NORTH CALDWELL- As far as Mendham coach Erik Dial sees it, sometimes it is just a matter of getting a bat on the ball with two strikes, and his veteran players such as senior Ben Moschella are more than happy to live with that approach, especially when the result is what occurred in helping decide Friday afternoon’s North 2, Group 2 quarterfinal at West Essex.
The Minutemen’s No. 3 hitter did as much as he could ever wish to do on a 2-2 count vs. West Essex ace Jackson Lodgek, delivering a 2-run single to erase a 3-2 deficit and propel seventh-seeded Mendham to a 5-3 win against the second-seeded Knights.
The victory catapults the Minutemen (15-12-1) into Wednesday’s N2G2 semifinals at neighboring archrival West Morris, the third seed, which slipped past Lyndhurst, 4-3, in another sectional quarterfinal on Friday afternoon.
A young West Essex team (21-8) saw an otherwise superb season under first-year head coach Anthony Genchi come to a heartbreaking finish as the Knights were just two outs away from advancing when Moschella delivered the biggest hit in his young life.
“I get two strikes almost every at bat and am actually most comfortable in that situation,” said Moschella, whose 1-out, bloop single into short center field plated both pinch-runner Andrew Epitropakis and Ajani Bowrin for a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh. “We work on hitting with two strikes every day in practice and it’s great to see it pay off in games, especially one as big as this one.”
Mendham delivered 4 of its 6 hits in the seventh inning to change the game while five straight batters reached base with one out and accounted for three runs in the frame. Pinch-hitter Billy Schwartz began the rally with a single to left field. Ajani Bowrin was hit by a pitch, Matt Lynch (2-for-4 with 2 runs) had an infield single to load the bases and then Moschella delivered his critical 2-run single.
Freshman Thomas Drechsel relieved Lodgek and was greeted by an RBI single by Max Orlins for an insurance run making it 5-3.
The Knights made a well-executed 1-2-3 double play to end the frame; however, the damage had been done.
Mendham had taken a 2-0 first inning lead thanks to small ball and daring baserunning. Following a lead-off walk to Ajani Bowrin, Matt Lynch executed a near perfect bunt and a throwing error on the play by the Knights allowed Bowrin to score and Lynch to take second.
Lynch then stole third and another throwing error allowed him to score.
“When you face a pitcher like him (Lodgek) you kind of have to try and manufacture runs,” said Dial. “Sometimes, if you sit back and wait for that big inning and hope for three hits I a row or that big double it never happens; so you kind of have to push the envelope a bit and that’s what we did today.
“Our kids executed and I’m proud of them!”
The Minutemen only had two hits, including the Lynch bunt hit, in the first six innings vs. Lodgek (6 1/3 IP, 105 pitches, 5 HA, 5 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 9 K’s) and certainly didn’t wind up needing a mammoth hit into the gaps or against the fence to generate their runs which was perfectly fine for Dial, who has total faith in his team to make things happen, even against first-rate pitching.
“This is a tough group that went deep in the playoffs last year (before falling to West Morris in the N2G2 final) and we play a really tough schedule and face a lot of good pitchers like the guy we faced today,” said the Mendham fifth-year head diamond mentor. “He was really good and he was bringing it; he has a good slider and we worked really hard in practice on a 2-strike approach which means just putting the ball in play with two strikes, and if you make contact with the ball chances are good things will happen and Ben did a great job there!”
Mendham also received strong-enough pitching from starter Nate Norin (4 1/3 IP, 80 pitches, 6 HA, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K’s) and the reliable reliever Epitropakis (2 2/3 IP, 4 HA, 1 BB, 1 K), who was credited with the victory.
Norin entered Friday’s contest having already thrown 47 pitches in his team’s first-round 5-2 victory over 10th-seeded Becton Regional on Wednesday (May 27). Still, he was sent to the mound to start vs. West Essex.
He labored at times, especially in the fourth inning when his wild pitch allowed Drechsel, who had singled, to race home from third to cut the Mendham lead to 2-1, before a well-executed bunt single by Gary Buccino and a throwing error preceded an RBI single by Knights freshman Ethan Fiss (2-for-2 with an HBP) to tie the contest at 2-2
Yes, Norin was a bit gassed, but pitching on short rest was nothing new for the Stevens Institute-bound mound ace who followed a similar scenario in pitching on short rest in just a 48-hour span earlier in the month.
“I was definitely pretty tired and definitely felt it there in the fifth, but I did it earlier this season when I threw 48 pitches in a (7-4) win over Ridge (on May 12) and came back and threw 100 pitches vs. Gill St. Bernard’s (in 3-2 loss on May 14)," said the veteran Minutemen hurler who is 5-1 on the season with a 1.29 ERA. “This was tough because they (West Essex) are a great team, but seeing my teammates come through again and win this game feels amazing!”
Epitropakis (4-4) relieved Norin with one out and two men on in the fifth and West Essex greeted the Minutemen’s top reliever by taking a 3-2 lead on a solid single from Rocco Pontrella, an infield error and then an RBI single by Carlino Gencarelli.
Still, in the bottom of the seventh, despite giving up a 1-out single to Drechsel (2-for-4 with a run), the William Paterson-bound Epitropakis settled down and closed the door retiring the next two batters for the win.
“I’ve been in those close situations so many times these past, including after pitching in four state games last year,” said the veteran Mendham reliever. “If I fall behind 2-0 in the count I just take a deep breath and look to throw a strike, and I like that 2-1 count a lot.
“I trust Nate every time he makes a start for us and I just look to do the job to take us home with a win. This was a tremendous win and I’m just happy I can keep playing some more baseball with a great group of guys we have on this team.”
For West Essex, which had only three returning veteran seniors and started two freshmen on the infield with Drechsel at third and Fiss at second, it was certainly a successful season overall, but just wasn’t the result that the Knights were looking for when heading into the seventh inning with a 1-run lead only to see the Minutemen stage their late and decisive rally.
“That’s baseball and hats off to Mendham, they played really well today,” said Genchi, who came to West Essex this year after a long run coaching with Ron Gavazzi at Montclair. “They deserved it; they play good baseball up there (in Morris County) and against good competition and they were ready.
“For us it’s a learning experience for our younger guys and, as I told our team, seeds don’t matter in the states, and that’s the way it always is.”
North 2, Group 2 quarterfinals:
(7) MENDHAM (15-12-1) 200 000 3 - 5 R 6 H 3 E
(2) WEST ESSEX (21-8) 000 210 0 -3 R 10 H 2 E
2B- West Essex: Cole Fiore
WP- Andrew Epitropakis (4-4) LP- Jackson Lodgek (6-3)
North 2, Group 2 State Tournament:
First Round, May 27:
(1) Caldwell 20 (16) Hillside 0
(8) Hackettstown 7 (9) Parsippany Hills 5
(5) Rutherford 3 (12) Passaic Valley 2
(4) Madison 22 (13) Shabazz 1
(3)West Morris 5 (14) Voorhees 1
(6) Lyndhurst 4 (11) Bernards 1
(7) Mendham 5 (10) Becton Regional 2
(2) West Essex 17 (15) Parsippany 4
Quarterfinals, May 29:
Caldwell 8 Hackettstown 2
Madison 11 Rutherford 1
Mendham 5 West Essex 3
West Morris 4 Lyndhurst 3
Semifinals, Wednesday, June 3:
Madison at Caldwell
Mendham at West Morris
Final, Friday, June 5, also at higher seed
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