Post 26 makes Final 8 for second straight year

By: Sean Moylan
   It seems that a new hero is born almost every night for this year’s talented Bordentown Post 26 American Legion baseball team.
   On Tuesday night that hero was Mike "Line Drive" Loffredo, who blasted a two-out, two-run seventh inning single up the middle to give Bordentown a 15-5 over Musconetcong Post 278 at Moody Park in Ewing. Loffredo’s clutch hit also put Bordentown (24-6) back into the Final Eight for the second year in a row.
   "I was struggling the last three games so it feels good to get a hit. It (the pitch) was a fastball. I just tried to put it in play," noted Loffredo, who drove in two more runs in the game on sac flies. Loffredo started the year at second base, but he willingly moved to left field to get Sal "Buey" Garofalo, a budding young star, in the lineup.
   "I’ll play wherever they want me to as long as we keep on winning," added Loffredo, who is a real team player.
   Loffredo’s base knock was very important because it saved the Post 26 staff from having to pitch two more frames. Now Bordentown can go into Saturday’s Final Eight game versus Edison Father and Son Post 435 at Lyndhurst’s Breslin Stadium with its Big Three (John Harvey, Matt Moceri and Dan Agos) all very well rested.
   While Harvey offered to pitch a few innings on two days rest, Cumming and Chris Hoyer (who stayed in constant contact with Bordentown manager Tom Dolan, who is recovering from heart surgery and is expected to be back for the Final Eight) made a decision to go with the "kids."
   Zachary Koss started and he was good (four runs allowed in 3 2/3 innings). Then lefty Jonathan Hibbard came in the game and he was great, allowing just one run and four hits in 3 1/3 innings. Both hurlers pitch for Northern Burlington Country Regional High School.
   "I tried to keep zeroes on the board and I pitched really well. I hadn’t pitched in a while, but I tried getting in there and throwing strikes," said Hibbard, who was told before the game by Bordentown assistant coach Andrew Csik to stay ready because he would probably see some action on the mound.
   Hibbard’s curve was sensational, but he also had a good fastball which kept the Musconetcong hitters honest. Koss started and blanked Musconetcong the first three innings to set the tone of the game. However, he was lifted after surrendering four two-out runs in the fourth.
   "In the first three innings I was keeping my pitches down. But in the fourth my pitches were getting away from me," said Koss, who also got a lot of outs with his nasty curve ball.
   Cumming, however, did not hesitate to put Hibbard in to close out the team’s biggest game of the year (so far).
   "He’s (Hibbard) already stepped up for us big time in other games," noted Cumming, who is very happy that Dolan (his great friend) is doing well and should return to the team soon.
   Of course it helps that Bordentown’s version of Murderer’s Row (Stevie "The Wonder" Giambrone, Andy Hoyer, Chuck Krichling, Matt "The Bat" Moceri, Bryan Henry and Matt Vereb) never seem to take a vacation when it comes to hitting. Those players were right in the thick of things when Bordentown scored three in the first and three in the second to take a 6-0 lead. Krichling, who seems to get at least two hits most games, went 4-for-4 with a double and five runs scored.
   "It was a little better than average game. It’s been a while since I was 4-for-4," said Krichling, who doubled down the third base line to start the seventh-inning rally.
   Giambrone (2-for-4 with a walk and a run), Hoyer (a single, walk and three runs), Moceri (2-for-5, three runs, RBI), Henry (3-for-5 with a double and three RBI) and Vereb (a two-run triple, three walks, two runs) all were as awesome as usual. Shawn "The Road Runner" Carter pinch hit and ripped a single to left. Bordentown cracked 16 hits and got back to scoring 10 or more runs a game after taking one game off.