Wetzel's Game-Winning Hit Helps Wall Advance To SCT Semifinals

Photo above: Winning pitcher Ryan Napolitano and Doug Wetzel

WALL TOWNSHIP – Most people perceive the No. 9 hitter in the batting order as a position player stuck at the bottom of the order for a reason – he can’t hit.

Well Wall head coach Todd Schmitt has taken a different approach to that spot in the order inserting one of his top hitters in his lineup there and it has paid off handsomely for the Crimson Knights.

For the third time in four consecutive tournament games junior right fielder Doug Wetzel delivered the game-winning hit from the No. 9 spot in the order. In the other, he contributed a two-run single in Wall’s 7-1 win over Howell in Friday’s Shore Conference Tournament second-round game.

“We like a good contact hitter down there and that’s exactly what he is,” said Schmitt of his No. 9 hitter. “Earlier in the season we thought about moving him up and them we said, ‘let’s just leave him there and let him roll with it,’ and he’s done an outstanding job all year there for us. We like having a guy there who puts the ball in play and Doug does that for us.”

In Saturday’s 7-4 Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinal win, second-seeded Wall was trailing No. 10 seed Freehold Township 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth and trying to avoid an early elimination in a tournament that has already seen three of four teams that earned first-round byes – as Wall did – lose their first game.

Wall had already suffered that same fate in the Monmouth County Tournament losing to No. 16 Colts Neck as the No. 1 seed in their first game of that tournament.

With that possibility weighing on his mind, Wetzel came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth with no outs and the bases loaded and crushed a Ryan Ford fastball that one-hopped off the wall in left field for a go-ahead, clutch two-run double that gave the Knights a 5-4 lead.

“I was just trying to help my teammates out,” said Wetzel of his big hit. “With the base loaded I did my job. It feels good to be able to help my team in a game like this. We have a very good lineup from top-to-bottom with a lot of guys who can hit. We don’t really look at it like guys are hitting first or third or eighth or ninth. We just have a good lineup of hitters.”

Junior second baseman John Volpe followed Wetzel’s shot by drilling a two-run double of his own into the right-centerfield gap for a couple of insurance runs and senior reliever Jason Horowitz came in to nail down the win in the seventh for starting and winning pitcher Ryan Napolitano, who battled through six innings of intense heat to pick up the win.

“It was very hot and humid out there today,” Napolitano said. “I was getting tired toward the fifth or sixth inning but I just kept battling and I knew my team behind me would make the plays and we’d get out of it.”

As the No. 1 seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III playoffs Wall needed Wetzel’s second-inning RBI single to hold up in their opening-round 1-0 win over sixteenth-seeded Lawrence last Monday. In that game Napolitano tossed six innings of four-hit shutout ball for the win and ace Trey Dombroski came in to strike out the side in order in the seventh for the save.

Then, three days later in the state quarterfinals, Wetzel singled home pinch runner Nick Castoral in the bottom of the seventh for a 1-0 walk-off win against No. 8 Steinert helping Dombroski improve to 7-1 after he tossed a complete game, seven strikeout, no walk, four-hit shutout.

With Saturday’s two RBI, Wetzel now has six in Wall’s last four tournament games giving him 16 RBI out of the ninth spot in the batting order which is good for third on the team.

“I like hitting in the nine spot because I think I’m a good fastball hitter,” said Wetzel. “You see a lot of fastballs hitting at the bottom of the order.”

Saturday the Knights jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. Volpe and Dylan Richey led off the inning with consecutive walks off Ford and junior third baseman Grant Shulman followed with a single to left to load the bases with no outs.

Ford then got Andy Lenneper on strikes before junior centerfielder Teddy Sharkey lofted a long sacrifice fly to right scoring Volpe with both runners moving up on the throw to the plate before Richey made 2-0 hustling home on a Ford wild pitch.

Wall tacked on another run in the third on a David Howarth sacrifice fly that plated Schulman after Ford loaded the bases on a Shulman infield single, an intentional walk to Sharkey after falling behind 3-0 and a Powers line drive single to right.

In the meantime, Napolitano had allowed just one hit and a walk through three inning but things unraveled a bit for him in the fourth after striking out the first batter of the inning.

Brandon Smith and Nick Lodispoto greeted Napolitano with back-to-back singles with Smith lining one off Shulman’s glove at third for an infield hit and Lodispoto dropping a single into short left field down the line.

Napolitano then walked Kevin Goodman to load the bases before getting Nick Portaleos on strikes for the second out. But on a 3-1 count Ryan Kurczeski unloaded on Napolitano drilling a bases-clearing triple into right to tie the game, 3-3.

“After the triple I thought in my head just stop the bleeding and hold it at three,” Napolitano said. “It was tied; it was a new ball game it’s like 0-0 all over again. I was thinking, just stop the bleeding, keep throwing my game and get my team back into this and hold them there.”

The score stayed that way until the sixth when Freehold Township took a 4-3 lead after some wildness by Napolitano got him into trouble.

With one out Napolitano walked Goodman, who was then sacrificed to second on a Portaleos bunt, before walking Kurczeski on a 3-2 count and putting runners on first and second with two outs. Chris Goodman then brought his brother home with a RBI single to right for the go-ahead run.

“Ryan battled the entire game but struggled out of the stretch today for some reason and that was the scenario,” Schmitt said. “But he’s a gamer. When I went out to the mound he still had a smile on his face and said ‘I’ll get them coach, I’ll get them here.’ There’s not too many other guys I’d want out there in that situation who will battle back from that. Some guys would just fold up but he’s not kind of guy, he’s got strong character.”

Wall’s four-run sixth began with a controversial play. Powers led off the inning with a line drive to left-center that Chris Goodman appeared to grab for the first out, but on the transfer from his glove to his hand, the ball dropped to ground in the same motion. Township argued it was a catch and a drop on the transfer but the home plate umpire ruled Goodman did not hold the ball long enough for it to be ruled a catch and the rest is history.

Howarth followed with a shot up the middle for a single and pinch hitter Mike Vita placed a perfectly executed bunt down the third-base line for an infield single to load the bases setting the stage for Wetzel’s heroics.

“Since the start of the week we’ve had two state games we won 1-0 and Doug’s got both the RBI,” said Napolitano of his teammate. “Today we’re down 4-3 and Doug puts a ball (in play) that one-hops the wall. That’s huge, that’s guts - that’s being a baseball player.”

Napolitano (7-0) earned the win on a brutally hot summer-like day lasting six innings allowing four runs on five hits while walking four and striking out four. Horowitz finished up with a 1-2-3 seventh for his second save of the season.

Wetzel was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run while Shulman finished 2-for-4 with a run. Volpe had a double, two RBI, run, walk and stolen base in three trips to the plate and Howarth added an RBI sac fly, run and a single.

Wall (21-4) will host fourth-seeded Hopewell Valley (25-2) on Tuesday in the sectional semifinal then on Wednesday they meet No. 11 seed Central in the SCT semifinals. Hopewell Valley is ranked No. 17 in the state while the Knights are ranked No. 14 in the state.

We’re going into these games like we play every other game – 100 percent, as hard as we can play,” Napolitano said. “We have trust in everybody and we’ll treat these games like another ball game - survive and advance. We have a lot of confidence as a team right now.”

“Since we’ve been here it’s always been good pitching, good defense and timely hitting,” Schmitt said. “And this is a classic example of that this week.”

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