Thursday,
June 5, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Michael Ragone singled with two outs and two on in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Ridgefield a 6-5 win over Dayton in the Group 1 state semifinals on Thursday at Ramapo College. |
MAHWAH – Those kind of chances do not come around that often if they ever come at all. First of all a player has to be on a team good enough to reach the later stages of the state tournament like Wednesday's Group 1 state semifinal. Then it has to be a game close enough so that an at bat with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning actually means something and then that player's spot in the order must come up.
All of those factors were in play as junior Michael Ragone, the No. 9 hitter in Ridgefield's batting order, left the on deck circle at Ramapo College to take his swings with runners on second and third with two outs. Ridgefield had battled all the way back from a four-run deficit to tie the game and it was up to Ragone to end it or enter the crap shoot that is postseason extra innings.
“I knew the situation going up there. There were two outs and runners on second and third and I knew that we had never been to Toms River before, so I just really wanted to hit the ball,” said Ragone, Ridgefield's designated hitter. “We were supposed to take a strike because that is what we do in the seventh inning. I forgot all about that. My mind was blank. First pitch was a ball up and I didn't swing. The second pitch was right there and I hit it up the middle, exactly what I was trying to do. When I got to first base my coach said 'You better run,' because as soon as I touched first all of my teammates were running out after me.”
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Ben Steel doubled in two runs in the third to give Dayton a 4-1 lead. |
That was because the celebration was on. Ragone's single scored Syam Lafi from third base with the winning run in a 6-5 victory over Dayton Regional that puts the Royals in the state final for the first time in the program's history. The exact time and venue are yet to be determined, but Ridgefield will play Shore Regional for all the marbles in the Group 1 state final on Saturday somewhere in Toms River.
Head coach Joe Gambardella, however, was just hoping to make to the bus for the ride back to Ridgefield.
“I am going to have a heart attack, definitely,” said Gambardella. “This win is a testament to these kids. Like I told you the other day on [Talkin' Baseball], they just keep grinding out at bats. They never stop believing. They just keep their heads down and keep playing no matter the situation.”
Gambardella also mentioned on the above-mentioned show that his team was not the type to go out and win a slugfest, but after falling behind by a 5-1 score after four-and-a-half innings, the Royals really had no other choice.
The first five Dayton hitters in the top of the third inning all reached safely to put to rest any thoughts of a pitcher's duel. Mike DePalma drove in a run with a ground ball, Joe Iuliano hit the chalk down the left field line with an opposite field double to drive in another and Ben Steel pulled a double into left field to drive in two more as the Bulldogs wiped out a 1-0 Ridgefield lead with a four-run frame. Dayton got into the Ridgefield bullpen when Chris Martucci was brought on in relief in the top of the fourth and then made it 5-1 when Michael Iuliano scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth.
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Ridgefield's Chris Martucci doubled in two runs and also threw 3-plus innings of quality relief. |
Martucci was the starting pitcher and threw two innings on Tuesday when the same two teams met only to have the game washed out by Mother Nature. Gambardella decided to hold Martucci in relief, while Dayton (24-5) head coach Mike Abbate elected to run his ace, Chase Kimmel, back out there to start after having thrown 40 pitches in his two innings on Tuesday.
It was a calculated risk and it was working just fine for the first four innings but the tank may have been close to empty as Ridgefield (20-10) rallied for four runs and tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Kimmel got the first hitter of the inning to look at a called strike three, but then Santo Guinta drew a walk to kick things off. Gavin Salazar and Martucci stroked back-to-back doubles down the right field line with Martucci's driving in two runs. Jordan Neira then singled before Lafi lifted a sacrifice fly that was followed by Vin Cumella tied the game with his single to right. In all, Ridgefield sent 10 hitters to the plate, knocked Kimmel (4 1/3 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 3 BB) out of the box and tied the game at 5.
Meanwhile, Martucci gave his team exactly what it needed as he worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning and got an out in the seventh before passing the torch to close Gavin Salazar with the game still tied.
“I am not really a big kid, I don't throw that hard so I had to go in there and command every of my pitches and I did,” said Martucci (3+ IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 1 BB). “I was just focused on doing my job and figuring out how to score and win the game was up to the rest of my team.”
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Joe Iuliano had 3 hits and drove in a run for Dayton, which finished the season with a 24-6 record. |
Martucci struck out the first hitter of the top of the seventh but Joe Iuliano reached base anyway when the throw down to first base got always. After a pop-up for the first out and a single by Michael Iuliano, Gambardella called for Salazar, who retired both hitters he faced with a strikeout and a pop-up.
“I new my job and that was to hit my spots, command my pitches and get out of there safely and as fast as I could,” said Salazar, who got the save in two state tournament games (Pompton Lakes and Emerson) and came out the winner when his team rallied in the seventh on Wednesday. “I was so confident in my team that we would get it done because we have so many times before. I just had a good feeling going into [the bottom of the seventh.”
The feeling was justified as Lafi singled with one out and Cumella blooped in his third hit of the game, a single to shallow right. Joe Giannini then moved both runners up a base with a ground ball before Ra gone ended the game by driving the second pitch of his at bat up the middle for the winning run.
It was the bottom of the order that did the damage for the Royals as the Nos. 6-9 hitters – Lafi (2-for-3, RBI, 2 R), Cumella (3-for-3, RBI, SAC), Biaggiani (3-for-4, RBI) and Ragone (1-for-3, RBI) – were a combined 9-for-13, but it was Ragone who bore the brunt of the celebratory pile up.
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Vin Cumella was 3-for-3 with an RBI for Ridgefield, which will play Shore Regional for the Group 1 state title on Saturday. |
“Santo [Guinta] killed me. He tackled me hard,” said Ragone. “I was at the bottom of the dog pile and I couldn't even breath, but it still felt great.”
Ridgefield has already ready rewritten its baseball history book as it won has won its second state sectional title in four years after going 42 years without one. It is one of only 12 teams in the state with a game left on its schedule with a chance to win its first ever outright state title.
For a kid like Cumella, a senior with deep roots in the program, it is a dream come true.
“My brothers played for this school and this is the last season that any of us will play at Ridgefield. I have two brothers who played for four years and this is my fourth year. That's 12 years and this is the first time we have ever gone this far,” said Cumella. “We won the section two years ago, but to take it this much further is just incredible.”
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