Bulldogs Beat Rivals For Conference Title

When Ross Goldfarb made his final walk off the mound as a Dayton Bulldog, it was a bittersweet moment. On one hand, he tired down the stretch while nursing a four-run lead but on the other hand he really wanted to finish what he started.  

Thankfully for the senior hurler, he had done enough on the hill and his team enough at the plate to earn its first Union County Valley Conference championship, in a decisive 9-5 win over rival Brearley.

Goldfarb wanted to go the distance but when first-year head coach Mike Abbate called upon sophomore Tommy Losito to close out the game, he knew he was in good hands.  

Once senior second baseman Elliot Karp threw to senior first baseman Alex Popolani for the final out, Goldfarb's team-first mentality took over and he realized his Bulldogs [14-10] were finally champions—an occurrence that seemed impossible at the beginning of the season.  

Afterwards, Goldfarb basked in the glory yet was humbled by being a part of something bigger than him.  

"It's a great way to end a great senior year and season," he said. "We played our hearts out every game and left everything out there. Last couple of innings adversity happened and they started to hit the ball, so Tommy comes in and shuts them down and we won the conference. It was a team effort. We all won."  

Abbate, who said it wasn't that tough a decision, applauded Goldfarb for his grit and ability to get out of jams.    

"He's pitched a lot of big games for us," said Abbate. "Ross is our number one, so he went against every big team in every big game. He battled every single day with the amount of work he put in this year. But you could see that pitching into June on a hot day that he didn't really have his curveball working, so he battled with the fastball. And he still made some big pitches and made some big outs."   

Although Abbate felt for his senior workhorse, he said there was a plan all along in case Goldfarb tired.  

"It's tough he wasn't on the mound in that last inning but he's a team guy," Abbate said. "We talked about it to start the [seventh] inning. He was battling control problems with the walks. And with a four-run lead we wanted them to make three- and four-straight base hits to get back into the game.    

"So we bring in Tommy, who's been throwing strikes all year. And if Tommy didn't have it, we were all set to bring in [Matt] Roland. We had it all set up the way we wanted."   

The Bulldogs [10-2 in the conference] got off to a torrid start, as they raced to a 7-0 lead after two innings, hitting everything the Bears [9-3 in conference] threw at them.  

Senior third baseman Marquay Mayo got things started with a bloop RBI-double to centerfield, scoring Tyler Bujnowski, in the bottom of the first, when the ball was lost in the bright sun. Karp, who singled before Mayo, soon scored on a wild pitch. A Popolani single up the middle then scored Mayo for a quick 3-0 lead to end the first.

Dayton then scored four more runs in the second, most notably on a Karp two-run triple and a Popolani sacrifice RBI, to lift the lead to 7-0. By that time, more than a few Bulldogs thought it was over and had a championship dog-pile dancing in their heads.  

"Towards the beginning I started to think that because we were way ahead," admitted senior catcher Tommy Clark. "But then we started to get lazy, so that's when we had to refocus, and worry about celebrating at the end of the game."   

The Bulldogs soon refocused and managed to tack on two more runs to take a 9-2 lead heading into the fifth. Goldfarb, who pitched six innings allowing five runs – four earned—on seven hits, with five strikeouts, and four walks, began to run into trouble soon after. He allowed an RBI-sacrifice fly and a two-run double to leftfield, as the Bears scratched its way back into the game, 9-5.  

Goldfarb could smell the beginning of the end for his day but fiercely wanted to stay out there.  

"I was pretty anxious coming in [the seventh]," said the University of Tampa-bound pitcher. "I had to keep my composure but I threw four-straight balls. I was tired and it was hot. I wanted to battle out there because I never battled so hard like that before.    

"It didn't happen for me in the seventh but it's great because we won. We're champs. 2-16 last year and no one expected this but we showed everybody up."   

Mayo, who went 2-for-3, with an RBI, and two runs, said winning the conference was big enough but to come at the expense of a detested rival made it that much more special.   

"It feels great beating Brearley for the second time. We also beat them in football, so it just feels great to always beat them because I hate them," Mayo said with a fiendish smirk. 

Senior centerfield D.J. DiProfio agreed that it's always great to win a championship at a rivals' expense and relished all the winning this suddenly hot JDHS sports program has done his senior year.   

"I can't describe it. We did it in football, too, so it's a great feeling," he said. "It's great to go out as champion in two sports."   

DiProfio, who will be heading to Fairleigh Dickinson in the fall to punt for the football team, felt the athletic prowess it takes to excel in multiple sports was a key factor in his success.    

"My bat wasn't too hot all season but my athletic ability and glove were always there and consistently got the job done," he said. "Plus, it was coaching. Abbate is a great coach and he gets the job done."   

Abbate said he's aware that expectations will be raised next season. He said to ward off any complacency, he'll enjoy this for a few days and then it's back to work.  

"We'll enjoy this but you don't look at the wins until you're all done and I don't think I'll be done here for a while," he said. "We're building something special here, so starting Monday the younger guys are back for legion. We just want to keep it rolling.    

"It's nice the way we ended this for the seniors but for the younger guys, it's a good way to start the summer. Baseball is all about consistency, so we're hoping we can build on what we just did in June."  

Heavy is the head that finally wears a crown.