Aviators Pull Off 2nd Upset in Playoffs

The Cinderella slipper is starting to fit nicely on the Hasbrouck Heights baseball team.

And the 13th-seeded Aviators are enjoying this ride after their second upset in the Group 1 North 1 state playoffs: a 5-4 victory at fifth-seeded Park Ridge on Friday.

Heights scored four runs in the top of the second inning, then held on in the end.

To get to the quarterfinal game against the Owls, the Aviators smacked around fourth-seeded Midland Park, 18-3, on May 23 in the first round.

With the win over the Owls, Hasbrouck Heights (11-11) will have an even harder hill to climb Tuesday, when they travel to top-seeded Emerson, which had an 8-0 win over ninth-seeded Cedar Grove, in the sectional semifinals.

Another upset would send Heights to the state sectional finals. The last time the Aviators were in the sectional finals was in 2007, when they won it.

"We're playing with house money," said Hasbrouck Heights head coach Rocco Minnichiello. "We're the 13th seed, just got in under the state rules and we have a new hitter."

If it was 2009, Hasbrouck Heights would have not been playing now. Starting with 2010, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association allowed under .500-record teams to enter the state tournament. The wild card teams would only get a bid if there were not enough .500-record or higher teams to fill the section of 16 teams.

Heights got a gutsy performance from pitcher Mike Pasqualone, who scattered 11 hits while striking out five and only walking one. "He (Minnichiello) said that the ball is in my court," said Pasqualone, who got the victory in the state win over Midland Park.

In addition, Heights has received a shot of offense with the arrival of senior designated hitter Danny Wynne. Wynne had transferred from Paramus Catholic at the beginning of the year, but injured his ACL and the meniscus in his left knee before the start of football practice.

In addition, he had to sit out the 30 days and was not ready to play until the beginning of May. "It feels awesome after coming back from an injury and helping the team as much as possible," said Wynne.

While Wynne was 1-for-2 with one RBI against Park Ridge, he broke out against Midland Park with two home runs and six RBI.

Heights was bolstered from the leadoff spot with second baseman Chris Abramo, who was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Along with Pasqualone's two RBI, the Aviators received RBI from Joe Crabbe, Alberto Mlenak and Wynne, all which came in a big four-run second inning.

There is at least one correlation between this year's team and in 2007; that is Pasqualone this season and Jamie Pasqualone, his brother in 2007.

And it was Pasqualone who bolstered an exhausted pitching staff on Friday and also smacked a double. "It feels great and it has been awhile since we have been there," he said.

For the three innings, Pasqualone held down the Owls offense with only two hits allowed and striking out two. "I was hitting the outside corner at first, but then the starting catching up to it," he said.

But Park Ridge started hitting Pasqualone hard in the fourth inning, with four hits and three runs allowed. Despite that, the Aviators were still up 4-3.

After the second inning, Park Ridge came in with pitcher Dan McEldowney and stalled the Heights offense.

Pasqualone got in trouble in the fifth inning, allowing the first two batters to get hits.

But the junior pitcher belted down and struck out Chris Lanzillotti, coaxed Dan Wuhrman to fly out to right fielder Mark Delcalzo, then struck out Austin Clemente to stop the Owls rally.

 And in the top of the seventh, Pasqualone helped his cause by coaxing a walk off of McEldowney with the bases loaded, scoring Delcalzo from third for a 5-3 lead.

And the Heights hurler would need that run as Park Ridge pulled a last-gasp rally, getting a two-out base hit from Wuhrman.

But the Heights pitcher would get that final out and have Clemente fly out to left fielder Jesse Ramirez to end the game.

With several games this week, the Aviators were short of arms and were banking on Pasqualone to go all the way. He said he was not getting tired late in the game. "No not really, the adrenaline kicked in."

Despite a stormy couple of innings, Pasqualone got the pitch that he was looking for when he needed it the most.