The St. Joseph’s High School baseball team proved that seedings and rankings mean very little at this time of year as postseason baseball has hit its stride. The No. 10-ranked Falcons team came into this year’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament on a roll, and they have steamrolled all opponents in their path.
The team’s 3-1 win over No. 3 John F. Kennedy High School sent the team to the GMC Tournament finals, where it awaits thewinner of thisweekend’s semifinal showdown between Edison and Old Bridge.
“We started doing more things the right way,” St. Joe’s head coach PaulEsposito said. “Our pitching and defensive have been solid all year, but the offense has finally come around with the nicer weather.”
The Falcons advanced to the finals with three straight “upsets,” including a 2-1 win overNo. 7 Colonia and a 14-1win overNo. 2 J.P. Stevens prior to the win over Kennedy. Against the powerful lineup of Stevens, the Falcons let theHawks knowjust howpotent St. Joe’s can be. The teamscored six runs in both the second and third innings to put the game out of reach early. Sean Hille picked up the win for St. Joe’s.
In the win over Kennedy, the Falcon offense proved it is just as capable at playing small ball.All three of the team’s runs came via infield hits. Rob Ellis, Brian Beck and Mike Hamel all hit infield RBI singles.
Sam Fourre picked up the win for St. Joe’s after five innings of impressive work. Hille came on to pitch the sixth and seventh to record the save.
“Sam got ahead in the counts and was able to keep the Kennedy hitters off-balance,” Esposito said. “Our defense made a couple of errors behind Sam, and he walked a few guys, but he was able to pitch out of jams effectively.”
While awaiting the winner of the Edison/ Old Bridge showdown, the Falcons picked up a pair of wins last week to close out their regular-season schedule. The team opened the week with a 10-8 win over Seton Hall Prep, another teamranked higher than the Falcons in several state polls. Beck and Ellis both had key RBI singles for St. Joe’s.
The teamwrapped up the regular season with a 6-2 victory over Randolph to improve to 18-9 on the year. Hille went the distance to record the win.
Chris Bielak belted a two-run homer for the Falcons while teammate Brian Koster finished the game 3-3with a pair of doubles.
“We feel pretty good going into the GMC finals,” Esposito said. “We know we’re going to see a top pitcher either way. Mike Augliera of Old Bridge beat us already this year, and Edison has a load of talent.”
Prior to the GMCT title game, St. Joe’s will begin play in the NJSIAANon-PublicA South Tournament. The No. 6 Falcons will take on No. 3 Holy Spirit in the opening round.
“We’ve been a good teamall year, but we had some tough luck inApril,” Esposito said. “We went 9-8 for the month and lost three one-run games.We turned things around in May to go 9-1, and hopefully we aren’t finished.”