Thursday, April 28, 2011

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Mike Origoni watching his seventh inning home run sail away during Emerson's 13-7 win at Waldwick on Wednesday afternoon.

WALDWICK – An Emerson baseball game on the days when 6-foot-8 senior David Palladino pitches are starting to take on that circus-type feel. The crowds are a little bit bigger, the opposition is a little more keyed up and the radar guns of professional scouts are popping up behind the backstop. Palladino will pitch Division 1 baseball at the University of South Carolina –Upstate next season unless plans are changed by the Major League Baseball draft. But the baseball field at Waldwick High, with its cozy dimensions in right and centerfield, is not the ideal place to find a pitcher’s duel.

So after a few innings of 88s and 89s on the radar guns, the rest of the game was about the ping of the bats. After Waldwick drew to within a run in the bottom of the fourth inning after falling behind 4-0, and with both starting pitchers gone by the fifth inning, Emerson scored nine times in its final two at bats, sweated out the bottom of the seventh and got out of Waldwick with a 13-8 win.

“Like I’ve said before, [Waldwick] can beat the Yankees here. The dimensions are such that a ball can go out at any time on any kind of swing. They did for us and they did for team, especially late in the game,” said Emerson head coach Bob Carcich. “I have a lot of respect for [Waldwick] and I thought it was a great job by both teams of battling. We had pinch hitters come off the bench and do nice things, we had relief pitchers throw strikes even if they didn’t hold them down. It was a good ballgame.”

Dylan Ritondale, Waldwick's No. 3 hitter, hit one of the Warriors' two home runs.

It was and it started with a bang, actually two of them, in the top of the first inning. Palladino, batting in the No. 3 spot, hit a prodigious home run to straight away centerfield that was a high as it was far…and it was far over the fence and the house that sits just behind it. That was followed closely by a distant clap of thunder that delayed the game for 30 minutes.

With an unearned run to the third and a two-run inning in the fourth, Emerson built a 4-0 lead as Palladino sailed through the first three frames allowing just one hit while striking out four. But the bottom of the fourth inning started innocently enough with a groundball off the bat of Waldwick’s Kevin Nitsche and the complexion of the game changed.

Nitsche’s shot took a bad hop past Emerson first baseman Mickey Stec and found its way into rightfield for the hit that kicked off a rally that would elevate Palladino’s pitch count and get the Warriors right back in the game. Dylan Ritondale (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB) and Eric Greenwald drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and James Dertouzos’ fielder’s choice got Waldwick on the board. Dertouzos (1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, SB, 2R) was caught stealing on a close play at second base for the second out before Ryan Biango a walk in front of John Simeone’s two-run triple got the Warriors back to within 4-3.

Both starters, Palladino (5+ IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 H, 6 K, 0 BB) and Nitsche (5+ IP, 7 R, 6 ER, 6 H, 5 K, BB), hung zeroes in the fifth, but neither recorded an out in the sixth as the game switched to the bullpens and the bats on both sides welcomed the change.

Emerson starter David Palladino went 5+ innings to improve to 5-0 on the season.

“Waldwick is a great team and each batter I threw to gave me a great at bat. There was nothing easy about this game for our team or for me. Their guys in the 3 through 5 hole [Ritondale, Greenwald and Dertouzous], they were solid hitters and they gave me the best at bats that I have faced this year so far,” said Palladino, who improved to 5-0 on the season with two no-hitters already in his pocket. ”It was the same feeling I had last season in the [Group 1] state semifinals (a loss to Whippany Park). I got into some tough situations. I worked my self out of them sometimes, sometimes I didn’t but that is the game and you have to learn every time out.”

Frank Parisi (2-for-4, 2 R) opened Emerson’s time at bat in the top of the sixth inning with a triple to left center and Dan Scala drew a walk to set the table for shortstop Joe Buono, who moved up one spot in the order for this game and made the most of his late game opportunities. He hit a three-run homer, the first of his high school career, to bump Emerson’s lead back to 7-3. He also hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh, recording all of his career-high 5 RBI in the final two innings.

“I’ve been hitting out of the eight hole, but coach moved me up today and I struck out in my first two at bats. I was behind in the count my third time up, and coach told me just to keep both hands on the bat and make a connection,” said Buono. “It felt good [to hit my first home run]. I heard the guys yelling on the bench and I knew it was a crucial moment in the game.”

Waldwick's James Dertouzos had a home run and three RBI.

Waldwick got one run back on Connor Walsh’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to get within 7-4, but Emerson tacked on six more in the top of the seventh. Mike Origoni (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, R) hit a two-run homer in that frame, Buono had a two-run single and Anthony Hill and Shawn Carpenter each added RBI singles.

Waldwick got a two-run homer from Ritondale and the same from Dertouzos in the bottom of the seventh, but by then the deficit was too wide to overcome. Emerson improved to 10-2 on the season, while the Warriors fell to 9-2. While this was the only regular season game played between the two top Group 1 programs, that does not mean they might not see each other again.

“You tip your hat because Emerson has a top-notch program, but I think we represented ourselves well today and I hope we see them again down the road,” said Frank Clark, who is in his second season as Waldwick’s head coach. “I think it would be a great game in a sectional setting or somewhere in the Group 1 playoffs.”

Carcich wouldn’t mind that either, but he knows that there is a long way to go before he starts contemplating potential state tournament matchups.

“It’s a great start to the season, but what we are looking for is a great finish. Sometimes we start great but fade,” said Carcich, who has piled up well more than 400 wins in his tenure as Emerson’s head coach. “But this was a good win for us and I just told the kids in the huddle that this was a high mark in our season so far and from this point on it is time to start playing like champions.

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