Thursday,
April 17, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Christian Runza making contact with his third inning single that drove in two runs during Old Tappan's 8-2 win over Ridgewood on Wednesday. |
OLD TAPPAN – Pitching and defense are the bedrocks of winning baseball teams and have been the trademarks of the many highly successful teams that Northern Valley/Old Tappan head coach Tim Byron has had over his career. This year's version of the Golden Knights have the pitching part down pat; the defense? That has been the issue.
“Terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Every game you might as well just put a four up there [in the error column], but I am going to find the right combinations eventually,” said Byron. “We are throwing to five extra batters a game, we are talking another 20 or 22 pitches that we don't have to throw and eventually it is going to kick us in the [butt].”
Eventually maybe, but not yet.
Because Old Tappan pitches so well and because the Knights have hit better this season than many expected, they have maintained their position as one of the top handful of teams in Bergen County. Case in point was Wednesday's game against Ridgewood where Old Tappan committed five errors, but battled through to post an 8-2 victory over Ridgewood to improve to 6-1-1 on the season.
Old Tappan's pitching depth is the great equalizer as the rotation is led by two Division 1 signees in John O'Reilly (Rutgers) and Brandon Issa (Tulane). Opponents get no relief however when the draw the Knights' No. 3, senior Scott Oberhelman, who might not throw as hard as the other two but is by no means any easier to hit. Crafty is usually returned for a soft-tossing left-hander pitcher, but it also fits the style of Oberhelman, the right-hander who throws all four of his pitches – fastball, change-up, curve and slider – not just for strikes but for strikes that either paint the corners or the bottom of the zone.
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Ridgewood shortstop Nico Symington was sooth in the field and drove in the Maroon's second run. |
“Other teams kind of relax when they see it is me pitching. One of their coaches asked me before the game if I was the one going to Rutgers and I said no. It was kind of like he was relieved,” said Oberhelman. “For me it has been great pitching behind those guys because they throw hard and then I come in and throw junk and keep a team off balance. I'm different from them and I see that as an advantage.”
The movement on Oberhelman's pitches produces as bunch of groundballs, which means that some are going to find holes or be mishandled and Oberhelman (6 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 2 BB) has gotten used to pitching with runners on base. Ridgewood had one hit in each of the six innings he pitched and was given five bonus baserunners, but Oberhelman knows how to limit the damage. He did not give up multiple hits in any one inning, he walked on two and both came in the fifth inning when he temporarily lost the strike zone, he did not allow an extra basehit, he stranded eight runners on base and both of the runs scored against him were unearned.
Ridgewood took the lead in the top of the second when Mitchell Campbell reached on a two-base error with two outs and scored on Anthony Hroncich's line drive single back up the middle. Old Tappan answered right back with two runs in the bottom of the frame to go ahead for good. Christian Runza doubled down the third baseline to score Dylan Hrbek with the tying run and, with two outs and an 0-2 count on the batter, Michael Pisano, the courtesy runner for Runza, scored the go-ahead run on the front side of a double steal. Brandon Issa just beat the play at second and Pisano did the same at home as Old Tappan took a 2-1 lead.
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Old Tappan starter Scott Oberhelman threw 94 pitches to get through 6 innings without allowing an earned run. |
The Knights extended their advantage in the third with Runza, the senior catcher who will play football at Monmouth University, again providing the big hit. Jim Fasano led off the third with a single, Tyler Sokolich reached on an error and Hrbek was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out before Runza picked the same spot. He pulled his hands in and yanked a hard ground ball down the line that banked off Campbell, the Ridgewood third baseman who just got a piece with an all out dive to his right. Fasano ( 1-3, 2 R, SB) and Sokolich (1-4, 2 RBI, R) scored to make it 4-1.
“Ridgewood is a very good team and this is the first time I have ever beat them in my high school career in any sport. This was a big game for me and all these seniors because we haven't had much success against Ridgewood going back to freshman year right up to now,” said Runza, who finished 3-for-4 with 4 RBI. “I was trying to do too much at the plate and thankfully I got some good swings. I haven't gotten many hits this year, but I have hit the ball hard, so eventually they were going to start falling and today they did.”
Old Tappan tacked on in the fourth with pinch hitter Tom Guerrero starting the rally by drawing a one-out walk against Ridgewood starter Kyle Finnerty, who went the first three-and-a-third innings. Kevin Lawlor (1-4, RBI, R) singled and Fasano was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Sokolich, who doubled deep to center to chase home two runs and Runza's single up the middle made it 7-1.
Ridgewood missed an opportunity to get back in it in the top of the fifth as Jack Foresman hit a leadoff, pinch-hit single, Kengo Kawahara reached on an error and Nick Copola walked to load the bases with one out. Nico Symington, the Maroons' smooth-fielding shortstop and No. 3 hitter who will play at Tulane next year, lifted a sacrifice fly to center. A groundball by Eric Lewis moved the runners to second and third with two outs before Connor Van Caugherty, who will play next season at Cincinnati, was intentionally walked to load the bases. But Oberhelman buckled down to get a flyball to centerfield to end the threat and worked a clean sixth before giving way to Anthony Saro, who walked around a two-out error in the seventh to close out the game.
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Jack Foresman hit a pinch-hit single leading off the fifth to set up Ridgewood's second run. |
“We've been in a bad streak for the last couple of games and it doesn't take too much for that to happen. One or two plays let getting ourselves out of an inning with a double play and we left a lot of men on base. We out-hit them 7-6 and they made five errors, but we just didn't get the big hit to really put the pressure them,” said Ridgewood skipper Kurt Hommen, whose team fell to 4-4 on the season. “But I still think that we are going to get ourselves righted. I am optimistic about that because we have good players and we just need to get a win or two under our belts here to get us going back in the right direction. We are not that far off.”
Despite its defensive troubles, Old Tappan is heading in the right direction. It was one of the preseason favorites to go deep in the Bergen County Tournament if not win it and has done nothing to dent those expectations with six wins in its first eight games. The lone loss came against surprising Pascack Valley and the tie was against Paramus Catholic in a rain-shortened game that the Knights hope to make up later.
“I think the county tournament is going to be fun because there are going to be a lot of teams that think they can win it and we will be one of those without a doubt,” said Byron, whose team will host Mount Olive on Thursday afternoon before visiting Paramus on Saturday. “We'll pitch and pitch with the best of them and we'll get some timely hitting, but we have to tightened up the defense and see if we can get on a run.”
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