Moceri, Henry, Krichling keep Post 26’s season alive

By: Sean Moylan
   All season long, the Bordentown Post 26 American Legion baseball team has asked Matt "The Bat" Moceri to be its own special version of Babe Ruth.
   Like the "Bambino", Moceri is a great pitcher and a tremendous hitter all rolled into one long (6′ 8") and lean player. And luckily for Bordentown, Moceri, the great pitcher, showed up and threw seeds to beat Haddon Heights, 7-5, and keep Post 26 alive in the state Final Eight, which is being held at Breslin Field in Lyndhurst.
   After scoring a pair of first-inning runs, Haddon Heights, a team stock-piled with six of Moceri’s former teammates from Camden Catholic, had no answers for Mighty Mo’s 90 mile an hour heater or his off-speed stuff. He gave up three runs on seven hits in eight innings while striking out nine and walking four. John Hibbard came into pitch the final inning and he struck out two and gave up two runs, only one of which was earned.
   "Playing versus a Haddon Heights team where everyone knew him, Matt Moceri was just phenomenal. He brought his ‘A’ game," said Bordentown manager Tom Dolan, the very deserving recipient of the MCALL Manager of the Year award.
   The win not only kept Bordentown alive in the tournament, it also kept it from being known for a rather dubious distinction.
   "We didn’t want to be known as the team that got to the Final Eight two years in a row and went two and out two years in a row," said Dolan.
   While Moceri had a base hit to support his own cause, his teammates did most of the heavy hitting. In fact, when Haddon Heights scored a pair of runs in the top of the first, Mike "Line Drive" Loffredo (4-for-5) answered by plating two runs with a two-out hit in the bottom of the first. Stevie "The Wonder" Giambrone, one of the best players in the MCALL, roped three hits in four at-bats (one a double), scored twice and knocked in a run. Chuck Krichling also doubled and drove in a pair of runs and scored once. Bryan Henry doubled and crossed the plate once. Matt Vereb had a solid 1-for-3 day with a run scored. Lou Barbieri and Sal Garofalo each scored a run for the winning side.
   It was a must-win for Bordentown, which had previously lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to Edison Father & Son Post 435 in Saturday’s opener.
   While he wasn’t "light’s out," Bordentown ace John Harvey pitched well enough to win most games. Unfortunately, two of the five runs he surrendered in his seven innings of work were unearned, and those runs ended up making a difference in the final outcome. Harvey gave up 10 hits, but except for the two runs he surrendered in the first and the three he gave up in the bottom of the fifth, he was able to pitch his way out of trouble. Zachary Koss also tossed a strong scoreless frame of relief for Post 26.
   Bordentown smoked 10 hits. But unlike in most of its games this season, no one other than Krichling, who was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, was delivering big hits with guys on base. Bordentown’s leadoff hitter, Giambrone, did his job by going 3-for-5 with a run scored. Moceri had a pair of hits, Henry clubbed a double. Hoyer had a hit, a run scored and stole a base.
   Bordentown scored two in the third and two more in the top of the fifth to take a temporary 4-2 lead, a lead which was wiped out in the bottom of the same frame. It was a game Bordentown let slip away, but even good teams have those kind of games because its the nature of the game of baseball.
   "We were coming off that loss to Edison and these kids responded," said Dolan, who is surprised and amazed by the persistence and the talent of his team. Of course it doesn’t hurt to have the newest "Sultan of Swat" (Moceri) on one’s side. It’s a wonder why no one has drafted Moceri yet. But MLB’s loss (for now) is Post 26’s gain.
   VS. UNION
   Union Catholic’s starter Matt Canales went into Monday night’s Final Eight game versus Bordentown Post 26 with a perfect 8-0 record and looking very much like a world beater.
   Yet he had never pitched in the world of the "Bordentown Bashers," a world where any one of Post 26’s new unforgiving Murderer’s Row (Stevie "The Wonder" Giambrone, Andy Hoyer, Chuck Krichling, Matt "The Bat" Moceri, Bryan Henry and Matt Vereb can reduce a great pitcher to tears with the crack of his bat. And when they’re all hitting and pitcher Dan Agos is hitting his spots, like on Monday, a game can get ugly (for the opposition) in a hurry.
   Those six hitters collected 13 hits, knocked in 11 runs and scored 13 times in Bordentown’s amazing 21-2 seven-inning win over the Vikings at Breslin Field in Lyndhurst. Out of those six, only Vereb did have a base knock. But that was just because Bordentown manager Tom Dolan gave Vereb, who has played a lot of baseball this summer, a rest in the second half of the game It didn’t matter. His replacement Rob Miranda stepped in and went 1-for-2 with a pair of RBI and a run scored.
   Henry led the onslaught with a 5-for-5, five RBI day, which included a double. He’s been hitting the ball so well it would be wise for fielders to wear those new football-like helmets for extra protection when he’s at the plate.
   "Henry has been on fire! He’s been swinging a hot bat," said Dolan, who also loves the defense Henry has given him behind the dish. "His arm is so good they don’t even run on him anymore."
   Krichling was 4-for-4 with four runs and three RBI while Giambrone scored three times while collecting a pair of hits out of the leadoff spot. Hoyer was 1-for-2 with a RBI and three runs scored. Moceri, the MCALL MVP, was 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored. His replacement, Shawn "The Road Runner" Carter had a hit, knocked in a run and crossed the plate once.
   Yet even if all of those players had gone hitless, the bottom of Bordentown’s order provided more than enough offense for Post 26 to have won the contest anyway. Second baseman Sal Garofalo had a perfect 2-for-2 day with a double with a pair of RBI and two runs scored. Then Russ Stupienski took over at second and also went 2-for-2 with a run and a RBI in Garofalo’s spot in the order.
   Lou Barbieri went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI and Mike "Line Drive" Loffredo smacked a single, scored a run and drove in a run. John Harvey, who is usually used just as a pitcher, even had an at-bat and plated a run.
   "We were unconscious at the plate. We probably could have scored more than 21 runs, but after a while I had them going base to base," said Dolan, who is an ‘old school’ manager, who would never try to embarrass another team, especially one as good as Union Catholic.
   Agos, who was considered to be Northern Burlington County Regional High’s finest academic student over the past four years and who will go to the University of Delaware next month, pitched a remarkable complete game versus a potent lineup. He gave up just five hits and one earned run while whiffing four and walking four. He needed to be good because Bordentown led just 5-1 when it exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth. It also had a huge seven-run sixth inning.
   "Agos really stepped up again. He’s been getting better with each start. He’s always thrown hard. But he’s becoming more of a pitcher now and not a thrower," said Dolan. "One of our assistants, Andrew Csik has really worked a lot with Danny. And Danny has really been listening to him and doing the things he tells him."
   The Bordentown coaches and players have a very unique relationship where everyone has fun together.
   "They are so laid back. After the games Hoyer, Garofalo and Krichling talk about where they’re going fishing," said Dolan, who doesn’t want to do anything to spoil that laid back atmosphere.
   Young volunteer coaches like Csik, Kevin Cumming and Tommy Giambrone mix with the veteran coaches (Dolan, Neil Cumming and Chris Hoyer) to create a unique environment on the club. Consequently, Bordentown hitters go up to the plate relaxed and ready. And every so often everything click’s at once and the young men have a perfect game like they had on Monday night.