Error Helps Doom Ramapo in State Baseball Action

After erupting for 18 runs to upset third-seeded Passaic Valley in the opening round of the North 1 Group III state tournament, Ramapo's hot bats went cold Friday, failing to deliver enough timely hits to overcome an early three-run deficit at Lakeland. The Raiders would fall, 6-2.

Although the Raiders' offense started quickly with second baseman junior Nick Madormo and first baseman senior R.J. Voorman lacing consecutive line drive singles to open the first frame, Lakeland's poised righty starter, Sean Reilley, wiggled out of early trouble by striking out Ramapo's cleanup hitter, senior catcher Myles Amador, before retiring heavy-hitting senior third baseman Sean Munier on a sharp groundout to third.

Taking the mound after watching his teammates squander two runners in scoring position, Ramapo's ace starting pitcher junior T.J. Hunt sat down the first pair of Lakeland batters by getting the leadoff hitter to softly ground out to second base before striking out the next batter on a hard, low fastball along the outside corner. However, what looked like an easy 1-2-3 inning for Hunt became a three-run first for Lakeland, as the Lancers capitalized on a costly throwing error that kept the frame alive.

After junior Justin Gartner's hard throw from the hole at shortstop skipped underneath Voorman's glove at first base, the Lakeland runner advanced to second before stealing third. Lakeland first baseman, junior Lou Saraceni, then exploited the Raiders' defensive mistake by roping an RBI single to center. Senior catcher Kiel Rieth followed with a seeing-eye single past Madormo's outstretched glove in shallow right, driving another runner home to make it 2-0. Senior shortstop Jon Allard then shot a base hit between shortstop and third, tacking on another run and extending the Lancers' lead to three. Hunt finally stopped the bleeding by getting the next batter to strike out swinging on an off-speed pitch, but the damage was already done.

The Lancers applied pressure again in the second, eventually making Hunt pay for a leadoff walk to second baseman Jarred Robbins. After the base on balls, third baseman Jake Mcdonald lined a single to center. Hunt then surrendered his second walk of the inning, loading the bases for first baseman Andrew Niedzwiecki. The 6'1", 175-pound righty flared a pop fly into the right-centerfield gap that appeared dangerous, but getting a quick jump on the ball, Gandolfo rushed in from deep centerfield to make a diving, highlight reel, run-saving catch. Although one run still scored on the sacrifice fly, Gandolfo's play prevented the inning from becoming a replay of the first, as Hunt then struck out Saraceni to escape the bases-loaded jam nearly unscathed.

Riding this momentum, Madormo led off the third inning for Ramapo by roping a double down the right field line. Voorman then followed by dumping a single over the first baseman's head that landed directly on the chalk, as these two Raiders at the top of the order continued to cause problems for Lakeland. With runners on first and third, senior right fielder Warren Hartmann sent a rocket into the right-centerfield gap that was flagged down by diving centerfielder Joe Bagonis. Tagging and scoring on the play, though, Madormo crossed home to pull Ramapo to within three again.

With the score 4-1 now, Hunt began to find his groove, retiring the side in order with three straight groundball outs in the third. Lakeland's crafty right-hander continued matching Hunt pitch for pitch, though, as he too put Ramapo's bats down consecutively in the fourth. With a pitchers' duel starting to shape up, Hunt took his turn at mowing through the heart of Lakeland's order in the bottom half of the inning. After getting Robbins to fly out to center, Hunt stabbed a hard, one-hop come-backer with cat-like quickness on the mound. The calm and determined ace fired a strike to first for the out, before getting sophomore shortstop Steve Secor to fly out harmlessly to right field. Leaving the mound with a noticeable swagger after sitting the Lancers down in order for a second consecutive inning, Hunt was undoubtedly settled in, and keeping the Raiders within reach.

"I had a couple of nerves get to me early, but I definitely felt more relaxed and confident as the game wore on," Hunt said. "I was able to settle in, and just wanted to keep it close, while giving our team a chance to win."

While both pitchers exchanged scoreless frames again in the fifth, Hunt was relieved by senior Andrew Bauer after recording one out in the sixth. Fighting to keep his team in contention, Hunt pitched 5 1/3 solid innings, allowing only one earned run on four hits, while striking out five.

Upon entering the game, Bauer surrendered a hard groundball single between first and second. Attempting to score from second base on the play, outfielder Jordan Aughey was beaten by Hartmann's strike from right field, but still managed to slide underneath Amador's tag, helping Lakeland regain its previous four-run lead. The next batter, Mcdonald, drove another single to right, and while Hartmann again fired a perfect throw to the plate to beat the runner Bagonis by 10 feet, the runner this time knocked the ball out of Amador's hand. However, Bagonis missed the plate, and although Bauer recovered the ball and flipped it back to Amador in time, the umpire again ruled that the runner slid underneath the tag.

"They were both just 'bang, bang' plays that could have gone either way," Ramapo Coach Mickey Hunt said. "Sometimes you get those kinds of calls to go your way, and other times you don't."

Despite a clean RBI single by Hartmann to score Madormo, and a late bases-loaded rally in the seventh, the Raiders could not muster up enough offense, falling short at Lakeland 6-2.

"They got the hits when they needed to, and we didn't," Hunt said. "It's as simple as that. Their kid pitched a great game and kept us off balance from start to finish."

Barring an early error that led to three runs and a pair of unfortunate plays at the plate, the Ramapo Raiders could have possibly earned a birth in the next round.

"I definitely feel that this was a game that we could have won," T.J. Hunt said. "But you just have to live with it. You win some and you lose some. That's just baseball."