Post 26 advances to American Legion Regionals

By: Sean Moylan
   Exhausted by a 17-2 win over Bloomfield which placed it in this week’s Regionals at Reading, Pennsylvania, the Bordentown Post 26 American Legion squad, nonetheless, went all out in an attempt to capture a state title in last Wednesday (August 8) night’s Final 8 action at Breslin Field in Lyndhurst.
   Post 26 manager Tom Dolan pulled no punches and sent his two aces, John Harvey and Matt "The Bat" Moceri, to the mound on short rest against Edison Father & Son Post 435 in the championship game.
   Post 26 crushed the ball and out hit Edison, 8-7. However, Bordentown, a team that prides itself on getting big two-out hits with runners in scoring position, did not have any of its two-out smashes fall in and consequently Edison took the state title game, 2-1.
   "We had to remind ourselves that a state title was on the line," said Harvey, whose teammates were pumped although they had just played an emotional game versus Bloomfield. "I was ready. The Edison game felt good when I was pitching, but it was a shame that we couldn’t put up more hits in a row in the game. I did all I could, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out."
   Harvey gave up just two runs (one earned) on six hits in six frames of work. He fanned five while walking just one. Previously, Harvey had lost to Edison in the Final 8 opener, but then he got some measure of revenge by saving a Bordentown 5-3 win over Edison on August 7th.
   "They (the Edison players) had said a couple of things about having beat me. It was a psychological thing. Getting that last strikeout was great. Coming in I was pumped and I wanted to end that game," said Harvey, who loves playing for Bordentown, especially since he likes his teammates and they usually score seven or eight runs for him.
   "Mighty Mo" also did his part pitching two scoreless innings of relief (three strikeouts) while blasting a homer in the ninth to plate Bordentown’s only run. Catcher Bryan Henry (1-for-4) followed Moceri’s dinger with a mammoth shot which was tracked down by an Edison outfielder. It was just not to be.
   "Harvey was outstanding. It’s a shame that he gets two losses against Edison when he pitched two good games. He was cruising, but I knew he was on three days rest and I didn’t want to kill him (pitch-count wise)," said Dolan, whose team gave up the eventual game-winner in the seventh. "Moceri did a good job. He led off the ninth and hit that drive. Then Bryan (Henry) hit a bomb to the wall in center. It had to be 400 feet."
   Leadoff hitter Stevie "The Wonder" Giambrone singled and doubled in three official at bats. Andy Hoyer was also 2-for-3 while Matt Vereb had a two-hit game as well. Mike "Line Drive" Loffredo also hit a very long blast which was caught.
   "We really wanted to wear those state championship jackets," said Dolan, who was, nonetheless, very proud of the way his club battled to the very last pitch.
   In retrospect, the biggest game for Bordentown last Wednesday (August 8th) was its win over Bloomfield. Because a loss in that contest would have eliminated Post 26 from the entire tourney.
   In what turned out to be the biggest game of the year so far, Zack Koss surrendered two runs in the first and did not give up a single run after that. In a seven-inning complete game, he gave up just three measly singles while whiffing three and walking just one. Furthermore, if Bordentown didn’t put up one of its patented fireworks displays at the plate, it was the kind of pitching performance which people would have talked about for years. Hey, they still might.
   "That was a complete blowout. Zack (Koss) was unbelievable. He really stepped up for us. We were hoping to get three or four innings out of him," said a very happy Dolan.
   As is often the case, it took the big Bordentown bats a couple of innings to get going. However, Post 26 exploded for seven runs in the third and its offense kept the pedal to the metal the rest of the way. This was one time Bordentown couldn’t afford to take any chances.
   Bordentown collected 14 hits. Giambrone drove in four runs and scored once while going 2-for-4. Henry doubled and single, knocked in three runs and scored twice. Chuck Krichling smacked a triple and a single, crossed the plate three times and knocked in two runs. Hoyer (2 -for-4, two runs, two RBI), Moceri (2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBI), Shawn "The Road Runner" Carter (1-for-1, RBI), Loffredo (2-for-4, two runs, RBI), Vereb (single, run), Sal "Buey" Garofalo (run, RBI) and Lou Barbieri (three runs) all got in on the action.
   "We’re one of the Top 64 teams in the United States out of 5,000 American Legion teams," said Dolan, who has been feeling well after undergoing heart surgery a couple of weeks ago.
   For anyone who has seen this club hit this season that comes as no surprise. Bordentown is 28-8 and if one counts all of its out-of league games it has well over 30 wins. This is the best Bordentown team in its history and the ride is just getting started.