MONTCLAIR- Quinn Carlesimo simply enjoys playing America’s pastime every chance he gets and the future Williams College infielder is certainly looking to make the most of his senior season for what is developing into a superb Montclair Kimberley Academy team which was fired up to face neighborhood rival Montclair on Monday in the annual Yogi Berra Cup Game before a spirited crowd at the Mounties’ spanking-new Dr. Jonathan C. Ponds Memorial Field.
The MKA senior shortstop was solid in the field and at the plate with a big RBI double and two runs scored, but it was in his fourth at bat in the seventh inning when a wild pitch on ball four sent home a runner from third base to produce the game-winning run in a dramatic 5-4 Cougars victory.
MKA (10-2) also received a strong relief appearance from senior Alessandro Rizio who settled down after giving up the tying run in the sixth inning to retire the Mounties 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh including recording two strikeouts and a ground out to the sure-handed Carlesimo to seal the deal.
“I’m just having fun being with our team this season,” said Carlesimo, who is hitting over .360 and knocked in his 16th run of the season in Monday’s game. “And, I play for these types of games against Montclair, our rival.
“I live in town and I love the guys on their team, but I want to beat them and this win was so much fun!
“The wild pitch on ball four actually hit the back of my foot and enabled the go-ahead run (freshman Henry Court from third base) to score. I was just trying to do my job to get the baserunner home, and while I want to get a hit to drive in a run, the most important thing is just to score anyway we can there to take the lead!”
Rizio, who is usually MKA’s No. 1 starting pitcher, had pitches left in him from the recent stretch and while he hit a batter (the Mounties’ David Aishton) to leadoff the bottom of the sixth inning and then saw the game tied, 4-4, on Casey Blau’s RBI single, he settled down very nicely in the seventh inning to nail down the victory, fanning both Nate Van Note and reigning first-team all-stater Benjamin St. Pierre on called third strikes before inducing a game-ending 6-3 ground out from Nate’s older brother Patrick Van Note for the final out of an entertaining back-and-forth contest between two local rivals.
“I might have been a little nervous there when I took the mound in the sixth inning, hit the first batter I faced, and then gave up a game-tying hit, but then I dug deep there in the seventh,” said Rizio. “Winning the Yogi Berra Cup game is phenomenal, especially for us seniors.
“We had also beaten them as sophomores, but lost to them twice last year and we definitely wanted to win this one!”
Montclair, which lost its sixth straight game with Monday’s independent setback, slipped to 5-9 on the season.
Along with demonstrating their usual speed on the bases to either steal a bag or advance on an error, the Cougars were able to make the Mountie pitchers work.
MKA batters, including No. 2 hitter, senior center fielder Jake Rendino, built pitch counts vs. the Mountie hurlers, including the impressive southpaw sophomore starter Asher Seawell (92 pitches, 5 1/3 IP, 3 HA, 4 BB, 4 K’s, 4 R, 2 ER) and reliever Sam Dorian.
Rendino drew walked his first three at bats, scoring runs in the fourth and sixth innings, and then banged out a 2-out single during the Cougars’ game-winning rally in the seventh.
Carlesimo delivered an RBI double to the left-center field fence to plate Rendino with the game’s first run in the fourth inning before he also scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brooks Barrett to make it 2-0 MKA.
The Mounties had their best plate appearances of the game in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by back-to-back doubles from Dorian and Kody Nesbitt to plate the first run before Aishton’s RBI triple temporarily deadlocked the contest at 2-2.
Montclair took their only lead in the bottom of the fifth when Patrick Van Note worked a 2-out walk off MKA starter Shea Ievers (5 IP, 4 HA, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 0 K) before Dorian hammered his second double of the contest to score Van Note to make it 3-2.
Fielding miscues by the Mounties helped MKA regain the lead, 4-3, in the top of the sixth as Rendino and Carlesimo scored on an error-filled, fielder’s choice ground ball off Rizio’s bat where a pair of errant throws by Mountie infielders wound up allowing MKA to plate two runs.
“You have to play good, clean baseball to give yourselves a chance late in games and we’ve just made our fair share of mistakes,” said Mounties veteran co-head coach Ron Gavazzi. “We’ve been up and down this season and very inconsistent at times.
