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Bergen Catholic offense erupts in win
The offense that fueled Bergen Catholic to a 6-1 start to the season reignited for a big win against a pesky Dumont squad, 16-5, Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Jared Finkle tossed five innings of three-run ball for his first win of the year and senior captain Ryan Kelley was 4-4 at the dish with 4 RBI’s and 3 SB for the Crusaders who improved to 10-10 on the year.
“This was a big game for us, big to get back to .500 on the road against a tough team,” said Kelly. “The last few games I have been seeing the ball really well and today it seemed like I was making solid contact and everything found a hole.”
The Crusaders wasted no time jumping on Dumont scratching two runs in the opening frame and amassing a whopping 14 hits total in the 16-run outburst.
Finkle didn’t necessarily have his best stuff but the Bergen defense managed to pick him up at every turn. BC turned a couple of outstanding double plays early to keep Dumont down and freshman Mike Martinez made a web gem in left field, diving to his left on a sharply hit liner to close it out with the Huskies beginning to rally.
“It’s a great feeling knowing your team always has your back,” said Finkle. “All game long I knew in tight spots if I could get them to put it in play they would back me up and they did time and time again.”
With the issue still in doubt in the bottom of the fourth inning, captain Kelly made one of the headiest players you will see from a ballplayer at any level. Dumont had cut the lead to 4-1 at the time and after plating its first run attempted to take third when the third baseman had strayed off the bag.
Kelly darted in from his left field spot to take the throw from catcher Zack Cerbo and applied the tag to limit the damage in what could have very well been a huge turning point in the game.
“Coach Burt always tells us to be aware, as outfielders we can be called upon to cover at any time. In that spot I saw Alec (DeMattheis) leave third to make the play on the initial run so I ran as fast as I could and luckily we got him.”
"Huge to get out of that inning," said Finkle. "I had already thrown a lot of pitches and was starting to have a bit of trouble locating, getting back in the dugout was huge and might have been the turning point for us."
That defensive presence along with consistent clutch hitting proved to be too much for Dumont which falls to 12-7 on the year.
"They're a good team, there's no doubt in my mind they will be in the think of things in their state tournament," said Kelly. "I'm just glad we got outta here with a win."
Contact John Quirk at jquirk@cablevision.com, Follow him on Twitter @Quirkmedia
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