Mater Dei Captures First Outright Divisional Title Since 2002

Photo above: Paciulli fires a fastball for one of his six K’s

MIDDLETOWN – Mater Dei head coach Pat Riddell was worried his team might experience a letdown Thursday after clinching a piece of the Class B Central title in Tuesday’s dramatic 4-3 walk-off win against long-time nemesis St. Rose.

Tuesday’s win was only their second against St. Rose in 25 attempts and first since 2010. So when senior right fielder Ryan Fanner’s slicing line-drive single down the first-base line dropped in fair to score pinch runner Mike Dunne from second with the winning run, years of frustration were set free as the team piled on Fanner in a deluge of emotion.

Riddell’s fears were all for naught, as his team swiftly put them to rest. They scored five runs in the bottom of the first, three in the second and two in the third en route to a 10-0 five-inning romp of Ranney Thursday at the Rev. Paul T. Gluth Field in Middletown. It’s the Seraphs first outright divisional championship since 2002.

“This title is all ours, it’s a great feeling,” Riddell said. “I was worried about a little bit of a letdown today but they did what they needed to do and they deserve it after the St. Rose game. We put it away early, that’s nice for a change.”

Junior starting pitcher Matt Paciulli picked up his fourth win of the season against only one defeat in dominant fashion tossing five innings of shutout ball. Relying on his fast ball with an occasional off-speed curve, he allowed only two hits, walked one and struck out six of the 18 batters he faced.

“Matt’s pitched well for us,” Ridell said. “We had our No.1 and No.2 pitchers ( Ruth and Olausen) go down for the year and Paciolli’s really stepped up – he’s 4-1 for us now.”

In the top of the fourth, leadoff hitter James Geraghty lined a double into left-centerfield for the Panthers only extra-base hit of the game but Paciulli left him stranded striking out the next three batters to retire the side. In the top fifth, he had a one- two-three inning including a game-ending exclamation-point strikeout.

“I was feeling really good after our win over St. Rose so I was hyped up,” Paciulli said. “We have a huge rivalry against St. Rose and it’s always our big game of the year - it feels great not having to share the title with them. After all the good news about the school staying open, this is just icing on the cake. This isn’t just a team win; it’s a win for the school.”

In the Seraphs (14-5, 13-1) five-run first, Fanner got things rolling with a line-drive double over the head of right fielder Max Godek with one out. After Vince Mezzacappa lined out to right for the second out, junior second baseman Cole Hardy lined an RBI double down the right field line scoring Fanner. Junior designated hitter Nick Roditis followed with an RBI double before Nick Massaro grounded an RBI single in the 4-3 hole for a 3-0 lead.

Sophomore third baseman Kyle Dowlen then drove in Massaro with a double before senior first baseman Matt Bender walked and an error loaded the bases. Senior left fielder Pat Donohue knocked in Dowlen with a RBI single up the middle for the fifth run of the inning.

In the second inning, Mater Dei tacked on another three runs on three Ranney errors, a walk and a sacrifice fly by Dowlen.

Senior shortstop Ruben Rodriguez led off the third with a booming double all the way to the fence in left field and was sent home on Mezzacappa’s triple off the wall in the deepest part of the park in right center with two outs. An error on the throw to first by third baseman Prakhar Nair on a Roditis grounder produced the final run of the game.

“If we keep playing like we have been, I think we’re going to do great in the tournaments,” Paciulli said. “We’ve been on fire lately and amped up and if continue to play like that we can go far.”

“These guys went through a lot with all that stuff about the school closing,” Riddell said. “It was a big shock; I was worried about how we would come out and play. But we really don’t talk about it, I wanted them to just come out and play baseball; it was out of our hands. They played through it and once they got that announcement the other day that just got the attitudes rolling and here we are division champs; it’s a fantastic feeling.”

Riddell was a member of Mater Dei’s 1987 team that won a divisional title but this was his first as coach.

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