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The South Brunswick Junior Legion baseball team used a dramatic rally in the last two innings of its regular-season finale to defeat St. Joseph Green, 3-2, and finish with an 18-4 record in the Greater Middlesex County League.
By finishing in sole possession of second place (just behind West Windsor-Plainsboro at 19-3),the Junior Vikings drew a bye into the state championship district round while teams seeded third through 10th will play a one-game elimination playoff to determine the other four teams from the league advancing to the states.
Pitcher Tyler Chromey, who raised his record to 5-1, kept SB in the game by scattering seven hits and allowing single runs in the third and fifth innings. He struck out nine and did not walk a batter, keeping St. Joe’s off balance by consistently throwing three different pitches for strikes. The Vikings bats were equally silent, however, as they could not collect a hit for four innings. Johnny Haas’ one-out double finally broke the ice, although he died at third base.
With two outs in the sixth, Mike Mariano walked, Bobby Flesta got an infield hit, and Jonathan Sock ripped a double over the centerfielder’s head to tie the score at 2-2. St. Joe’s had runners on first and second with one out in the seventh before Chromey struck out the No. 9 batter and Russ Grimes made a spectacular diving catch in deep center field to keep the game tied.
After an out to open the seventh inning Grimes legged out an infield hit and Dan Gurney laced a single to left center. Kyle Breese advanced the runners with a fielder’s choice, Mariano was walked intentionally and Bobby Flesta was walked intentionally to load the bases with two outs. Flesta then hit a sharp ground to the left of the third baseman, who fielded the ball to keep it in the infield. But he missed the tag on Gurney and Flesta beat the hurried throw to short, allowing Grimes to leap on home plate and start the celebration.
"These guys just don’t give up" manager Dennis Powers said. "We kept battling while playing errorless ball and getting some great pitching from Tyler that kept us within striking range until the bats came around.
"What more can I say, they’ve been winners since they started playing ball years ago and they still are. – they just have that intangible ‘something’. Call it heart, or will or drive or focus – it leads to a quiet confidence that says ‘We can do this,’ When they need to. That’s the ultimate compliment, somehow they find a way."
In a game played earlier that day, South Brunswick unloaded on Fords Gold in a 15-0 win cut short by the five-inning mercy rule. Erik Bednarski pitched a three-hitter with four strikeouts and a walk to raise his record to 3-0.
Brian Marrero led the onslaught with three hits and two RBI, while Gurney, Flesta, Chromey and Jake Jaskowski added two hits and two RBI each. Grimes, Breese, Mike Powers and Doug Berkowitz also contributed with RBI singles while the defense again played error-less ball in front of Bednarski.
South picked up a forfeit win over Fords Green before suffering a 1-0 loss to St. Joe’s White that forced it into the must-win situation on the last day of the season. Breese saw his deceptive record drop to 2-3 and his ERA to 0.55 as run support failed him again. Breese had eight strikeouts and allowed one walk and five hits, allowing just one earned run.
Two South Brunswick errors led to the St Joe’s run. The Junior Vikes loaded the bases in both the first and sixth innings but could not get a big hit when needed. Grimes, Gurney and Flesta got the SB hits while Mariano collected two walks.
The Vikes discovered what site they were headed to at Wednesday’s seeding meeting (after press time). The sites are Denville and Madison in North Jersey, and Tabernacle, Moorestown and West Windsor-Plainsboro in South Jersey. The district survivors will meet the following weekend at the state championship in Linden.
"We’re as ready as we’ll ever be," assistant coach Darryl Gurney said. "It should be lots of fun to see how we stack up against the best the state has to offer. Don’t forget, this team is battle tested."
Gurney added that the core of the team played countless big-time tournaments under the late Gary Mariano. South won the U-14 Babe Ruth state title, and played against the top teams in the nation at Cooperstown.
"Throw in current U-16 varsity players like Breese, Chromey, Marrero and Sock who have also played and competed in plenty of tournaments over the years while playing for an excellent coach in Al Breese, and we’re solid in all aspects of the game," Gurney said. "Factor in our great fans and the support of high school coaches (Leo) Danik and (Chris) Hayston and we’re really ready to rock and roll.
"This league is tough. Lots of rising senior-dominated teams and some excellent rivals from around the county have provided great competition. We’d love to stay close and play at West Windsor/Plainsboro, but point us to any field and the guys will be there ready to compete and hopefully win."
