Raiders go 1-2 in three blowouts
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough American Legion baseball team had a rather strange experience at the recent Connie Mack Tournament in Bergen Beach, N.Y.
After opening the double-elimination tourney with an impressive 11-3 victory, the Raiders were sent home the next day after a pair of mercy rule defeats. It’s uncommon to see so many blowouts in tournament play, but Hillsborough was involved in three lopsided games in two days. Unfortunately, two of those games went against the Raiders, who finished their summer campaign at 15-13-1.
"It’s hard to put your finger on it," Hillsborough coach Dave Derkacz said. "We played a wonderful game the first game. The boys were really hitting the ball. We were just flat and we weren’t on top of our game after that."
Derkacz wasn’t thrilled with the condition of the fields at the Brooklyn site. He also thought the small turnout of five teams made the tournament somewhat of a second-rate operation. Nevertheless, the Raiders were there to win and they started well with an 11-3 rout of the Long Island Mudcats.
Hillsborough spotted the Mudcats two runs in the bottom of the first inning but dominated the rest of the game. The Raiders tied it with two in the second, took the lead with two in the fourth and pulled away with five in the sixth.
Eric Eden, who became one of the club’s most reliable pitchers this summer, did a wonderful job shutting down the Mudcats. Eden fired a complete game five-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks, allowing only one run after the first inning.
"He’s really matured into a very good pitcher," Derkacz said. "He’s taking what he’s learning and putting it to good use."
Hillsborough started its comeback in the second when John Newman walked and scored on a Chris Sasso double. Mike Gara walked to keep the inning alive and Sasso eventually scored on an error.
Gara manufactured the go-ahead run in the top of the fourth. He was hit by a pitch, stole second and moved to third on Chris Boucher’s ground ball to first base. Kyle McKenna bunted for an RBI and a 3-2 lead. Brandon Shamy then reached on an error, stole second and scored on Tony Crivello’s base hit.
Long Island scored its last run of the game in the bottom of the inning to make it close at 4-3, but it was all Hillsborough after that. Newman singled and scored on a Boucher fielder’s choice in the fifth but the five-run sixth put the game away.
Crivello reached on an error and singles by Tim Fedroff and Mike Yackanin loaded the bases with no outs. Newman followed with a two-run single and Sasso belted a two-run triple to left-center field. Gara’s fielder’s choice capped the spurt. Fedroff tripled and scored on a Newman single to finish the scoring in the seventh.
"Our bats came alive and they made a few errors to help us," Derkacz said.
After a break of just over two hours, Hillsborough returned to action against the Greater New Bedford team from Massachusetts. The 14-4 final score isn’t as bad as it sounds, considering the Raiders fought back from a 7-0 deficit to make it close before GNB scored seven in the bottom of the sixth.
Mark Demetriou opened the top of the sixth inning with a double. Boucher was hit by a pitch and both runners moved up on a balk. Marc Benson put Hillsborough on the board with a two-run single. Newman reached on an error and Crivello walked to load the bases with one out. Benson and Newman scored on an error and fielder’s choice.
Yackanin pitched fairly well after the first inning but gave up two runs in the fifth to make it 7-0. The Hillsborough relieverscouldn’t stop the GNB bats.
"They were just hitting the ball," Derkacz said. "Mike didn’t throw a bad game. We were in the game until they blew it open in that last inning."
The loss landed Hillsborough back in the consolation survival bracket against a familiar foe the Long Island Mudcats. This time, the Cats had their best pitcher on the mound and it made all the difference in an 11-0 loss that eliminated the Raiders.
Derkacz explained that the Mudcats had played five games during the previous week so they used the back end of their pitching staff in the beginning of the tournament. That left the ace available for the second day of action and the Long Island stopper held Hillsborough to one hit, a Rudy Burshnic single with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
"He was a good pitcher," Derkacz said. "He wasn’t overpowering, but our bats weren’t working. It was just one of those lethargic games."
Boucher surrendered two runs in the first and three in the second and lasted 3Ð innings before giving way to Kyle Derkacz, who was fairly effective in his brief relief stint.