St. Rose Falls Short Of Sectional Title With Loss To Gloucester Catholic In Final

Game photos above courtesy of Tom Smith

WEST LONG BRANCH – Saint Rose’s deep run into the playoffs may have come to crashing halt in Wednesday’s 9-4 loss to South Jersey power Gloucester Catholic in the NJSIAA Non-Public South B final at Monmouth University, but the Purple Roses proved they belonged and are ready to compete for the title again next season.

“I was telling the kids I was very proud of them,” first-year head coach Rich Lanko said. “We haven’t been (in a sectional final) since 2009. I told the seniors, and juniors and the sophomores, ‘You got the program back.’

“I know we didn’t win, we didn’t get the goal we wanted, we didn’t get the trophy, but we definitely got the program back. It’s the most wins we’ve had in years, and getting back is a great accomplishment. You don’t go 24-4 and have a bad year.”

In Wednesday’s final, the top-seeded Rams – ranked No. 3 in the NJ.com Top 20 – jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings before putting the game out of reach with five runs in the bottom of the fourth after No.2 seed St. Rose had tied the game with four runs of its own in the top of the third.

Rams starting pitcher Brendan Bean (3-2) and reliever John Kasper, who finished the job for Bean with a perfect 1-2-3 seventh inning, then held the Purple Roses scoreless the rest of the way for Gloucester Catholic’s (27-3) first sectional title since 2013 and their state record 27th overall title.

They will play Saturday in Toms River against Newark Academy for the Non-Public B title with a chance to add to their state record 17 overall Non-Public titles.

Saint Rose was seeking its first sectional title since 2009 when they downed Bishop Eustice 8-4 before going on to defeat Montclair Kimberly 11-0 for its second straight Non-Public B championship.

The Rams got on the board in the bottom of the first when two walks and two stolen bases led to two runs with Bean helping his own cause with an RBI single and another run scoring on a 6-3 ground-out by Lillo Paxia.

In the bottom half of the second inning the Rams added two more runs. A one-out double by Kyle Pierman and a groundout by Evan Giordano moved Pierman over to third before a two-out error by shortstop Joey Volpe on a Adam Bonomo grounder allowed Pierman to score an unearned run for the Rams.

Paxia then picked up his second RBI of the game lining run-scoring single into centerfield to plate Bonomo, who scored from second after picking up the Rams third stolen base in two innings, for the second unearned run of the inning and a 4-0 lead.

For the game, St. Rose committed two errors, walked three, hit a batter and allowed four stolen bases – not a recipe for success against a team as potent and well-rounded as Gloucester Catholic.

“We talked about it all week, not giving them any opportunities on little mistakes,” Lanko said. “We knew if we did they were going to capitalize on them.”

Just for the chance to beat Gloucester Catholic you have to play mistake-free baseball and not give them any gifts.

The Rams boasts a lineup that includes three starters hitting .360 or better, two batting over .325, three over .400 and one (Paxia) hitting .522. The starters have combined for 17 home runs and 218 runs batted in while averaging 10 runs a game.

Added to that, on any given day, Gloucester Catholic can run out to the mound one of six different starting pitchers that combined own a phenomenal 1.65 earned run average for the season.

Down 4-0 with Bean having thrown just 23 pitches while facing the minimum six batters through two innings Saint Rose was down but not out. They broke through on Bean scoring four runs of their own in the top of the third to tie the game 4-4 and put a little scare into the Rams.

“I was happy they kept plugging and came back,” Lanko said. “They’ve done that all year. We never lay down for anybody, we always battle and fight back, and we did a great job with that. But we just couldn’t give up the big inning there.”

Sammy Sestito started the rally with a leadoff single, followed by a walk to John Crowley and then a one-out infield single by leadoff batter Will Gannon. Senior Brendan Hueth then lined a bases-loaded double over the third-base bag and into left field for two runs and Volpe followed with a two-run single to right field for his 100th career hit to tie the game and momentarily quite the boisterous Rams dugout.

In the top of the fourth the Purple Roses had a chance to take the lead after Brian Dipasquale and Sistito lined back-to-back one-out singles. Dipasquale then moved to third on a fielder’s choice grounder by John Crowley to the second baseman before a diving catch in right field by Paxia off the bat of Mario Bove ended the threat with the score still tied at four.

However, in the bottom half of the inning, Gloucester Catholic broke the game open with a five-run fourth to take the lead for good. St. Rose starting pitcher Brandon Mology made the mistake of walking Pierman, who bats at the bottom of the order, leading off the fourth. Pierman then advanced to third on a sinking line-drive single by Giordano, who took second base on the throw to third.

A pop-up to shortstop was then misplayed into an error allowing Peirman to score before Paxia dropped a bunt single down the third-base line that Molagy fielded but had no play on. That loaded the bases for Chris Turco, who lined a RBI grounder up the middle for a 6-4 lead, still with no outs.

That was it for Mology (5-1) as Lanko brought in junior righty Riley Maypother, who gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to Bean, an RBI single to right by catcher Sam Punzi and an RBI ground out on a tapper in front of the plate for three more runs and 9-4 lead.

St. Rose had one last gasp left in them putting runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the sixth on a walk to Dipasquale and single by Mology but Bean got Crowley on strikes to end the inning and finish his day’s work turning the game over to Kasper for the seventh.

Hueth finished going 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored while Volpe added a single in three at bats with two RBI and Bove had two hits in two trips to the plate with a run scored. Gannon added one hit and a run scored in four at bats.

“Hey if you want to win you have to go through teams like that,” Lanko said. “One bad inning there, but I love St. Rose, the school and the program and hopefully I’ll be here for a while and bring some stability to the program.”

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