Hillsborough wood bat team poised to defend GSBL crown

Team sweeps exciting doubleheader

By: Nick Vaccaro
   Hillsborough’s GSBL squad has continues to play great baseball this season.
   The team is 10-5, and will attempt to defend its GSBL title the weekend of August 4-5. Down the home stretch, manager Bob Pucciarello couldn’t be happier about the team’s level of play and maturity.
   "I enjoy watching the team play," Pucciarello said. "I am the coach but it is their team. We talk about the lineup. They are very honest with me. I have had players come and tell me to drop them down in the lineup because they aren’t hitting. This carries over to a good dugout atmosphere."
   On July 15, Pucciarello’s mix of Little League, summer league and high school veterans swept their doubleheader against the New Jersey Braves, playing the best and most intense baseball they have since joining the league back in the summer of 2005.
   Hillsborough took the first game 6-5 in eight innings. Hillsborough jumped out on top in the bottom of the first. Andrew Infante led off the inning with a walk. Andy Pogorzelski sacrificed him over to second, which was followed by an RBI line-drive single by Keith Laufhutte. Chris Sasso and Laufhutte then executed a perfect hit and run, putting Laufhutte on third. Nick McKee followed with an RBI groundout, putting Hillsborough up 2-0.
   The Braves came roaring back in the sixth against Hillsborough hurler Ernie Lukacs. Lukacs, who had been nearly untouchable for through the first five innings, allowed four runs in the sixth to give the Braves a 4-3 lead.
   Hillsborough tied it up in the bottom half of the sixth, but the Braves regained the lead making it 5-4 going into the bottom half of the seventh inning. After the first two batters were retired, Hillsborough was down to its final out.
   Rob Restaino came in to pinch hit. After working the count full, Restaino crushed a deep fly ball the opposite way, well over the left fielder’s head. On a jayvee field with no fences, Restaino chugged his way all the way home for a home run, tying the game at 5-5.
   "That was just about as clutch as you can be," player/coach Adam Siegel said. "It’s always amazing when someone hits a home run in that spot."
   Restaino’s bomb put the game into extra innings, a place where Hillsborough had yet to venture all season. After holding the Braves scoreless in the top of the eighth, Siegel started the bottom half with a single, which was followed by two quick outs. Laufhutte and Pogorzelski then both reached on walks to load the bases for McKee, who ended the game with a line drive single to score Siegel.
   Game 2 started off like the first. ‘Boro jumped ahead early, but the Braves came back to tie it in the third. The score was 4-4 going into the top half of the sixth when Restaino and Sasso gave Hillsborough the lead for good. Restaino nailed a one-out double, which was followed by a long triple by Sasso. Hillsborough eventually won the game by a final of 6-4.
   The stars of the best day in the team’s history were McKee and Restaino. McKee got the Game 1 victory, winning hit, and Game 2 save. Restaino was 4-for-4 on the day, with the rejuvenating game tying home run in the opening game and the game-winning run in the nightcap. He’s batting .652 on the season, so his heroics were not all that surprising.
   This past weekend, Hillsborough’s boys split a doubleheader against the New Jersey Jaguars, a team that they beaten in week one. The Jaguars have lost twice all season; both losses have been at the hands of the Hillsborough squad.
   In the winning effort, Hillsborough tagged the Jaguars for 12 runs, but the game remained close. In the slugfest, the team’s bats had to gear up to come back from a four-run deficit twice.
   Down 4-0 in the fourth, Infante led off with a single up the middle. After three straight walks scored Infante, McKee reached on an error to score another run. Jason Scala was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score another. Laufhutte scored on a wild pitch, which was followed by a go-ahead RBI single by Kyle Pucciarello. At the end of the inning, Hillsborough had taken a 6-4 lead, but it quickly vanished.
   The Jaguars rallied for six in the fifth inning, taking a 10-6 lead. Cue the second comeback rally.
   In the sixth, Siegel, Pogorzelski, Restaino, Laufhutte and McKee were responsible for giving their team an 11-10 lead by the innings end. After Sasso relieved McKee to pitch a scoreless bottom six, Hillsborough added an insurance run in the top half of the seventh. Sasso recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the seventh, striking out two, and getting some great defensive assistance from Pucciarello at first. ‘Boro won by a final of 12-10.
   Although Hillsborough will only have about nine or 10 available players for the championship tournament, they still plan on participating. The team finishes the regular season with a home twinbill vs. the Jersey Bulldogs.
   "Normally, this (having nine or ten players) is not a problem for a Sunday doubleheader" Coach Pucciarello said. "But when you are playing five games in two days, pitching becomes a problem with a limited roster."
   Pucciarello added that despite having a small crew, the team decided to play anyway, seeing as they are the defending champions. It will take more than a few absences to subdue Hillsborough’s great play and sustained momentum.