JUNE 2003

JUNE 2003

	Happy days for Hermits (The Daily Journal, by Geoff Dodd, 6/4/03)
	St. Augustine wins South Jersey Parochial A baseball title (Press of Atlantic City, by Thomas Ryan, 6/4/03)
	Hermits denied shot at baseball state title (The Daily Journal, by Geoff Dodd, 6/5/03)
	Well-wishers cram inside high school to see Buena graduates (The Daily Journal, by Giselle Sotelo, 6/20/03)

Happy days for Hermits

Six-run 4th inning propels Hermits to Parochial A South championship; date with Seton Hall Prep in final

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Hermits starter Joe Cichy gets a congratulatory glove tap from first baseman Andrew Danielli after pitching a scoreless fifth inning. A junior, Cichy went six innings for the win, allowing five hits and striking out seven.

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St. Augustine's Matt Molnar (5) is mobbed by teammates after scoring on Sean Olson's three-run double in the fourth inning of Tuesday's victory over Christian Brothers Academy.

WASHINGTON TWP. -- The St. Augustine Prep baseball team never showed an ounce of worry during Tuesday afternoon's Parochial A South final.

Not once.

The Hermits didn't sweat it when two baserunners got mixed up on a double steal in the top of the first inning. The Hermits didn't flinch when their top hitter, Matt Molnar, fell for the old hidden-ball ruse and was picked off in the third. The Hermits' nerves were solid, even after Christian Brothers Academy scored three unearned runs in the second and third innings.

This Hermits ballclub refused to worry, mainly because they knew things would turn around. The only question was when.

The answer came in the fourth inning, when sophomore third baseman Sean Olson stroked a two-out, three-run double off CBA starter Kris Urbano, which sparked the Hermits to an 8-3 win and their first sectional title since 1994, when they were members of the Parochial B (small school) division.

"It's about time. I was waiting for a hit," said Olson, who broke out of a two-game hitless slump. "I just cleared my mind when I went up there. ... It was so big, so great for the team."

Top-seeded St. Augustine (26-6-1) exploded for six runs in the fourth against No. 2 CBA, the two-time sectional champs. The Colts (19-7) beat the Hermits, 2-0, in last year's sectional final.

St. Augustine advances to the Parochial A state title game 2 p.m. Saturday at East Brunswick Vo-Tech in Middlesex County. The Hermits will try to win their first state championship against Seton Hall Prep, a 7-3 winner Tuesday over St. Joseph-Montvale.

Junior left-hander Joe Cichy was nearly unflappable on the Washington Township High School mound. He struck out seven and walked three in six innings, mixing his changeup and curve just enough to throw the Colts' hitters off balance.

"I felt real good. But at first, I didn't know what was going to happen," Cichy said. "I was confident going in, and after we got the lead, I knew we were going to win."

Junior Abe Heredia struck out the side in the seventh to close things out.

"We didn't hit the ball as well as we should," CBA coach Martin Kenney said. "That was part of it."

A little fire-and-brimstone speech from Hermits coach Tony Iaconelli before the fourth frame inspired the Hermits.

"I told them they could either pack it up, being down 3-0," Iaconelli said, "or they could battle it out. Obviously, they battled it out. ... I think we were a little embarrased at the way we got down."

It wasn't pretty early, offensively or defensively. Heredia led off the game with a walk and Molnar singled, but the two got their signals crossed on a double-steal attempt. Heredia got caught in a rundown betweeen second and third and was thrown out.

In the bottom of the second, Colts cleanup hitter Chris Boehme swatted a Cichy changeup to the left-center gap, took third on Urbano's sacrifice bunt and scored when Cichy threw wildly to first.

Molnar singled again in the third, but Colts first baseman Rob Parks caught him wandering off first. Molnar thought the ball had gone back in to Urbano, who circled the mound but never set foot on the dirt. Instead, Parks had it the whole time and tagged Molnar out.

"I thought that was bush-league," said Molnar, who finished 3-for-4 and is just two hits shy of tying the South Jersey record for hits, 60. "I thought that was bull."

Things didn't get any better in the bottom of the third. After Cichy rang up Vin Buffone on a 12-6 curve, Ryan Murphy walked and stole second, and Pete Delleani singled. With runners on first and third, Delleani easily stole second.

St. Augustine drew its infield in, hoping for a play at the plate, and the Hermits got one. But Marc Franks' throw was too low for catcher Ken Pustizzi to handle. The ball skipped away and both CBA runners scored.

Three innings, three unearned runs.

More importantly, the Hermits frittered away two prime scoring opportunities.

"What bothered me wasn't the physical errors. We're not a very strong defensive team, and we've made a lot of those this year," Iaconelli said. "We appeared to be unfocused."

All that changed in the fourth, however, when the Hermits sent 10 batters to the plate. Franks led off with a walk and Andrew Danielli singled to left. Mark Petrongolo followed with a double to right, plating Franks with the Hermits' first run. Danielli was thrown out at home trying to score from first on the double, though.

After a groundout, the Hermits' rally looked quashed. But Ken Pustizzi walked, and Heredia was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Steve Mateka walked to bring in Petrongolo, and Molnar ripped a single up the middle to send home another run, setting the stage for Olson's heroics.

"The whole game, we weren't worried," Molnar said. "Some games we don't come out to play, but even today, we stayed up the whole time."

Parochial A South Championship

St. Augustine 8, Christian Brothers Academy 3


St. Augustine (26-6-1)	000 602 0 - 8 10 2
Christian Bros. (19-7)	012 000 0 - 3 5 2

WP-Cichy (7-2); LP-Urbano (6-2).

2B-Olson, Petrongolo (SA); Boehme, Delleani (CBA).

Next: The Hermits play Seton Hall Prep 2 p.m. Saturday at East Brunswick Vo-Tech for the state title.

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St. Augustine wins South Jersey Parochial A baseball title

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP - It just did not look like the St. Augustine Prep baseball team's day for three innings Tuesday.

Senior first baseman Durell Vinson, the team's co-leader with nine home runs, did not show up to Washington Township High School on time and was out of the starting lineup for the Hermits' South Jersey Parochial A championship game against Christian Brothers Academy.

St. Augustine hit the ball hard, but every line drive found its way into a CBA player's glove. When the Hermits did put runners on, they ran the bases poorly and were quickly erased.

The Hermits' defense was also shoddy, and the Colts scored three unearned runs to take the lead.

But in one half inning, everything changed.

St. Augustine exploded for six runs in the top of the fourth inning and went on to beat the Colts 8-3 for its first sectional title since 1994. The Hermits, 26-6-1 and ranked No. 5 in The Press' Elite 11, will attempt to win its first state title against Seton Hall Prep 2 p.m. Saturday at East Brunswick Vocational and Technical School.

"For the first three innings, I was very frustrated," St. Augustine coach Tony Iaconelli said. "Because we were incredibly dumb - including myself."

Sean Olson had the biggest hit of the fourth. His two-out, three-run double to deep left field snapped a 3-3 tie and gave St. Augustine its first lead of the game.

"That was huge," Olson said. "Huge for me and huge for the team. We had been hitting the ball hard all game. We just had to keep hitting."

Olson's clutch hit put the Hermits well on their way to exacting some revenge against the Colts, 19-7 and ranked No. 6. CBA beat St. Augustine 2-1 in last year's final.

Early on, it looked like it would be CBA's game to lose. The Colts scored a run in the first when St. Augustine starter Joe Cichy threw the ball away on a sacrifice bunt. CBA scored two more on a two-run error in the third to take a 3-0 lead.

"We were up 3-0, and they were making some mistakes," CBA coach Martin Kenney said. "But we just haven't hit the ball as well as some of the teams we've had here in the past."

St. Augustine looked ready to break out in the top of the third. Matt Molnar's single loaded the bases with one out, but he was picked off first on the hidden ball trick on what he described as a "bush league" play.

"We struggled at first," Cichy said. "But I was pretty confident that if we started hitting the ball, we'd be OK."

The Hermits did just that in the fourth. Mark Petrongolo hit an RBI double, Steve Mateka drove in a run with a bases loaded walk, and Molnar hit an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3 as St. Augustine still had the bases loaded. Olson quickly unloaded them against CBA starter Kris Urbano (6-2).

"(Molnar and Olson) have been our big hitters all year," Iaconelli said. "The key is getting runners on in front of the them. If we do that, either one or both of them will usually come through."

Molnar went 3-for-4 and raised his season hit total to 58, two shy of the southern New Jersey record of 60 set last year by Audubon's Nate Schill. The Hermits still have two games remaining.

"I'm proud of it," Molnar said. "But I'd rather have a state title."

Cichy came out like a new pitcher after the Hermits gave him the lead. The crafty left-hander struck out four and allowed two hits over his final three innings. Cichy (7-2) finished the day with seven strikeouts.

"I didn't have my best stuff today," Cichy said. "I was a little nervous at first, but I knew once we got the lead, we weren't going to lose."

Vinson, who got lost on his way to the game, finally arrived and delivered an RBI single in the sixth inning that gave the Hermits a 8-3 lead. Abe Heredia, who will likely get the start Saturday, struck out the side in the seventh to close out the win.

"Joe had thrown 99 pitches, and I thought he was pretty much done," Iaconelli said. "Joe wasn't at his best, but once we got the lead, he was a bulldog. Abe just came in gave us a nice change of pace."

NOTES: Petrongolo and Ken Pustizzi each had two hits for St. Augustine. Heredia walked twice and was hit by a pitch. ... Chris Boehme and Pete Delleani had two hits each, and Ryan Murphy walked three times for the Colts. ... St. Augustine will play Mainland Regional in the Cape-Atlantic League championship game 4 p.m. today at St. Augustine Prep.

St. Augustine 000 602 0 - 8 12 2

Christian Brothers Academy 012 000 0 - 3 5 2

2B - Olson, Petrongolo SA; Delleani, Boehme CBA. WP - Cichy (7-2). LP - Urbano (6-2).

RECORDS - St. Augustine 26-6-1; Christian Brothers Academy 19-7.

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Hermits denied shot at baseball state title

The St. Augustine Prep baseball team's quest for its first state championship took an unexpected turn for the worse Wednesday when Hermits coach Tony Iaconelli discovered his team eclipsed a state limit on single season games.

The Hermits reported the infraction to the N.J. State Interscholastic Athletic Association. As a result, St. Augustine is barred from playing in Saturday's Parochial A state final.

"Our hope was that (the state) would penalize the individual responsible, me, and not the kids, who really had nothing to do with it," said Iaconelli, also the Hermits' athletics director. "It's obviously devastating to the kids, and obviously a huge mistake on my part."

One day after defeating Christian Brothers Academy in the Parochial A South championship, St. Augustine (26-6-1) was stripped of its first sectional title in nine seasons.

The Hermits also will forfeit the right to play Mainland for the Cape-Atlantic League championship. Mainland will be awarded the Cape title.

The NJSIAA allows member schools to play 25 regular season and tournament games, plus one additional tournament and the state tournament.

The Hermits played 20 regular-season games and 10 games in four regular-season tournaments. They ran into trouble when they played three games in the mid-season Diamond Classic tournament, exceeding the limit on regular season/tournament play.

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Well-wishers cram inside high school to see Buena graduates

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Buena Regional High School graduates celebrate their accomplishments Thursday at their commencement ceremony.

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Glad to leave high school, Millville graduate Xiomara Morales will attend Cumberland County College in the fall.

BUENA -- The 2003 Buena Regional High School graduating class and select ticket holders crammed into the auditorium until they filled it to fire-code capacity.

The remaining audience members sat watching the ceremony on a big screen in the library, while others squeezed into student desks and peered at 19-inch TV screens mounted among seven different classrooms.

But despite the minor inconveniences, the high school's first indoor graduation ceremony since 1997 proved a smashing success.

"I thought it went wonderfully," said Amanda Craig, 18, the 2003 class valedictorian. "It was short and sweet, and it was great."

With a weighted 4.6 GPA, Craig received about $104,000 in scholarships -- almost a full ride -- to Drew University, where she plans to major in English and Journalism.

School administrators decided that morning to hold the ceremony inside after earlier rainy conditions had left the football field "underwater," Superintendent Diane DeGiacomo said.

But the move indoors couldn't stifle the 184 departing Chiefs, who defined themselves as one of the more spirited graduating classes, regardless of the weather.

The lack of sky didn't deter them from tossing beach balls and tooting horns.

Seated in the library and nearby classrooms, the audience watched the unfolding events with pride and a hint of disappointment.

"You can't get the full effect here," said Cathy Berti, 48, who came to see her nephew graduate.

She and 13 other friends and relatives were scattered among the library and first- and second-floor classrooms.

"There's just something about that fresh air, the sunshine, the breeze," she said. "You wait so long in anticipation for this, it just means so much more outside."

Sue Johnson traveled from upstate New York to see her boyfriend's daughter graduate.

But she spent most of her time coddling a collicky baby in the hallway. The baby was too squeamish to stay inside the classroom where they watched the ceremony, she said.

Still, she was happy to catch glimpses through the library doors, she said.

For Vineland resident Denise Smaniotto, who watched on a 19-inch screen, graduation was a happy time regardless of the locale.

"This is very nice," added Mike Sharpe, a Buena Vista resident who watched his niece's graduation in the library. "They made the very best of the situation."

Besides, his wife Vera added, "You can't take the chance that it's going to rain right in the middle of it."

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