RFH Baseball Advances in State Playoffs

For Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School's (RFH) baseball team, this season has been all about the fact that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

 A team that was 2-7 in mid-April is now in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II quarterfinals after a 16-6 rout of division rival Matawan in six innings on Tuesday at Dieter Johnson Memorial Field. The victory brought the 11th-seeded Bulldogs (10-10) back to the .500 mark for the first time since they were 1-1 in the first week of the season. They will now travel to third-seeded Governor Livingston for a quarterfinal game on Friday afternoon.

 “We just have everybody hitting right now and we’re playing our best at the right time,’’ said shortstop Chris Lorenz.

 After a slow start to the season offensively, the Bulldogs have hit their stride and look to make a darkhorse run in the only tournament in which they are still alive.

“Our approaches have really improved,’’ said RFH head coach Kevin James. “We’ve been really focused, and these kids have been putting a ton of work in practice on putting the ball in play and going the other way.’’

That offensive prowess was on display on Tuesday, as the Bulldogs registered 11 hits and drew eight walks against four Matawan pitchers. Lorenz went 3-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored and two RBIs to help lead the way. Senior first baseman Dan Miller went 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored and two RBIs on a two-run homer. Rightfielder Alex Veong added a two-run double during a seven-run fifth inning that blew the game open, and centerfielder Nico Giaimo went 2-for-3 with a walk, three RBIs and a run scored.

Centerfielder Joe Urciouli was 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored in the loss for Matawan.

RFH also took advantage of the fact that Matawan ace Vinny Manzella was scratched at the last minute from his start because of neck soreness, according to Matawan coach John Kaye. That left the Huskies scrambling to get their pitching ready, and RFH pounced.

Lorenz hit a two-out double in the first inning and then scored on an error for the first run before Giaimo bounced an RBI single up the middle for a 2-0 lead off Matawan starter Alan Geyer. The Huskies came back with two unearned runs of their own in the bottom of the first when sophomore first baseman Dan Incle reached on an error, followed by a single by Geyer and then a two-run double by Urciouli on a full count off RFH starter Matt Sinopoli (4-4).

The Bulldogs came right back with four runs in the top of the second inning thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly by Sinopoli, an RBI single to center field by Lorenz and then a two-run blast over the leftfield fence by Miller with two outs.

RFH would not trail again, as the closest Matawan got was 6-4 after scoring twice in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single to left field by second baseman Ken Santamauro and an RBI sacrifice fly by Nick Fulop.

After pushing the lead to three runs when Tommy Scheffer scored on a balk with two outs in the fourth inning, RFH put the game out of reach with a seven-run fifth inning. The Bulldogs sent 12 men to the plate, with Veong smacking a two-run double to left field and Sinopoli, Lorenz and catcher Dakota Sagnelli each adding RBI singles. Giaimo capped the scoring with a two-run single for a commanding 14-4 advantage.

“With our lineup, one through nine, we really trust each other right now,’’ Miller said. “I think it’s got a lot to do with everything we have done in practice, working on situational hitting and working counts. I think this is a testament to how hard we have worked.’’

An RBI single by catcher Christian Knox and an RBI groundout John Affriol in the bottom of the fifth helped Matawan avoid the mercy rule, but Rumson scored twice in the sixth when a flyball by Miller to left field was misplayed.

That pushed the lead back to 10 runs for the visitors, and senior reliever Liam Ryan pitched a scoreless sixth inning to end the game via the mercy rule and send the Bulldogs into the next round.

RFH now goes into Friday with nothing to lose and a Class A Central public division title already in its pocket from this season. The Bulldogs are hoping to mirror their 2004 season under James, when they had to win three straight games just to qualify for the state playoffs and then made a Cinderella run to the CJ II title.

“As long as these guys keep having fun, playing hard, and playing for each other, good things will happen,’’ James said.

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