Friday, April 2, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Rob Archetti showed he is all the way back from a knee injury as he homered in Ramsey's 8-0 win over Ramapo on Opening Day.

RAMSEY -- Rob Archetti's final football season could not have started any worse. His final baseball could not have started any better. After tearing a knee ligament on the opening play in the opening game and then having to watch from the sidelines as Ramsey went on to win the North 1, Group 2 state sectional football championship, Archetti could not have been more ready to get back on the field, any field. His chance finally came on Thursday and not only did he make his mark, he made a dent.

Three weeks after getting a clean bill of health and two at bats into his baseball season, Archetti got ahead in the count and then crushed a fastball off the word ‘Field’ on the John Ponchak Field sign that sits high atop the scoreboard beyond the fence in left centerfield. It was a two-run shot in a four-run third inning and the signature blast in Ramsey’s 8-0 win over Ramapo in the season opener for both teams.

“The winter was all rehab and getting my leg strength back. I started getting into the swing of things three weeks ago, hitting balls and running them out and just getting ready for today,” said Archetti. “I was real eager. Every day I would ask my therapist when I could come back because it is hard to just sit there in wait, especially in the winter when we started practice, but today made it all worth it.”

Justin Gartner played solid defense at shortstop and had two of Ramapo's three hits.

The game was a matchup between two of the best public school teams in Bergen County last year. Ramapo upset defending champion Don Bosco Prep in the county semifinals in 2009, Ramsey pushed eventual champion St. Joseph Regional to the limit in the other semifinal and both figure to be good again in a stacked NBIL this year.

For Ramsey, which lost just two everyday players to graduation from last year’s team, its biggest challenge was replacing Marcus Garone, the graduated ace of the staff. That title now belongs to left-hander Vince Fiori, who certainly looked the part against Ramapo. With precise command of all three of his pitches – fastball, change-up, curveball – Fiori was dominant for 5 2/3 innings.

Fiori allowed just two hits, a leadoff single in the top of the fifth to Tim Kologrivov and an infield single to the next batter, Justin Gartner. He responded by striking out the next three to continue his shutout and finished strong, striking out the final hitter he faced for the second out with the bases empty in the top of the sixth. Fiori finished with 12 strikeouts and just two walks and was removed solely based on pitch count.

“I was just trying to keep the ball down and mix up my pitches. I felt good today and I could throw any of my pitches at any time in the count. I tried to get ahead and then keep them off balance,” said Fiori, who was 7-1 as a starter last season. “I am just trying to do what Marcus [Garone] did for us last year. I have to step up and fill his shoes and try to build confidence for the rest of the pitching staff.”

Vince Fiori gave up just two hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings while striking out 12 and picking up the win for Ramsey.

The game was scoreless through the first two innings. Ramapo had drew two two-out walks in the top of the third, but Fiori closed the door with a swinging strike three and the Rams got their bats going in the bottom of the inning.

Rob Caliento was robbed of a lead off single by a diving stop and strong throw by Ramapo second baseman RJ Voorman, but that defensive gem delayed the inevitable. Leadoff hitter Brian Stevens drew a walk off of Ramapo starter Andrew Bauer (3 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 5H, 1K, 2 BB) and stole second from where he scored the game’s first run on an RBI single by Brian Bohmert.

Bohmert took second on the throw to the plate and was in scoring position for senior Mike Gwon, who drove in the second run by pulling a single into right field and he also took second on the throw home. That brought up Archetti, who got to see how his surgically repaired knee would respond to a trot around the bases. His home run was a line drive that was still climbing when it crashed into the scoreboard.

“With one out and a runner on first or second, I was just looking to move him over. But I just got a hold of it,” said Archetti, who worked the count to 2-1 in his favor before hitting the rocket. “I knew it when I hit it.”

Andrew Bauer threw the first three innings for Ramapo.

Archetti’s bomb made it 4-0 and the Rams tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jason Capuano (3-for-3, R, SB) led off the inning with a double Kyle Nelson (1-for-3, RBI, R) followed with an RBI single and Fiori (2-for-3, RBI, R), now relegated to right field on defense, pitched in with a run scoring double. Stevens (1-for-2, 2 SB, 2 BB, RBI, R) drove in the game’s final run and Kevin Mende (1 2/3 IP, 1H, 1K) faced just one batter over the minimum in his 1 2/3 innings of relief to close out the game for Ramsey, which is now a perfect 1-0 on the season heading into another early NBIL test against Old Tappan.

“We fired on all cylinders today. We did everything well and I was worried about it because in our scrimmages, with the lack of getting out [on the field because of weather], we did not look that sharp. But we have an experienced team and they didn’t let that bother them,” said Ramsey head coach Bill Chesney. “In the last two years we have come up one run short of a state sectional [title] and last year we came up one run short of making the county final. The goal is to get over the hump this year and bring something home at the end.”

Ramapo has similar goals for the season and even though Day 1 was not exactly what the Green Raiders had hoped it would be, it’s baseball and there is a lot of it left to be played.

“I always say about high school baseball: bases on balls and errors. But in order for the other team to make an error you have to put the ball in play. We did not put the ball in play, we didn’t even have a lot of foul balls and credit that kid [Fiori] for that,” said Ramapo skipper Mickey Hunt. “We did not have a good approach at the plate and I am very disappointed with that, but it is early. I remember one year we were no hit two straight games to start the season and we went on to win 20 games, so maybe this is a good omen. We’ll be a better team a month from now; we just have to keep progressing.”

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