By David Gurney, Sports Writer
Senior pitcher Chris Sisco easily could have been more upset than he was.
After carrying a no-hitter through four innings, walking only one in that span, Dunellen cracked the no-hitter with an RBI single up the middle in the fifth.
But having a big lead reduces the anxiety
And getting the win is the only thing that matters for a senior in an elimination format.
Sisco pitched a complete-game, four-hitter, striking out a career-high 11 batters and walking three to carry the No. 9-seeded South Brunswick High School baseball team to a resounding 9-2 victory at No. 8 Dunellen Saturday.
The win carried the Vikings (10-6) into Wednesday’s GMCT quarterfinals against No. 1 Edison (for details, log onto www.southbrunswickpost.com).
A win put the Vikes into Saturday’s semifinals, which begin 11 a.m. at Middlesex County College.
After the win, Sisco’s attention wasn’t on the lost no-hitter, but the win and chance to play another game.
”This was a big game for the team and myself,” said Sisco, who upped his mark to 4-2. “I was going out there with the mentality that this could be my last tournament game. I just wanted to go out there and do my best, to help us get to the next round.
”When the offense scored three runs, I went out there and felt comfortable, felt good.”
The Vikings stormed to an early 3-0 lead in the first, bolstered by an RBI single by junior Tom Spilatore (three RBI) and a two-run single by sophomore third baseman Chris Palumbo.
SBHS added three more in the top of the fourth, led by junior outfielder Steve Taggert’s score on an infield error, a sacrifice fly by Spilatore to drive in junior outfielder Tom Dunleavy (4-for-4, RBI, two runs), and an RBI single by sophomore shortstop Juan Perdomo.
”It was a nice win for our team,” head coach Leo Danik said. “Any time you get a county tournament win it’s a nice win. We weren’t real sharp, had some lapses. But Sisco had a nice game and we had some clutch hits by (junior) Dan Acevedo and Palumbo.”
Sisco was dominant through the first four, but had a high pitch count and ran into trouble in the fifth when Dunellen cut the lead to 6-2 and loaded the bases in the sixth for their No. 3 hitter.
With a 2-0 count, Sisco induced a hard grounder to Perdomo for an inning-ending double play.
”Chris made the pitches he needed to,” Danik said. That was a big double play in fifth inning on their three-hitter. He moved it around, worked both sides of the plate, and his curve got better as the game went on.”
NOTES: Danik has been impressed with the play of Taggert this year in the outfield. The coach said of the junior, “People don’t see how good he is, he’s real slender. But he goes and gets them in the outfield, and catches it anywhere it is. He gets on base, runs a little. He’s been real important to us this year.”
