Orange Crush: Caldwell Drops Final Game of Season

With the game tied and pitcher Mike Carnevale throwing strikes, the Caldwell Post 185 Junior American Legion baseball team was in a prime position to snatch a victory in its final game of the season.

But that's when South Orange ripped the game from the Chiefs' grasp.

Headed to this weekend's Essex County Tournament, the Cougars scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to break the deadlock en route to a 9-3 victory Tuesday at James Caldwell High School.

"We didn't play solid defense,'' said Caldwell coach Tom Gargiulo, whose team finished the season 8-11-1. "They put the ball in play and didn't strike out too many times. They definitely didn't strike out with people on base."

Carnevale, who'll be a junior in the fall, said he was satisfied with his command, but added that he might have become fatigued in the fifth.

"I thought I was pretty tired there," said Carnevale, who will now prepare for his midfield position on the the high school soccer team this fall.

Carnevale was hurt by a pair of two-run singles by Mark Donatelli and Jim Murphy during South Orange's big fifth inning. 

Joe Biasi relieved Carnevale after Murphy's hit and retired Chris Auriemma on a fly ball to center and picked off Murphy from first base to escape further damage.

"A couple of hits dropped in, a couple of defensive lapses and Mike was in the game in the fifth inning," Gargiulo said. "It was probably my fault for not bringing Joe in earlier. We probably should have brought in a hard-throwing guy earlier.''

Caldwell took a 1-0 lead in the first when center fielder John Gallagher singled with two outs, advanced to second and third on passed balls before scoring on another one.

But South Orange's Sean Tamayo retired the next seven Chiefs. Colin Bohnert ended the streak with a walk, moved up on a groundout and then scored on Mike DallaRiva's RBI single in the fourth inning.

Caldwell didn't manage another run until DallaRiva's cousin, Chris, drove in Mike Kmon with a two-out hit in the seventh.

Carnevale said that the season was a learning experience for the Chiefs.

"I have to work on relaxing on the mound," said Carnevale, who was 1-4 during the summer season. "My record wasn't great, but I thought I did pretty well this season. It was frustrating at some points, but we were a young team. Most of the kids are going to be sophomores."

His coach agreed.

"This was like spring training in the summer," Gargiulo said. "It gave us coaches a chance to see what the kids do well and what we need to improve on. It's like life. You try to relate the game to the life they'll lead after the game is over. This game is a blink of an eye in a lifetime."