The Steinert Baseball team celebrates with a pile on atop of CJ Pittaro who’s walk off 2 run single was the winning hit of the game. Photo by Michael A. Sabo.
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Apr. 24: Over two hours of Hamilton West exhilaration and Steinert agony got completely reversed in a matter of 10 minutes.
And fittingly, on a night when they re-dedicated Robert DeMeo Field to the late Steinert Hall of Famer, the Spartan and Hornet baseball teams delivered yet another epic thriller in the long history of this fierce rivalry.
Trailing 3-0 and with just one hit entering the bottom of the seventh, the Spartans rallied for a 4-3 win on CJ Pittaro’s two-run, walk-off single.
For the games first six innings it was all Hamilton. Despite six walks and hit batsmen, Adam Drosos had a no-hitter through the first five innings, much like teammate Ryan Beczo did against the Spartans last year.
Unlike 2016, that did not produce a Hornet victory, as Steinert had a rally waiting for reliever Justin Wiltsey in the seventh.
The Spartans threatened in the sixth when Jake Muller ended the no-hit bid with a leadoff double and reached third with one out. But Drosos ended with two strikeouts, finishing with sixth. He had reached his pitch count however and could not see it through.
Chris Cote and Ryan Mostrangeli led off the Spartan seventh with singles and Joey Sacco worked out a 3-2 walk to load the bases. Jake Beyer then grounded to short that Beczo made a play on but could not make a throw, as the Spartans got within 3-1 and still had the sacks jammed.
With CJ Pittaro up, a wild pitch scored Sacco and put two runners in scoring position. The freshman then grounded a single into right field to plate both runs and start a wild celebration for the Spartans. It was Steinert’s second seventh-inning comeback in five days as they did the same thing in Hopewell last Wednesday.
The Spartans (13-1) have now won seven straight while Hamilton (5-6) has lost two in a row.
[Not a valid template]After an impressive pre-game, re-dedication ceremony that featured Mayor Kelly Yaede, township council members and several special guests – all orchestrated by township rec director Jeff Plunkett — the Hornets got off to a blazing start.
With Dave Stec on the mound, Alex Venutolo hit the game’s first pitch for a single and Kyle Harrington blasted the second offering for an RBI double. Harrington took third on Jose Rodriguez’s fly ball and Charlie Geiger grounded a single up the middle to make it 2-0.
Stec allowed runners in each of the next three innings but managed to escape each time. He got touched for what looked like it would be a huge insurance run in the fifth when Harrington was hit by a pitch, bunted to second by Rodriguez and scored on a two-out single by Wiltsey.
In the bottom of the inning, Wiltsey then preserved the no-hitter with an outstanding running catch in right, in which he reached up at the last second to make a backhand catch and rob Mostrangeli of a hit. The sophomore was having such a great game, one had to feel for him when he was victimized by Steinert’s late rally.
At the same time, happy thoughts went out to Stec, who didn’t have dominant stuff but managed to battle his way through seven innings. The big right-hander allowed six hits, a walk and two hit batsmen while striking out six.
While it was a nightmare ending for Hamilton, it was another banner night for baseball in Hamilton Township. A large crowd was on hand to watch what turned into another memorable battle between two schools that have given us a lot of them.
