Freshman Baseball Team Wins County Title

The Paramus High School freshman baseball team made history by winning the Bergen County Tournament on May 8 at Overpeck Park in Ridgefield Park.

The Spartans defeated neighboring Ridgewood, 13-3.

“It was a goal we put forth at the beginning of the season,” left fielder Michael Desmione said. “And we accomplished that.”

After falling behind 3-1, Paramus put together a four-run fourth and exploded for eight runs in the sixth to end the game, and avenge an earlier season loss to the Maroons.

Head coach Pat Warburton, who is in his 30^th year at the helm, received a celebratory Gatorade shower by his players after the game.

This is Warburton’s first county title as a coach, and his players wanted to win the championship, not only for themselves, but also for their battle-tested skipper.

“Going in, we just wanted to win this one for Pat and for ourselves,” catcher Chris Billera said.

The last Paramus team to win was Eastbrook’s 1973 squad—in the first year of the tournament’s existence—coached by Joe Cervino. Warburton was in eighth grade at the time.

Paramus is the first public school to take home the hardware since River Dell did so in 2001.

Cervino and the varsity squad were amongst the legions of fans in attendance.

First baseman/pitcher Jimmy Hallihan didn’t know that he was going to toe the rubber in the final until roughly an hour before.

Hallihan credited pitching coach Justin Tegg, a PHS graduate, for his assistance in allowing the hurler to keep his wits about him in a pressure-packed situation.

“I really got my head into it,” Hallihan said.

“I try to keep him [Hallihan] level-headed, concentrating on the pitch let him throw strikes,” said Billera, Hallihan’s battery mate. “Our fielders have his back. Jimmy did a great job.”

“This is a great group of kids that really want to learn,” said assistant coach Eric Crespo, who joined the staff this season. “They worked hard, and we put it together little by little.”

Warburton credits the bottom of the lineup for knocking in runs or keeping innings alive by getting on base.

“Their approach at the plate is unbelievable,” Warburton said. He also thanked his coaches: Crespo, Joe Palmaccio, Matt Corso and Tegg.

“We had a good run all year,” said centerfielder Zack Smith, who launched a 0-2 fastball to left center to drive in two runs in the sixth.

“I didn’t have too good of a game,” said Leshawn Perry, who struck out, flied out and was hit by a pitch. “Even though I didn’t have a good game, I was glad we were able to put it together and win.”

“We got it done,” third baseman Emil Lopez said. “[It was a] good game facing Ridgewood in the finals and mercy ruling them. It’s pretty big.”

“This is a good group of kids we’ve got here,” said second baseman Mikey Diaz, who had a bases-clearing hit in the sixth inning. “We like to play baseball and practice hard. We have great coaches, too.”

“We had great coaching this year,” Desimone said. “They helped us fix our mental mistakes, and get us out of slumps.”

When asked about being part of history, Richard LaBarbiera said, “It’s not often you get to beat a record or make history. It’s very special being on the team. I can look back and maybe one day when my kids are playing out here, I can say, ‘I was part of the freshman team that broke the 38-year drought.' ”