Pope John and Vernon have experienced a fair share of both, but the Lions hope to be hitting their stride at the right time.
Left-hander Ethan Collins fired six scoreless innings and Axel D'Addario belted his fourth home run, as Pope John rolled to a 4-0 win on Tuesday in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference clash at Vernon Township High School.
Pope John (13-13, 8-6) won its final American Division game, while handing Vernon (11-13, 5-9) its fifth straight loss to close out its season. Coach Vin Bello's Lions, who gave Don Bosco Prep all it could handle in a tough 5-4 loss in nine innings on Monday, now gear up for Friday's opener in the Non-Public North A sectional playoffs at home against DePaul.
"We've played a lot of good teams, a lot of tough teams," said Bello, whose 2011 team captured the program's first North A championship. "We've blown some leads and we've come back in a few. Today, we got a good pitched ballgame from Collins and [Jack] Nelson."
Coach Scott Berge's Vikings, which featured a senior-laden lineup with four underclassmen regulars on the bench in the finale, saw their turnaround season end abruptly with their third loss in four days. After a 2-6 start, Vernon won nine of its next 11 and reached the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex title game for the first time in the event's four-year history.
The Vikes lost, 10-0, to Hunterdon Central in the HWS final on Saturday and were coming off a tough 9-1 defeat to Paramus on Monday in the opening round of the North 1, Group 3 playoffs. In that one, Vernon pitchers allowed five walks and hit three batters -- leading to seven Paramus runs.
It was a tough finish to a fine season for Vernon, which scored a total of seven runs in its final six games. Tuesday's loss also stretched the program's skid against Pope John to 11 straight dating to 2008, the last season in which the Vikings beat the Lions (4-1 on April 14).
"It was a year of streaks," said Berge, whose son, Kevin, had knee surgery on Monday and missed Tuesday's finale after a strong senior season on the mound. "We started cold and got hot midseason. Then, we went cold at the end. That's baseball at any level. Unfortunately, the high school season is so short. When you get hot, you hope it stays with you."
Pope John, which will host Somerset county champion Bernards in an independent clash on Wednesday, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Vernon right-hander Mike Franklin, who gutted out a pretty solid seven-inning performance, hit leadoff batter Jay Sanford and walked Axel D'Addario. Mike Young singled home Sanford and a one-out error allowed D'Addario to score.
Collins retired the side in the first and third innings, while working around a hit batsman and a single in the second. Vernon had its leadoff batter on three times in the game, including the sixth and seventh frames, but couldn't get a runner past second base.
The Pope John lefty mixed his offspeed pitches well, rarely throwing a fastball. Collins struck out five and walked just one, while allowing five hits.
Collins (5-2) has now won his last three outings against the Vikings, including two victories against them in 2012.
"My curveball and changeup were working, and I was mixing [my pitches] to both sides of the plate," said Collins, who may see action in relief of starter Dan Cunico in Friday's state game. "We lost our last [three] games coming in, so this was a big win for us."
After catcher Zach Leach stretched Pope John's lead to 3-0 with an RBI double in the third, D'Addario smacked a huge solo home run over the center-field fence to give the Lions a four-run cushion. D'Addario, a junior, has been one of the Lions' best hitters, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored in this one.
"I didn't really think it was going out," said D'Addario, whose ball caught a nice tailwind that aided its flight over the fence. "Luckily, I hit it with the good part of the bat. It was big, four runs [down] is possible [to tie] with one swing of the bat, but it's really hard to do. Three runs down, you're a double to the gap and couple of hits away from tying the game up."
Franklin (1-2), a tall and lanky righty, only allowed two hits the rest of the way. He allowed eight hits and struck out six, while picking off Sanford at first base in the sixth.
The Vikings had one on in the sixth, but senior third baseman John Lipari lined into a double play, when Sanford caught his liner and Kevin Ufferfilge napping at first following a leadoff single. In the seventh, Nelson relieved Collins and walked leadoff man Tyler Kart, but the Lions got turned another double play on Max Schriner's comebacker to Nelson. Sam Vitellaro drew another walk, Riley Keenan lined out to Sanford to end the game.
"Overall, I'm pleased with where this program has gone," said Berge, whose teams went 28-57 in his first four seasons at the helm, while this year's club posted the program's highest win total since going 15-8 in 2008. "We have a very strong nucleus coming back next year."
POPE JOHN (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Sanford ss 3-1-1-0, D'Addario 2b 3-2-2-1, Young rf 4-1-2-1, Sanders dh/Collins p/Nelson p 4-0-0-0, Piwko 1b 2-0-0-1, Leach c 3-0-1-1, Fierro cr 0-0-0-0, Ahmadi lf 3-0-0-0, Malejko rf 3-0-0-0, Kopnick 3b 3-0-2-0. Totals: 28-4-8-4.
VERNON (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Duvall 2b 3-0-0-0, Harboy ss 3-0-0-0, Ufferfilge cf 3-0-1-0, Lipari 3b 1-0-1-0, Baxter ph 1-0-0-0, Franklin p 3-0-1-0, Kart 1b 2-0-0-0, Schriner rf 3-0-1-0, Vitellaro lf 1-0-0-0, Keenan c 3-0-1-0, Moen cr 0-0-0-0. Totals: 23-0-5-0.
Left-hander Ethan Collins fired six scoreless innings and Axel D'Addario belted his fourth home run, as Pope John rolled to a 4-0 win on Tuesday in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference clash at Vernon Township High School.
Pope John (13-13, 8-6) won its final American Division game, while handing Vernon (11-13, 5-9) its fifth straight loss to close out its season. Coach Vin Bello's Lions, who gave Don Bosco Prep all it could handle in a tough 5-4 loss in nine innings on Monday, now gear up for Friday's opener in the Non-Public North A sectional playoffs at home against DePaul.
"We've played a lot of good teams, a lot of tough teams," said Bello, whose 2011 team captured the program's first North A championship. "We've blown some leads and we've come back in a few. Today, we got a good pitched ballgame from Collins and [Jack] Nelson."
Coach Scott Berge's Vikings, which featured a senior-laden lineup with four underclassmen regulars on the bench in the finale, saw their turnaround season end abruptly with their third loss in four days. After a 2-6 start, Vernon won nine of its next 11 and reached the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex title game for the first time in the event's four-year history.
The Vikes lost, 10-0, to Hunterdon Central in the HWS final on Saturday and were coming off a tough 9-1 defeat to Paramus on Monday in the opening round of the North 1, Group 3 playoffs. In that one, Vernon pitchers allowed five walks and hit three batters -- leading to seven Paramus runs.
It was a tough finish to a fine season for Vernon, which scored a total of seven runs in its final six games. Tuesday's loss also stretched the program's skid against Pope John to 11 straight dating to 2008, the last season in which the Vikings beat the Lions (4-1 on April 14).
"It was a year of streaks," said Berge, whose son, Kevin, had knee surgery on Monday and missed Tuesday's finale after a strong senior season on the mound. "We started cold and got hot midseason. Then, we went cold at the end. That's baseball at any level. Unfortunately, the high school season is so short. When you get hot, you hope it stays with you."
Pope John, which will host Somerset county champion Bernards in an independent clash on Wednesday, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Vernon right-hander Mike Franklin, who gutted out a pretty solid seven-inning performance, hit leadoff batter Jay Sanford and walked Axel D'Addario. Mike Young singled home Sanford and a one-out error allowed D'Addario to score.
Collins retired the side in the first and third innings, while working around a hit batsman and a single in the second. Vernon had its leadoff batter on three times in the game, including the sixth and seventh frames, but couldn't get a runner past second base.
The Pope John lefty mixed his offspeed pitches well, rarely throwing a fastball. Collins struck out five and walked just one, while allowing five hits.
Collins (5-2) has now won his last three outings against the Vikings, including two victories against them in 2012.
"My curveball and changeup were working, and I was mixing [my pitches] to both sides of the plate," said Collins, who may see action in relief of starter Dan Cunico in Friday's state game. "We lost our last [three] games coming in, so this was a big win for us."
After catcher Zach Leach stretched Pope John's lead to 3-0 with an RBI double in the third, D'Addario smacked a huge solo home run over the center-field fence to give the Lions a four-run cushion. D'Addario, a junior, has been one of the Lions' best hitters, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored in this one.
"I didn't really think it was going out," said D'Addario, whose ball caught a nice tailwind that aided its flight over the fence. "Luckily, I hit it with the good part of the bat. It was big, four runs [down] is possible [to tie] with one swing of the bat, but it's really hard to do. Three runs down, you're a double to the gap and couple of hits away from tying the game up."
Franklin (1-2), a tall and lanky righty, only allowed two hits the rest of the way. He allowed eight hits and struck out six, while picking off Sanford at first base in the sixth.
The Vikings had one on in the sixth, but senior third baseman John Lipari lined into a double play, when Sanford caught his liner and Kevin Ufferfilge napping at first following a leadoff single. In the seventh, Nelson relieved Collins and walked leadoff man Tyler Kart, but the Lions got turned another double play on Max Schriner's comebacker to Nelson. Sam Vitellaro drew another walk, Riley Keenan lined out to Sanford to end the game.
"Overall, I'm pleased with where this program has gone," said Berge, whose teams went 28-57 in his first four seasons at the helm, while this year's club posted the program's highest win total since going 15-8 in 2008. "We have a very strong nucleus coming back next year."
POPE JOHN (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Sanford ss 3-1-1-0, D'Addario 2b 3-2-2-1, Young rf 4-1-2-1, Sanders dh/Collins p/Nelson p 4-0-0-0, Piwko 1b 2-0-0-1, Leach c 3-0-1-1, Fierro cr 0-0-0-0, Ahmadi lf 3-0-0-0, Malejko rf 3-0-0-0, Kopnick 3b 3-0-2-0. Totals: 28-4-8-4.
VERNON (ab-r-h-rbi) -- Duvall 2b 3-0-0-0, Harboy ss 3-0-0-0, Ufferfilge cf 3-0-1-0, Lipari 3b 1-0-1-0, Baxter ph 1-0-0-0, Franklin p 3-0-1-0, Kart 1b 2-0-0-0, Schriner rf 3-0-1-0, Vitellaro lf 1-0-0-0, Keenan c 3-0-1-0, Moen cr 0-0-0-0. Totals: 23-0-5-0.
Pope John (13-13, 8-6) 201 100 0 -- 4 8 0
Vernon (11-13, 5-9) 000 000 0 -- 0 5 2
E -- Harboy, Franklin. DP -- Pope John 2 (Sanford-Piwko, 6th inning, Nelson-Sanford-Piwko, 7th inning). LOB -- Pope John 6; Vernon 6. 2B -- Leach. HR -- D'Addario (4, 4th inning off Franklin, none on, 2 out). SB -- Sanford 2, Young 2, Kopnick, Piwko. PO -- Sanford.
Collins, Nelson (7) and Leach. Franklin and Keenan. W -- Collins (5-2). L -- Franklin (1-2). SO-BB -- Collins 5-1, Nelson 0-2; Franklin 6-1. HBP -- Sanford (by Franklin), Piwko (by Franklin); Lipari (by Collins).
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