Near Perfect

Stephen Near made his first start of the season for the Miller baseball team on Friday afternoon, and against the top team in the Super Essex American Division, to put it plainly, Near was dealing. He struck out six, walked none and allowed just one earned run on six hits, snapping Millburn’s mini two-game slide and bringing the Mountaineers back to the pack in the SEC, in a 3-1 victory.

“This was very big definitely,” Near said of the win. “After the two game losing streak to Nutley and Seton Hall Prep, this gets our confidence back, beating the best team in our conference.”

A week ago, one of Millburn’s star pitchers, Ian Barry, was injured in a game and has been sidelined since. Realizing that his team would need another starter, Near, who had been used primarily as a reliever, went to Millburn head coach Brian Chapman and said that he wanted the ball.

He got the ball, and West Orange could barely touch him after that.

“He was terrific,” Chapman said of Near. “He never gave them a chance. He threw a ton of strikes and he kept the ball down. …That’s Stephen, I don’t know if he was on more than normal; that’s just what he does.”

After allowing just one hit and two base runs through the first four innings, Near got the Millers on the board in the bottom half of the fourth, knocking in freshman shortstop Milo Freeman (who reached on a leadoff triple), with a groundball hit hard and through to the right side.

In a bit of a controversial play in the ensuing at bat, Chris Gula drove in David Talapar (who reached on a one-out walk) from second base, with a blooper, dunked into centerfield. The throw home from center certainly beat Talapar to the plate, but Talapar slid in safely, as West Orange’s catcher apparently missed the tag at home.

With the Millers up 2-0, West Orange did its only real damage in the top of the fifth inning, when the first two batters, Frank Bakirtzis and Giovanni Loreto reached safely with back-to-back singles. A pick-off error and a stolen base put them on second and third with one out. Tom Attamante drove in Bakirtzis with a single to center, but was thrown out by Millburn catcher Felipe Bomfim, trying to take second base on the throw home. With a runner on second, Near induced a pop up two pitches later, getting out of the inning with a 2-1 lead.

Millburn third baseman, Anthony DelGreco, added a huge tack-on run in the bottom of the inning, bombing a ball way out into centerfield, scoring Will Fitzgerald from second.

“This was a good statement for ourselves,” Chapman said. “They proved to themselves that they could beat a good team and that they could beat a good pitcher.”

After Attamante’s RBI single, Near retired the next five batters, before allowing two base hits in the seventh and then forcing a pop up to third to end the game.

“I was just keeping composure mostly, hitting spots and throwing the pitches that coach was calling,” Near said of his performance. “Our defense was great, we got timely hits. We played great.”

Millburn’s defense, especially by Del Greco at third, who played very well at the hot corner, robbing West Orange of at least two extra base hits, was near flawless in Friday’s win. The loss for West Orange was only its third of the season and only the second in division play. Bomfim also threw out two runners trying to go to second, one ending the fourth inning, after West orange had got its first hit of the game.

“We’re getting better,” Chapman said. “One of the things we’ve really focused on is improving on defense. That way our pitchers can feel comfortable throwing strikes because they know the plays will be made behind them.”

The Mountaineers had come in scoring 22 runs in its last two games and were made to look pretty average by Near, who mixed a fastball, change-up and curve ball to keep the hitters off balance.

West Orange’s pitcher, Loreto also threw the ball very well in the losing effort. He struck-out nine Millers, walked one and allowed seven hits.

Millburn improved to 11-4 with the win and are in action again on Monday in another big game, this time on the road against the Lancers.