Holmdel Baseball Wins a Thriller

HAZLET - In the biggest at-bat of a high school baseball career that is only four games old, Holmdel freshman designated hitter Joe Sadler delivered the first signature moment of what looks like an extremely promising future.

With the game tied against division rival Raritan at Rocket Park on Thursday, Sadler worked a 3-2 count against senior pitcher Mike DaCosta before punching a single the other way to bring home two runs and send the Hornets on their way to a thrilling 8-5 comeback win. Holmdel (3-1, 3-0) rallied for four runs with two outs in the top of seventh inning to remain in sole possession of first place in Class A Central.

"I was a little nervous in a pressure situation,'' said Sadler, who has quickly become an integral part of Holmdel's success. "It was a 3-2 count, so I was just looking to poke it somewhere and get some runs in.''

"The reason why we pulled this out today is because we have competitiveness and heart,'' Holmdel coach Dan Mondelli said. "We just refused to give up, and we overcame some mistakes.''

Holmdel's comeback was especially impressive given the fact that it looked like the Hornets had squandered their best chance to tie the game when leadoff man Jason Foo dropped down a squeeze bunt only to watch as Raritan reliever Rob Ronan flipped the ball to catcher C.J. Pulcine in time to nail courtesy runner Dylan Baxter sliding into home plate for the second out of the seventh inning.

That's when a young Holmdel showed that is a different team from the callow group that had trouble closing out wins and rallying from behind last season. After a play that could have completely taken the wind out of the Hornets, senior captain J.J. Cuccurrullo worked a walk on a full count to load the bases.

That brought up junior Eric Scamardella, and after Ronan started 2-0 on him, Raritan coach T.J. O'Donnell brought in DaCosta to pitch. Scamardella took two strikes but then worked a walk on a full count to bring in game-tying run and bring up Sadler for the biggest at-bat of his young career.

After going 7-for-9 at the plate in his first three varsity games, Sadler was moved from the bottom of the order to the cleanup spot for the first time on Thursday, and he delivered in a huge spot.

"He was having a rough day, so I give him credit for regrouping,'' Mondelli said. "When a guy is smoking the ball like he has been, I felt he could handle (batting cleanup), and he showed what he can do.''

"I was proud to be in the cleanup spot and I just wanted to show (Mondelli) I could stay there,'' Sadler said. "I started off rough, I couldn't get any hits, but then came that last at-bat.''

When Sadler hit his two-run single, he attempted to take second base, but the throw from catcher C.J. Pulcine was dropped by the shortstop, allowing Scamardella to run home from third for a three-run lead. Scamardella, who came on in relief in the sixth inning, sealed the win with a scoreless seventh inning in his first  appearance on the mound this spring after experiencing some arm trouble in the preseason.

Holmdel rallied from deficits three different times during the game before Sadler's final heroics. Scamardella went 2-for-2 with a walk, a solo homer, a double and two runs scored, senior catcher Nick Solfaro added a walk and an RBI double, starting pitcher Cole Whatley had a triple and a run scored and Foo had a double, a walk, and two runs scored in the win. DaCosta finished 2-for-2 with two walks, a solo homer and two runs scored in the loss for the Rockets (3-2, 2-2).

"Obviously there's a long way to go in the division, but this is huge,'' Mondelli said.

Scamardella snapped a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning by crushing a fastball off starter Dan Gutch over the leftfield fence for a solo homer.

"It was a 3-2 count, I was expecting a fastball, and I got it on the inner half and ended up driving it out to left,'' Scamardella said.

Raritan responded by scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth to jump back in front. Rightfielder Jake Vanderveer led off with a triple into the left centerfield gap and then scored on an infield hit down the third baseline by Kalarjian to tie the game. After a sacrifice bunt by second baseman Chris Lehan, senior shorstop Tim Pizanie and Pulcine drew consecutive walks off Scamardella, who had come on in relief of Whatley after Kalarjian's RBI single. Senior centerfielder Mike Langan followed by hitting an RBI sacrifice fly to right field that plated courtesy runner Bill DeVarti for a 5-4 advantage for the home team.

Holmdel had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Foo led off with a double and then scored all the way from second on a passed ball. Raritan answered in the bottom of the first when DaCosta smacked a solo homer over the left field fence.

Trailing 3-1 heading into the fifth inning, Holmdel came back again when Whatley led off with a triple and then Baxter, his courtesy runner, scored on a double by Solfaro to cut it to 3-2. Solfaro later scored when Cuccurullo beat out a potential double play ball, tying the game at three.

The win was the latest encouraging sign in the ongoing resurrection of Holmdel baseball in the third season under Mondelli.

"Since the first day of practice, they got us together and said, 'We know you're good, everyone else knows you're good, so you've just got to believe in yourselves,''' Scamardella said. "Ever since then, we've taken off. There's a lot of talent through A Central, but I think we're able to compete with anyone.''

Holmdel's next divisional game is coming up on Monday when it faces a fellow Holmdel school, St. John Vianney, at home at 3:45 p.m. A win in that game could potentially give the Hornets a two-game lead on every team in the division.