Friday, April 8, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Toby Schwartz reached safely in all of his plate appearances and stole a base for Bergen Catholic, which improved to 2-1 with a 6-5 win over Westwood on Thursday.

RIDGEFIELD PARK – In its attempt to get back amongst the baseball elite in Bergen County, Bergen Catholic has chosen to walk a tough road. The Crusaders’ early season schedule is packed with heavyweights and they have more than held their own. After losing on a walk-off, two-run homer to archrival Don Bosco in the season-opener, the Crusaders bounced back with a hard-fought 8-6 win over Paramus Catholic. Next up was Westwood and its All-Bergen County southpaw Chris Carroll, who one-hit Northern Valley/Old Tappan in his first outing.

Bergen Catholic's Zach Cerbo cleared the bases with a two-out double in the fifth to give freshman starter Anthony Apreda enough cushion to pick up his first career varsity win as the Crusaders posted a 6-5 triumph over Westwood on Thursday at Challenger Field at the New Overpeck Park in Ridgefield Park.

"We knew we were up against a real tough pitcher today (Carroll), but we had to treat this game like we would any other game," said Bergen Catholic's Zach Cerbo. "Once we got down a couple of runs, we knew we had to battle even harder every single at-bat. We wanted to work the count and make him throw as many pitches as possible to try and wear him down so that when he made a mistake, we were ready to drive it."

Geoff Perez had a fifth inning home run for Westwood.

Bergen Catholic had two runners in scoring position with one out in the first before Carroll wiggled out of the jam without giving up any runs. Westwood then used small ball to scratch its way into the lead. Although they had just one hit into the outfield over the first two innings, an RBI single by Tom Vorvolakos, the Cardinals got a run across in each of those frames for a 2-0 lead.

The Crusaders got to Carroll in the top of the third with a two-out rally. Ryan Kelly worked out a walk and Eric Flanagan poked a single to right. Toby Schawrtz followed with a wind-aided double down the left-field line to score both runners, which tied the game, and moved up to third on the throw home. That was crucial as Charles Chen followed with a routine ground ball to the right side of the infield to plate Schwartz for a 3-2 lead.

A check swing call is as tough as it comes for any umpire, with two of them coming into play in the top of the fifth inning. Schwartz appeared to have gone around on a check swing with two strikes, which would have ended the inning. But it was ruled that he held his swing, allowing the at-bat to continue and he worked out a walk. Chen was then hit by a pitch to set the stage for Cerbo. On a 1-2 count, Cerbo also appeared to have gone around on a check swing only for it to be met with the same beneficial ruling as two batters earlier. Cerbo knew he got a second chance to break the game open and did so with one swing of the bat. He drove a Carroll fastball to deep right-center that landed just beyond the outstretched reach of Vorvolakos with all three runners scoring to make it a 6-2 lead.

Kevin McAndrew (right) and BC will take on Kennedy on Friday before a Saturday showdown against Old Tappan.

"It really could have went either way, but when they said I didn't go around, I looked at it as a second life and another chance to do something to help us pad our lead," added Cerbo. "I knew he didn't want to walk me, so I looked for a pitch on the outer half and was able to drive it. I thought the centerfielder was going to get there, but it dropped in."

Bergen Catholic freshman Anthony Apreda showed a bulldog mentality well beyond his years throughout, pounding his heavy fastball down in the zone and challenging a tough lineup to catch up to it. But after only allowing just three batted  balls to reach the outfield over the first four innings, Westwood shortstop Geoff Perez took advantage of a rare Apreda mistake in the bottom of the fifth. Perez caught up to a letter-high fastball and launched it over the centerfield wall to slice the Crusaders' then four-run lead in half, 6-4. The Cardinals got another run back in the sixth on a throwing error and had the tying run on second with two outs. But Apreda bore down and got a strikeout to end the inning.

Westwood had promise going into the bottom of the seventh down a run with the heart of its order coming to bat. But Crusaders' left-hander Mike Sutherland ripped that heart right by striking out all three batters swinging to notch the save and move Bergen Catholic above .500.

"Even though we gave up five runs, I actually thought we pitched very well today," said Bergen Catholic head coach Jim Burt. "Anthony Apreda did a real nice job for us and he pitched with confidence, which is rare for a freshman pitching against a solid team like Westwood. You can't ask for more than what Mike Sutherland did for us, striking out the heart of their order (1-2-3) with the game on the line."

Westwood starter Chris Carroll gave up three hits, walked four, struck out four, and hit two batters in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Apreda gave up five hits, walked four, and had 8 Ks in six innings of work to pick up the win for Bergen Catholic (2-1), which scored six runs despite having just three hits. Schwartz reached base in all of his plate appearances and also stole a base.

Carroll gave up three hits, walked four, struck out four, and hit two batters in 5 1/3 innings of work in taking the loss for Westwood (1-1). Perez, one of Bergen County's most underrated players, was the only player in the game to have two hits. Charles Lomalino and Mike D'Ambrosio also had hits for the Cardinals.

Bergen Catholic will look to keep its winning ways going on Friday when it faces Paterson Kennedy before a showdown against Northern Valley/Old Tappan on Saturday. Although the recent nail biting wins over Paramus Catholic and Westwood are great character-building wins, head coach Jim Burt wants to put them in the past and focus on the tasks in front of his team, not what is already behind.

"Today was a real big win for us, but now we have to be even better tomorrow," said Burt, a former star at Bergen Catholic and then at the University of Miami. "Our goal is to get better each and every day. If we keep gaining confidence and keep getting improving, then we should be right where we want to be at the end of the season. We still have a lot to work on and a long way to go, but this is a step in the right direction."

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