Tuesday, April 6, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Dan Valladares allowed just four hits in a complete game victory for Indian Hills, which knocked off Old Tappan, 5-3. on Monday.

OLD TAPPAN – In the NBIL, where the difference between baseball teams can be a slight as a bounce of the ball, the winning formula is simple: throw strikes, put the ball in play and take advantage of an opponent’s mistake or two. Indian Hills did all of that in the first inning of road game at Old Tappan on Monday afternoon and the four runs it put up in the opening frame, even if three of them were unearned, turned out to be just enough.

Dan Valladares was responsible for two of the three ingredients as hits his one-out, two-run double made Old Tappan pay from some sloppy defense and he then threw strikes for seven innings, going the distance on a four-hitter as Indian Hills held on for a 5-3 win and its second straight victory after a loss on Opening Day.

“We’ve had our troubles offensively early on, so to come out with four runs in the first inning was huge for us. We needed all of them because you saw what happened after that. We kind of got mowed down in the middle of the game,” said Indian Hills head coach George Hills. “That is why we are preaching the little things so much this year because in the NBIL you have to execute to have a chance, especially against a team like Old Tappan, which is so well-coached and puts pressure on you the whole game."

Joe McNerny drove in Old Tappan's second run with a pinch hit single on this swing in the fifth inning.

But it was the Braves that applied the early pressure as, with one out in the top of the first inning, Brian Greer reached on a error. Rob Safir followed with a single and Nick Fiore drew a walk to load the bases for Valladares, who delivered the double the other way to put Indian Hills in front for good 2-0 just five batters into the game.

Old Tappan’s second error of the opening inning, this time on a ground ball hit by Jason Ogull, allowed Fiore and Jacob Warnet, the courtesy runner for Valladares, to score and give Indian Hills a four-run cushion.

For there it was up to Valladares to make it stand up and he set about doing so by facing the minimum nine batters over the first three innings. The lone hit he allowed over that span, a two-out single by Dale Veselsky in the third, was nullified when Valladares picked him off first base to get to the fourth inning unscathed.

Valladares has been elevated to the No. 1 slot in the Indian Hills rotation with the graduation of both Jarrod Avidon and Justin Van Grouw and, after a rocky outing in the season opener against Glen Rock, showed that he is up top the task.

“I was around those guys last year and they were great role models,” said Valladares. “Personally I don’t fear it because I am not trying to be Jarrod or Justin, I am just trying to do my best and if you live up to what Jarrod did here or Justin did then you have accomplished something. It’s more like a goal to live up to what those guys did more than having what they did here hang over my head.”

Rob Safir had two hits and an RBI for Indian Hills.

Valladares ran into his first bit of trouble when hit Jeff Pinelli with the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth inning. Mike O’Reilly followed with a sacrifice bunt and Steve Casamento got the Golden Knights on the board when he sliced a double into right field. A hit batsmen and a walk got Valladares into trouble again in the fifth as pinch hitter Joe McNerny delivered an RBI single and O’Reilly did the same two batters later to get Old Tappan back to within 4-3.

But unlike against Glen Rock when Valladares was knocked out of the box in the fifth inning, he got stronger in that frame on Monday. After getting a strike out to close out the fourth, Valladares set down the side in order in the fifth and that was the turning point, according to Hill.

“I thought it was so important for [Valladares] to come out, after they had their one big inning, and go one-two-three in the fifth. They had all the momentum and you can’t give Old Tappan anything because they will take it and run no matter what kind of lead you have,” said Hill. In the Glen Rock game he walked six, he only pitched into the fifth inning and he kind of lost it after 75 pitches, but not today. He was locked in out there.”

OT starter Ian Osterman allowed just one earned run in six quality innings.

Old Tappan (1-2) starter Ian Osterman was pretty locked in himself. His defense let him down in the opening inning, but never rattled and set down 15 of the 18 batters he faced over the next five innings. He left after six allowing just one earned run, four hits and two walks while striking out eight. It wasn’t until after Osterman exited that Indian Hills was able to add an insurance run.

A leadoff single by Mike Laurice batting out of the No. 9 spot got it started and Kurt Strittmatter’s sacrifice bunt attempt turned into an infield single and a throwing error that moved Strittmatter to third from where he scored on Ron Safir’s single up the middle.

Safir, who contributed as a sophomore in 2008 before losing his junior season to a shoulder injury, is a key piece to the Braves’ offense. Safir (2-for-4, RBI, R), a lefty batter who hits in the No. 3 spot, has to be a consistent contributor for the Braves, who return just two everyday players from last year’s team. It is even more important early in the season as Ryan Van Grouw, who will be the starting third baseman, recovers from a case of mononucleosis and Jason Ogull is limited to designated hitter duties as he recovers from biceps tendonitis.

“For us the big thing is just putting the ball in play because when you do that it can either find a hole or the other team can make some mistakes. I have to do that and the whole lineup has to do that for us,” said Safir. “Every year we just try to outdo what we did the year before and we have great team chemistry. A lot of us have been playing together since freshman year and we all pick each other up.”

Mike Laurice's leadoff single led to an Indian Hills insurance run in the seventh.

Old Tappan got the leadoff hitter on in its final turn at bat courtesy of a Joe Rizzo single, which meant that it also had the tying run at the plate for e the next three hitters, but Valladares retired the final three hitters of the game to close out Indian Hills’s second win of the season against one loss.

“Whenever we come here we know what we are in for. Tim [Byron] runs a great program his teams are always ready to play and we have had some great games against them over the years. To get out of here with a win any time is an accomplishment,” said Hill. “We are very happy to be 2-1 because we were not pleased with where we were after the preseason and then with the way we played our first two games. We are also a little banged up and we have not really hit the ball all that well, so to be 2-1 after all that is pretty good for us at this point.”

For Old Tappan, which lost a tough one in extra innings on Saturday against Ramsey, the loss was its second of the season but not the end of the world.

“We have a lot of guys that are inexperienced, a lot of guys that are getting their first taste of varsity baseball. And you can see that when we have an inning like we did in the first when we made two errors and spotted them four runs,” said OT head coach Tim Byron. “We’ll learn and we are going to be tough when it counts. We just have to keep our heads above water until we figure it out.”

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