a batter and went after every one of them.

“He just two-hit one of the best offensive teams around, a team that had won 55 straight games [against New Jersey competition] before yesterday. I mean that is pretty damn good,” said Ramapo head coach Mickey Hunt. “He was in control from start to finish.”

Tommy Breault's first inning home run, his ninth, set Ramapo's single season record and gave the Green Raiders a 4-0 lead.

Graber was also visibly confident in throwing curveballs for strikes early in the count, getting ahead and dictating at bats. It got to the point that Don Bosco was looking for ways to break Graber’s rhythm with the cat-and-mouse game of stepping in and out of the batter’s box, but Graber wasn’t having it.

In the top of the fifth inning, Anthony Simon led off with a groundball to third base that Breault grabbed. His throw to first was high, but RJ Voorman went up the line to grab it and slapped a tag on Simon for the out as he was sliding by. The next hitter, Scott Hansen, hit the first pitch he saw to second base and Voorman scooped the throw out of the dirt for the second out and Matt Gaine then came up and took his time settling into the box.

Gaine stepped out, Graber took a walk around the mound to return the favor and when the home plate umpire called for all parties to get back to work, Graber’s next pitch plunked Gaine on the front elbow. Intentional or not, Graber made his point and then got the next hitter to pop up to end the inning.

Joe McNamara threw 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for Don Bosco Prep.

All of the run-scoring came in the first two innings. In the opening frame, Rob Santaniello got things going with a one-out walk that was followed by an error that allowed Kevin O’Connor to reach safely. Munier then delivered his run-scoring double, Graber’s ground ball allowed O’Connor to score from third base and then Breault crushed his ninth home run of the season, a school record, and the 11th of his career, tying him with Mike Lauricella for the all-time career mark at Ramapo.

“I got two strikes on me and I saw a couple of curveballs go by me in the dirt, so I figured that he would come back with a fastball and he got it up a little bit and I was able to get a hold of it,” said Breault, a starter on Ramapo’s soccer team that beat Don Bosco Prep in the Bergen County final earlier this year. “We wished we could have gone a little farther in states (the Raiders lost to Paramus in the North 1, Group 3 semifinals), but it does feel good to beat a great team like Bosco to get into the county final and get a chance to win it.”

Ramapo got right back after it in the second inning with Greg Madormo’s one-out double setting up Voorman, who singled home Ramapo’s fifth run. Voorman was the last batter that Don Bosco starter Greg Finneran faced and Joe McNamara came on. After walking the first batter he faced and making an error that allowed Voorman to score, McNamara (4 2/3 IP, 0R, 4 H, 7 K, 2 BB) settled in and at least gave Bosco a chance to mount a comeback, but it never came.

Sean Munier had an RBI double during Ramapo's 4-run 1st inning.

“We were all hurting yesterday, but we had BP this morning. We were loose, we were smiling and I told all of our guys that we have to put things behind us and you have to move on in the game of baseball. But I think a perfect storm happened with them jumping on us early and their pitcher stepping up and throwing an ‘A’ game,” said Bosco head coach Greg Butler. “We tried to get back by being overly aggressive against that kind of pitching and the stars just didn’t align for us today.”

They did align for Ramapo in its near perfect game, but how it ranks on the list of great games played under Hunt’s tenure is yet to be determined.

“Ask me tomorrow,” said Hunt, whose team will face St. Joseph for all of the marbles in a 2:00 p.m. start at Demarest High School.

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