Immaculata's stunning baseball playoff run ends in the NJSIAA Non-Public B final

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP – The dust flew high covering left field as the groundskeepers worked around third base following Wednesday’s NJSIAA non-public B final.

When it settled, there was the Immaculata baseball team with players hugging one another and milling around. It was not a sight one might have expected to see just a few weeks ago.

The Spartans have several underclassmen starters and entered the playoffs with a 10-12 record. What followed was a memorable run en route to winning the North Non-Public B sectional title.

Wednesday, it came to an end with a 10-1 loss to Ranney in the Non-Public B final at Veterans Park’s DeMeo Field.

With the game tied 1-1, Ranney (26-5) scored three times in the sixth inning and six more in the seventh to break open the game.

Junior left-hander A.J. Gracia, who made a non-binding oral commitment to Duke University, pitched out of trouble at times and allowed an unearned run on three hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts.

While Immaculata had some sadness, the players could reflect on the successful season. The memories included rallying from a seven-run, sixth inning hole to edge Gill St. Bernard’s 8-7 in the sectional final last Friday.

“No one really thought a team of freshmen and sophomores with five or six seniors could have made it this far,” sophomore Josh Thompson said. “And the win against Gill for the sectional championship was huge. I mean, we weren't supposed to win that game. We weren’t even supposed to be here. … That’s a good team. So it was great to be able to stick with teams for as long as we were able to.”

What it means

Immaculata (14-13) falls short in its quest for the program’s third state title. The Spartans won in Non-Public A in 2010 and Non-Public B in 1995.

In the North Non-Public B section, the fifth-seeded Spartans won four games, including upsetting top-seeded Rutgers Prep 11-2 in the semifinals.

Key plays

Immaculata manufactured a run in the second inning to tie it 1-1. Thompson led off the inning with a single to center. He moved to second on a wild pitch and a balk brought him to third base. Thompson raced home and scored when a high ball went off the catcher’s glove to the back stop.

Game balls

Despite the loss, Thompson gave Immaculata a chance to win. On the game’s 10th pitch, Ranney’s Gracia, also its leadoff hitter, hit a home run to right field. The right-hander settled down to retire five in a row and scattered four hits and a walk entering the sixth inning.

In all, he allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings on seven hits and two walks with a strikeout.

Unsung heroes

Until Ranney broke it open in the sixth, it was a tense and tight pitching duel. Immaculata’s defense came through to keep it close. In the second, catcher Danny Ferguson threw out a runner trying to steal second to end the inning.

In the third with a runner on first, second baseman Troy Rabosky scooped up a one-hop grounder and tossed it to the shortstop A.J. Johnson, who was covering second and he threw to first base for the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

In the fourth with a Ranney runner on second, Rabosky caught a liner and quickly threw to Johnson, again scooting over to second base, for the inning-ending double play.

They said it

Immaculata coach Kevin Cust said, “I tried to keep it positive with our guys. We had a great run at the end. Even in this game, hanging in with them. You could see they have a bunch of men over their playing the game and we’re just a little undersized and everything, but I thought we did a great job hanging in for five innings and the score didn’t really reflect the intensity of the game. I thought in the end they just kept chipping away and credit to them. They’re a great program, great team. (Ranney coach) Pat (Geroni) does a great with those guys."

Cust on how the Gill St. Bernard’s win was the season's highlight, "That was such a big win and then how we pulled that out. This is kind of the icing on the cake here ... But it was a great season to win a section nobody counted us to be in. I’m real proud of my guys and the way they pulled together and became a team and decided they were going to go on a run. So it was great to see that happen and that’s what it’s all about.”

Thompson admitted even the team didn’t think in the beginning of the season they would reach the state title game, “As we started to put things together, we saw us working in practice. Everybody was putting in extra work. No one was slacking off. Everybody was putting in work. We were all bonding as a team. We were getting better and better each day.”

On the comeback against Gill St. Bernard’s and how that fighting spirit summed up the season, “We had the heart the whole time. We never looked down on ourselves. We never gave up on ourselves.”

Email: amendlowitz@njpressmedia.com

Andy Mendlowitz is a sports reporter for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to local news throughout Central Jersey, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Immaculata baseball falls in the NJSIAA Non-Public B final