Lyndhurst's Tyler Herman went the distance, giving up four hits, with two walks and nine strikeouts for Lyndhurst in a big 3-0 road win over Rutherford.
LYNDHURST – The feeling in the Lyndhurst dugout after a loss on Wednesday to a two-win Emerson team was, to say the least, not enjoyable, but with their ace next up in the rotation the Golden Bears had a chance to quickly change its mood. Facing Rutherford’s hard-throwing right-hander Chris Gioia, Lyndhurst’s Tyler Herman knew he had to be locked in on every pitch in what was sure to be a low-scoring affair.
The pitching matchup lived up to the billing with the two matching zeros early. It would come to who could get the big hit and it was Shawn Bellenger that provided two of them.
His RBI double in the fourth opened the scoring. Then, in his next at-bat, Bellenger’s sinking line-drive dropped to plate two more runs. That was all Herman needed as he wiggled out of a jam in the second and then was on cruise control the rest of the way as Lyndhurst bounced back with a 3-0 win over Rutherford on Friday afternoon at Memorial Field.
“This game is always circled on our calendar every year and it feels great to get a win here when we really needed one,” said Bellenger.
Gioia, a three-sport star who will play football at Marist in the fall, was dealing early. He retired the first nine batters he faced with relative ease. The Bulldogs had a chance to go ahead with two runners in scoring position in the second inning, but Herman got a big strikeout to end the threat.
Rutherford starter Chris Gioia allowed just two hits.
“I was working away and found my groove early,” said Herman. “My job as a pitcher is to keep them off-balance. It’s about timing and being in control. I felt pretty good right from the first inning.”
Then in the top of the fourth on an 0-2 count, Jayson Bellenger got hit with a pitch and then stole second. Two pitches later, Shawn Bellenger got the pitch he wanted and drove it into the right-centerfield gap to bring home his brother with the game’s first run.
“I’ve known (Gioia) a long time and he’s a great pitcher, I had my work cut out for me,” said Bellenger. “Baseball is always a tough game the first time through the order. Then you start to pick up tendencies and look for any advantage you can. I knew he liked to throw fastballs earlier in the count. So I was looking for one over the middle or on the outer half and went the other way with it.”
It stayed that way until the top of the sixth when the Golden Bears had runners in scoring position with Shawn Bellenger stepping up again in a big spot. Once again, he delivered with his shot to left dropping inches in front of a full extension dive by the Bulldogs’ left fielder to bring home Ryan Lemanowicz and Ryli Piniero to make it 3-0.
The Bulldogs tried to make something happen in their last at-bat, but that was derailed by a runner’s interference call for a double play with Herman retiring the final batter for his second shutout of the season.
Shawn Bellenger drove in all three of Lyndhurst's runs.
Herman pitched a gem for Lyndhurst (8-5). He went the distance, giving up four hits, with two walks and nine strikeouts. Shawn Bellenger’s two run-scoring hits were the only hits of the game for the Golden Bears.
Gioia took the hard-luck loss for Rutherford (9-3). He gave up just two hits, walked four, and also had nine K’s. Freshman Quinn Weber had two of the Bulldogs’ four hits.
The win keeps Lyndhurst just a game back of St. Mary’s in the NJIC-National Division race. More importantly, it shows that this team is dangerous when they have their ace on the mound and play a clean game.
“Rutherford is always a big game for us, and it was great to see us come together after a tough loss to Emerson,” said Lyndhurst Pat Auteri. “(Herman) pitched great and Shawn (Bellenger) got the big hits at the right time. We need to be more consistent for sure. But this is the type of game that could get us over the hump and realize what kind of team we can be for the rest of the season.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT PLEASE CLICK HERE. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.
