April 27, 2008

The recent baseball game pitting St. Benedict’s against Bloomfield Tech had a little bit of something for everyone.

There were back-to-back homers – from St. Benedict’s Rich Fagan and Charles Perry.

There were plenty of walks, including seven in one inning.

There was a pick off and caught stealing – of the same base-runner in the same inning.

There were balks both called and not called.

There was a plethora of lead changes – seven in all.

You want errors? There was an abundance of those as well (15).

Even a little blood was spilled.

But in the end, too many mistakes – both physically and mentally – ultimately spelled St. Benedict’s demise. And when the dust finally settled after a 3 ½-hour marathon on the dirt field at Watsessing Park, the Gray Bees dropped a 23-19 decision.

“It was one of the craziest games I have ever been a part of,” said St. Benedict’s coach Mike DiPiano Jr.

St. Benedict’s came from behind four times, even wiping out a 17-11 deficit by scoring eight runs – all with two outs – in the sixth inning.

After Perry was picked off at second by the catcher for the second out, the Gray Bees put together an amazing rally. Seven walks, coupled with Tom Holt’s three-run triple and Fagan’s two singles and an RBI in the frame, ignited the uprising that gave the Gray Bees a 19-17 cushion.

The seemingly endless inning (14 batters) came to a halt when Perry was nailed at the plate trying to swipe home with the bases loaded on a pitch that squirted slightly away from the catcher. Perry hurt his hand and bloodied his mouth on the collision with the catcher.

St. Benedict’s lead was short-lived, however. Bloomfield Tech took advantage of three fielding miscues by the Gray Bees in its half of the sixth and scored six runs to cap the scoring and secured the victory.

“I really liked how we came back so many times,” said DiPiano. “That showed some heart. But making all those mistakes just piled up and killed us.”

The disappointment of that game (Friday, April 25) carried over to the next day when the Gray Bees were shut out against Princeton Day in the first game of the Oratory Invitational.

DiPiano’s troops regrouped in time and got the bats going again and won its consolation game, 14-1, over St. Patrick. Fagan, the cleanup hitter, made it nine for his last nine at bats by going 2-for-2 with five RBI. Dan Sheehan contributed with a base-clearing double as St. Benedict’s lifted its record to 5-9.

“Coming back and winning on Saturday afternoon in the consolation game was a sigh of relief,” said the coach. “This team can look so bad at times and very good at others. I just hope we play like the very good team for the last few weeks.”

--By Ron Jandoli