Shortstop Matt Tietz capped a three-run inning with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to give the Lions a 5-4 walk-off victory over Sparta on Wednesday in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference clash in Sparta.
Pope John (12-6) also rallied for an 8-4 win on Sparta's home field back on April 18. In that one, the Lions erased a 4-2 deficit with a five-run fifth.
"We've been in a little bit of a slump and losing this game would've been terrible," said Tietz, who came up short in the same situation on Saturday when he popped up with runners on first and second in the 11th inning of an eventual 6-5 loss to Phillipsburg in 12 innings. "This will definitely boost our confidence.
Sparta (11-9), which has lost three straight, was three outs away and seemingly headed for its first win in this rivalry since a 4-3 victory in 10 innings on May 19, 2009. That season, coach Sam Slobodzian's team won all three meetings between the Sussex County rivals, including a win in the county tournament.
Pope John has now won four of the last five in this series, as the teams played to a 9-9 tie due to darkness in the first of two contests in 2011.
Starter Kevin Foulds got through six innings relatively unscathed, but the tall right-hander allowed at least two runners to reach in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. After back-to-back doubles by Glenn Gavan and Mike Young to open the seventh, Slobodzian handed the ball to Jason Postorino, who walked Eder Rivera to load the bases. Young, who had a pair of doubles on the day, plated Gavan with his hit to cut the lead to 4-3.
That set the stage for Tietz, who laced a single that left fielder Matt Chemis attempted to make a sliding catch on. The ball squirted past him, as both Young and pinch-runner Jay Sanford rumbled home with the tying and winning runs. Until the seventh, Pope John had been 0-for-7 in the game with runners in scoring position.
"[Postorino] wasn't throwing strikes, and right away I was looking for something perfect or I wasn't swinging," said the Rutgers-bound Tietz, who recalled only other walk-off moment at the plate in his outstanding four-year career. "He kind of hung the last curveball and I waited on it, and just drove it."
Pope John had lost two of its last three coming in, including that tough loss to Phillipsburg in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals at home on Saturday. Needless to say, this one was huge for a number of reasons, most importantly from a conference standpoint.
"We aren't playing well, but we battled back," said longtime coach Bello, whose team is locked in a first-place tie with Jefferson atop the Amercian Division standings, each at 10-1 in division play. "I knew one of these guys, Tietz, or [cleanup hitter Ryan] McNally, at some point was going to get it going. Hopefully, maybe this one springs us on the in NJAC race."
Freshman lefty Matt Piwko got the win with 3 2/3 innings of solid relief. Piwko (2-2) came on in the fourth and inherited runners on first and third. Piwko allowed one run on one hit, while walking two and striking out a pair.
Pope John starter Dan Cunico struggled for the second straight outing, allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out six.
"Piwko pitched great, and so did Danny," Bello said. "I might have had a quick hook with Danny, but I felt we needed a change at that point. I was really happy with the way Piwko pitched -- a freshman in a Sparta-Pope John game. We didn't have to use [Gavan who went five innings in relief on Saturday] and that was big for us."
Sparta's defense had preserved the lead in the sixth, when second baseman Austin Unglaub made an amazing diving stop on Zach Leach's grounder up the middle with a runner on third. Unglaub flipped the ball to shortstop T.J. Estanislau for the force at second to start a 4-6-3 double play that ended the frame.
The Spartans had tacked on a run the top half on Chemis' sacrifice fly to right that made it a two-run game. Chemis also executed a perfect suicide-squeeze bunt to cap a three-run fourth inning. A passed ball and an RBI single by Postorino helped Sparta grab a 3-1 lead.
Gavan, after a tough game against P'burg, finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. He scored PJ's second run when Tietz hit into a fielder's choice to third for the second out in the fifth. Third baseman Postorino made a nice play on ball, but his throw to second pulled Unglaub off the bag and allowed Gavan to race home on the error.
The Lions struck first on Sam Redwood's RBI grounder in the second after back-to-back walks by McNally and designated hitter Rob Sanders to start the inning.
Pope John, which only had this game scheduled for the week, gets a chance to rest up before hosting Morris Hills on Monday in another key American Division game.
"This was a good team win," Bello said.
SPARTA (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Ruddy cf, 3-0-0-0, Estanislau ss 4-0-1-0, Livingston c 4-0-0-0, Dilger 1b 4-1-2-0, Tappen dh/Unglaub 2b 2-1-0-0, Forman 2-2-1-0, Foulds p-3b 1-0-0-0, Aromando cr 0-0-0-0, Postorino 3b-p 2-0-1-1, Chemis lf 1-0-0-2. Totals: 23-4-5-3.
POPE JOHN (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Young lf, 4-1-2-1, Sanford 2b-cr, 1-1-0-0, Rivera ph-3b 1-0-1-0, Tietz ss, 4-0-1-2, McNally cf, 2-1-0-0, Sanders dh/Cunico p/Piwka p, 2-0-1-0, Cassarra 1b, 3-0-2-0, Redwood rf 3-0-1-1, Leach c, 3-0-0-0 Gavan 3b-2b 3-2-2-0. Totals: 26-5-10-4.
E -- Leach; Postorino. DP -- Sparta (Unglaub, Estanislau, Dilger). LOB -- Sparta 6, Pope John 6. 2B -- Young 2, Gavan. SB -- Foulds; McNally. Sac -- Chemis, Postorino; Sanford. SF -- Chemis.
Foulds, Postorino (7) and Livingston. Cunico, Piwka (4) and Leach. W -- Piwka (2-2). L -- Postorino (3-3). SO-BB -- Foulds 1-2, Postorino 0-1; Cunico 6-2, Piwko 2-2. WP -- Cunico. PB -- Livingston; Leach. Balk -- Fould. HBP -- Foulds (by Cunico).
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