Scotties’ Sasso scores winner in 7th in playoff opener

By: Sean Moylan
   As Joe Wilson’s homer sailed over everyone’s head to tie the score at 4-4 in the top of the seventh, Danny Sasso and the rest of the Bordentown Regional High School baseball team must have felt like they were jinxed.
   After all, Sasso and the boys had lost a playoff opener last year on an even more bizarre and unlikely comeback by an opponent.
   This is not last year.
   Sasso made a vow last year to lead the team on and off the field. Sasso escaped the top of the seventh with the score still tied. In the bottom of the seventh he scored the winning run as Bordentown defeated Rahway, 5-4, in the Central Jersey Group II playoff opener played Monday at Gilder Field.
   "It was probably the best win we’ve (the current players) have ever had," noted Bordentown Coach Joe Sprague.
   In the seventh, Sasso reached on an error and made it all the way to second. He moved to third on Kevin Malloy’s single and scored the game winner when the Rahway catcher threw the ball into the outfield trying to catch Malloy stealing.
   This team deserved some luck.
   Rahway tallied a run in the first, but Bordentown answered back with two. Taylor Martucci walked, stole second and scored on K. Malloy’s single. Later in the frame, Sasso walked and crossed the plate when a batted ball by Sean Malloy was misplayed.
   The Scotties added a run in the second when Mike Medina, who had walked and moved to second on Martucci’s walk, scored on Brandon Fraser’s single.
   In the fifth, Fraser blasted a double and later came around to score on K. Malloy’s run-scoring hit. That gave Bordentown a 4-3 lead at the time.
   "Brandon Fraser had a really good game. He was 2-for-4 with a double, a RBI and a run scored. After being out for some time with an injury, Medina returned to the lineup and picked up where he left off.
   "Medina hit a bomb today. It was good to have him back," said Sprague.
   The Malloys were both great as usual.
   Bordentown (seeded 7th) will now move on to play at Spotswood on Friday. This is a team of battlers who never give up. Don’t count out the Scotties.
   Back on May 18, Bordentown lost a 14-0 decision to Moorestown. Bordentown’s game at Florence last Friday was rained out. With the playoffs now going, it will not be rescheduled.
   PATRIOTS



   The Bordentown Patriots rolled off a solid 9-4 victory over Millville Sunday morning to bring their winning streak to seven to start the season.
   Mark Hoppe hurled four innings of scoreless one-hit ball to earn the win. Keith Trout (4 1/3 innings, four runs allowed). Newcomer Dave Hunt (two thirds of an inning) and Tom Walls (a perfect ninth) all proudly took the ball for Bordentown.
   "Kevin Beetle, Curt Appleby and Pat Redwood each had two hits," added Bordentown manager Bruce Kafer, whose team brought more joy to Bordentown’s Annual Street Fair.
   Bordentown’s next opponent will be Glassboro on June 5.
   FLORENCE



   Before the top-seeded Florence Township Memorial High School baseball team begins its journey toward a possible Group I Central Jersey title tomorrow, the Flashes are owed some congratulations.
   For while the Flashes could boast a superior player at nearly every position, an early-season injury to Matt Ordog, Joe Spahn, Anthony Cardone, Ryan Lee or either Giambrone brother could have severely hampered the team’s chances of making the post season.
   The Flashes not only had to play great to be dubbed the top team going into the tournament but they had to stay healthy too because they don’t have great depth. They did both.
   Last Thursday Florence wrapped up its divisional play with a 6-2 home win over Palmyra.
   "We clinched the Freedom Division with the win," said Florence Coach Ryan Pandolfini. "We were 8-1 in the Freedom."
   The Flashes rocked the Panthers with a three-run third inning. Lee tripled and Foehr doubled in the contest. James Chambers and Spahn combined for the victory. It was just another in a long line of great wins this year.
   Last Friday’s long anticipated schedule game versus Bordentown was rained out.
   On Saturday, Hamilton West defeated Florence, 8-0, at Hamilton.
   Ordog (4-2) suffered the loss despite striking out five, walking no one and allowing just three earned runs in four innings. S. Giambrone pitched the final two innings. Ordog, Cardone and Nick Schmidt had Florence’s only hits.
   On Tuesday, Moorestown defeated Florence, 4-2.
   Nonetheless, Florence scored two runs in the first on Cardone’s RBI triple and Spahn’s run-scoring infield single. In the second, after Chris Giambrone and Chambers reached on infield singles, Taylor Lovejoy and Ordog both came through with clutch two-out hits.
   "We hit the ball well but they were an excellent offensive team," said Pandolfini.
   The Flashes (16-7) will host Highland Park on Friday. They earned a first-round bye.