Baseball – St. John Vianney Rallies to Beat Rumson in Extra Innings

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RUMSON – Although this year’s St. John Vianney baseball team looks much different than last year’s club, the new starters on this year’s team have already shown the ability to put up runs and get outs on the mound. On Saturday against Rumson-Fair Haven and Bulldogs ace Morgan Maguire, they also showed their resilience.

Junior Dan Gesior ripped a game-tying, pinch-hit, two-run single with two out in the top of the seventh to send the game to extra innings and the Lancers scored two runs in the ninth on a wild pitch and a pickoff error to rally for a 4-2 win over the Bulldogs.

St. John Vianney was no-hit by Manasquan’s brother tandem of Tommy and Jack Sheehan in its most recent game on Wednesday and did not get a hit off Maguire for the first three innings on Saturday.

“The last game was frustrating, but coach (Mike) Morgan planted it in our heads that we just have to move on,” said junior right fielder Zach Richards, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI to go with the defensive play of the game for the Lancers. “We had to trust our bats to come through and it was kind of shaky in the beginning, but we just fought back and our bats came through.”

Maguire took a three-hit shutout and a two-run lead into the seventh before St John Vianney finally got to him. The inning started with a strikeout that got to the backstop and allowed Victor Jamandron to reach first base. Junior catcher Ciaran Devenney and senior third baseman Nick DeLuise each followed with a walk to load the bases with no one out before Maguire induced an infield popup for the first out.

The Lancers scored their first run on an RBI fielder's choice groundout by junior right fielder Zach Richards, who hit a ground ball to third base that Jackson Rissucci picked up before he tagged the third base bag and threw to first base too late to get Richards. Gesior then followed with the game-tying hit, a sharp ground ball to second that took a high, fast hop over the head of Rumson second baseman Sam Chandler and allowed pinch-runner Kevin Callari to score from second.

“During the game, I saw that he was throwing a lot of fastballs, so I went up thinking I could get a fastball to hit hard somewhere,” Gesior said. “He threw me one earlier in the count for a ball and then I looked for him to bring it down so I could put it play.”

Rumson nearly won the game in the bottom of the seventh when Maguire hit a long fly ball that cleared the outfield fence in right, but was caught by Richards to save the game.

“I didn’t really look for the fence. I was just hoping to catch the ball,” Richards said. “I really didn’t want to drop the ball and I knew I was going to plow through that fence if I had to.”

Richards then singled with two out in the ninth, moved to third on an error on a hard ground ball hit by Gesior, then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-2. Gesior stole second and scored on an errant throw to third after he was caught in a rundown between second and third.

Richards also ignited the winning rally in the ninth with a two-out single to right and moved to third base on an error on a ground ball hit by Gesior. A wild pitch by Rumson reliever Matt Fahey allowed Richards to score the winning run and Gesior to move to second base. Gesior scored when he was caught off second base on a pickoff and a throw to third base got away.

Maguire pitched eight innings and struck out nine while walking five in a 113-pitch effort.

Rumson jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by junior first baseman Teddy Sourlis, which cleared the line of trees in right field and landed on the tennis courts. Sourlis finished 2-for-4 to lead the Bulldogs offense, which could not score after Sourlis’ blast despite eight hits.

The Bulldogs squandered scoring chances in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, missing out on a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity in the fifth and failing to capitalize on a leadoff double by junior shortstop Max Goione in the fourth. Lancers starter John Michael Broderick struck out the next three batters to strand Goione at second.

Broderick pitched into the seventh inning before a line drive off the bat of right fielder Lucas Scinto hit the senior right-hander in his pitching forearm. Broderick still managed to pick up the ball and throw Scinto out at first on the play, but he was in visible pain after making the play. Lancers coach Mike Morgan said that Broderick has a bruised wrist and that the extent of the injury is still unknown.

Junior left-hander Chris Perez induced an inning-ending groundout by Goione after replacing Broderick and pitched 1 2/3 innings to earn the win. Junior Brandon DeKovics recorded the final two outs on five pitches to earn the save.

“I thought I’d get a shot to go in earlier, so I was ready,” Perez said. “I’ve been waiting to get an inning for a really long time, so I was just prepared to pitch whenever I got that opportunity.”

Of the 10 St. John Vianney players in the starting lineup Saturday, only one – senior center fielder Nick Gugliara – was a starter during the Lancers’ run to the NJSIAA Non-Public A title last season.

“This definitely builds a team bond between us,” Gesior said. “We just went nine innings against one of the best pitchers in the Shore and it shows that when it all comes together, we can be an even better team than we were at the beginning of the season.”

Box Score

St. John Vianney 4, Rumson-Fair Haven 2

2B: Cerniglia
IBB: Devenney
SAC: Gugliara
GIDP: Gugliara
SB: Gesior 2
CS: Richards, DeLuise

2B: Goione
HR: Sourlis (2nd inning off Broderick, one on, one out)
Batter Interference: McCabe
SB: Maisto
CS: Ferrare

HBP: DeLuise (by Perez), Chandler (by Broderick)
Pitches-Strikes: Broderick 80-53, Perez 35-21, DeKovics 5-4, Maguire 113-67, Fahey 21-11, Mazzucca 2-1
Groundouts-Flyouts: Broderick 5-6, Perez 2-1, DeKovics 1-0, Maguire 8-4, Fahey 1-0, Mazzucca 0-1