Bergen Concrete

After finishing pool play with a 4-2 record and securing the second spot in Pool B, the Devils opened up the championship round with a tough 12-1 loss against top-seeded Lyndhurst.  The play of 3B Michael Perez was one of the few bright spots in the contest ( along with Bob Morrone’s one-handed snatch of a foul pop to save Mrs. Perez ), as the 12U’s had more fielding errors (6) than hits (5).  Facing elimination, the Devils met Rutherford National on Wednesday night (7/13) in Wallington in a marathon tilt that featured a combined 33 hits, a rain delay, and Mrs. Affuso concealing not one, but TWO home run balls…..                Visiting WR/Moonachie lit up the board in the top of the first, parlaying a walk by SS Anthony Trano, Jr. and RBI base hits by starter Ryan Morrone, Anthony Latoracca and C  Chris Affuso into a 3-0 advantage.  Rutherford scratched out a run in the bottom of the frame, and after recording a 1-2-3 Devils’ 2^nd, exploded for four tallies to grab a 5-3 lead after two innings of play.  The 12U’s seized the advantage right back in the top of the third, blistering the Bulldogs with a string of hits by Trano, Morrone ( 4 for 5, 3 R, 2 RBI ), a 2 RBI base knock by 1B Dom Gadaleta, CF/3B Latoracca, and… POW!—a 2 run dinger by Mrs. Affuso’s pride and joy to go up 8-4.  As the dark clouds came rolling in and the wind kicked up swirls of dust, Rutherford battled back with some long ball of their own, jumping ahead 9-8 as the rain started falling and one big shot of thunder and lightning triggered a half hour hiatus in play….     As the contest continued, it became apparent that ( yes Gina ) the rainbow now arcing over Wood-Ridge was a sign from the baseball Gods.  Middle reliever Thomas Luizzi, Jr. ( 4 IP, 5H, 2R, 5K’s ) extricated his pals from the Rutherford third with a strikeout and an assist by cohort Latoracca who first tripped, then tagged out the Bulldogs’ cleanup hitter at the hot corner to end the inning.  The Devils regained the lead for good in the top of the 4^th, rocking the home team’s pitching corps in a bat-around that featured BB’s to Luizzi, Gadaleta and the patient Andrew Zoltowski,  two base hits (both by Morrone), doubles by “the Anthonys”, and crowd- pleasing out-of-the-parkers by Affuso (6 RBI’s on the night!) and newly installed leadoff hitter Jonathan Menge.  The 12U’s tacked on an insurance run in the 5^th as Kyle Dressel singled aboard, swiped second, and was knocked in by the crisp-hitting of RF Gregory Carmona to put the Devils ahead 15-9.         Rutherford mounted a last-gasp rally in the bottom of the 5^th, scoring two runs to narrow their deficit to 15-11.  The rally was extinguished by some fine glovework by Trano, who also contributed two assists in the sixth to help Luizzi close out the game, ending Rutherford National’s postseason. Next up for the 12U’s: a rematch with Kearny tonight (7/14) with the winner advancing to the District Finals…..