By: Neil Hay
The quest to advance to the state tournament came to a sudden halt for Hightstown Post 148. Tuesday night in the Mercer County American Legion League playoff championship game, West Windsor-Plainsboro defeated Hightstown, 11-4.
The game was decided right there in the bottom of the first inning when West Windsor (16-8) scored six runs for a 6-1 lead. Tom Hill, one of the surprises of the 2004 season for Hightstown, was unable to get out of the first inning. By the time Brian Davis came on to get the third out, the damage had been done.
"Tom Hill had a rough first inning. The rest of the game the pitching was not that bad. Hill was a little too wound up. You have to give West Windsor credit. They came out and swung the bats. West Windsor is an experienced team. They made the plays," said manager Rich Scheid.
Hill was strafed for seven hits and six (all earned) runs with one walk and no strikeouts. Davis went five-plus innings and gave up three (earned) runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Eric Bowes (two innings, two hits, two unearned runs, one hit, one strikeout) finished up.
Cody Warner and Alex Goldberg held Hightstown to eight hits with 10 strikeouts. Said Scheid, "We didn’t do much with the bats. The kids put some pressure on themselves to get it all back at once."
Jeff Butler had a double and single with one run batted in and two runs scored for Hightstown, which ended the season at 13-11.
"The kids came out a little flat, for whatever reason. The North Trenton game might have taken away some of the emotion and intensity. West Windsor came out and swung the bats, and their pitchers shut us down to some extent. We had some opportunities to come back later but didn’t come through."
The game plan, according to Scheid, was to have Hill go through the middle innings, then use Davis and Kyle Damm in relief. But the plan was scrapped by West Windsor’s big first inning.
"If we were closer and in the game, it would have been okay."
Post 148 made the finals by outlasting North Trenton, 8-7, the previous night. The final regular season standings show North Trenton in third place with a 16-6 record, four games better than Hightstown.
So much for the regular season.
West Windsor, which defeated Bordentown 12-5 in its semifinal, now goes on to the District 5 Tournament Saturday at West Deptford, where they will open against the Freehold Patriots. For Hightstown, like North Trenton, Bordentown, and every other team that failed to qualify for the playoffs, it is wait until next year.
For Hightstown and Scheid, nothing comes easy. Against North Trenton, starting pitcher Terry Wells was staked to an early 6-0 lead. But he could not hold it as Post 458 chipped away and finally took a 7-6 lead in the seventh.
But back came Hightstown, waiting until their final turn at bat to do it. With one out the locals had runners on first and second on a hit and walk. Gavin Vetrano, who has delivered big hits in big situations throughout most of the summer, stepped up and drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with a double.
But North Trenton was not done yet. North loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth before Damm, the third pitcher of the night, got the final outs on a strikeout and grounder. And Post 148 still had at least one more game to play.
Dave Wysocki’s two-run double sparked Hightstown’s six-run second. Bryan Dougherty had three hits, scored two runs and drove in another. Butler had a home run, single, three runs and two RBI. Anthony LoBianco also had two hits as Hightstown finished the night with 11 hits. Ram batters also struck out 11 times.
When Wells faltered in the sixth, Scheid brought in Davis, who lasted one and two-thirds. Damm then got the final out in the seventh, pitched a scoreless eighth, and withstood North’s final rally to earn the win. The three pitchers allowed 12 hits with five walks and nine strikeouts.
"We were a little sloppy defensively (three errors, two unearned runs), but we got the job done. It was a great effort. The kids battled." And Vetrano and Damm came through late to send the Hightstown team home happy.
Looking back on the season that just ended, Scheid said, "Overall I was really proud of the kids. It is not easy to come back from 2-6 and make a run."
19-year olds Vetrano and Dave Koonce will be too old to return next year. Nor will the Villanova University-bound Bowes be back. But at this point Scheid is expecting everyone else to return to the fold, if they so desire.
"It was a fun year. I really enjoyed it. In the past getting to the playoffs was a challenge. This year too, but it was more fulfilling. Whether we won or lost, I was never down on this team. We were always a few pitches away from turning it around. The Binghamton Tournament helped develop camaraderie among the players. We got some recognition and beat teams with higher profiles. That says a lot for our team and program."
