Twist ending as Bergen Catholic tops Don Bosco by Greg Tartaglia by The Record
RAMSEY – In a span of three days, Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco played baseball games with two of the strangest endings conceivable.
Bergen Catholic topped the Ironmen, 6-3, on Wednesday, avenging a 5-3 home loss Monday night to Don Bosco and giving the Big North United rivals a split in their series.
Wednesday’s game ended with an infield popup that turned into a double play. Don Bosco had the bases loaded with one out when DH Conor Buckhout skied a fly ball between second and first.
Umpires called him out on the infield fly rule – though ostensibly, not all of the runners heard the call. The ball dropped, and the Crusaders’ Dom Cancellieri recovered and threw to second base to erase the Ironman runner attempting to advance from first.
That finish followed a series opener which ended after 6½ innings. Don Bosco, ranked No. 3 in The Record Top 25, led Monday evening’s game at Overpeck Park, 5-0, in the middle of the sixth before the No. 2 Crusaders responded with three runs.
The Ironmen did not score in the top of the seventh, and around 10 p.m., the park lights turned off.
“It was as the catcher was catching the last pitch of the warmup,” Don Bosco coach Mike Rooney said. The game is considered official, per Big North executive committee member Greg Butler.
Although Bergen Catholic (4-2) was unable to complete a comeback in the first meeting, it broke through for two runs in the top of the first on Wednesday. Evan Bergman and David LaManna singled, and cleanup hitter Chris Gerard was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
Senior Vinny Martin then lined a shot to left that the fielder dropped, allowing Bergman and courtesy runner Jacob Denner to score.
“We wanted Monday; we thought we had some momentum going into the last inning, and we thought we could have pulled off the win,” LaManna said. “After it was ruled that it was over, we were hungry.”
The Notre Dame-bound catcher came through on defense in the bottom of the second. With one out and two on, he made a snap throw to first base to pick off a runner, and pitcher Mike Roll (2-0) induced a groundout to end the inning.
“It was a momentum-killer, really,” LaManna said. “They were about to put up a big inning, and I saw he was a little too far off, so I threw him out.”
The senior from Saddle River also blasted a two-run homer to straightaway center field in the top of the fifth, helping Bergen Catholic extend its lead to 6-0.
“He’s doing exactly what we were hoping for him to do,” Crusaders coach Bob Muggeo said of LaManna. “He’s our team leader, and he’s our best hitter.”
Don Bosco (3-2) got two runs back in the home fifth by stringing together four straight hits. Justin Cabanas’ RBI double and Anthony Petrosino’s RBI single chased Roll, and Denner came on to pitch in relief. A strikeout and a 4-6-3 double play later, the sophomore lefty had prevented further damage.
“It seems like the way pitching and defense is, it’s a little bit ahead of the hitting at this point in time,” Rooney said. “So when you all of the sudden give up four runs in the fifth inning, that’s a big hill to climb offensively.”
Ironman starter Jeremy Farraye (1-1), who has committed to pitch at Pepperdine, allowed three earned runs over four-plus innings, walked none and struck out four. Roll permitted two earned runs in his four-plus innings pitched.