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Baseball: Hanover Park v. Immaculata
On a windy afternoon, the Immaculata Spartans ventured to East Hanover to play Hanover Park in pre-season action. Seeing a scrimmage like this on the schedule simply brings a smile to my face. Last year, Immaculata was the Skyland Conference and Somerset County Champions. The only blemish on their season was a 5-0 loss in the Non-Public A North state finals to Seton Hall Prep. Similarly, Hanover is coming off a Group 2 State title.
Spartan coach Tom Gambino was looking forward to this pre-season match-up. “It is great to get to see a pitcher like [Joe] DiRocco for 40 or 60 pitches. HP can be very good.” Hanover boasts 1st-team all-area players in DiRocco and Jared Orgel as well as 2nd-team all-area outfielder Greg Such.
That is precisely what Cincinnati Reds scout Mike Womer thought as well. According to Womer, “[DiRocco] certainly should figure in to the Reds draft plans.” He added that the Hornet Ace is right where he should be and just needs to continue getting stronger.
DiRocco, who recently made a verbal commitment to Seton Hall, showcased his new changeup striking out four while only walking two and not yielding an earned run. “All off-season I have been trying to develop my change. I threw it for strikes against Caldwell and I think it can be a very effective third pitch,” said DiRocco before the game.
The Hornets got on the board in the bottom of the 1st when DiRocco fouled off three straight 3-2 pitches before singling in the leadoff hitter Such. Dan Dimeo and Dan Matriciano added RBI hits in the inning to tally four runs off of Spartan Southpaw Jack Rice.
Rice kept Hanover relatively in check after that striking out three while walking one.
In the top of the 3rd, Hornet left fielder Matt Shellenhamer made a tremendous diving catch to stop Hanover’s fielding woes that resulted in two unearned runs via an error and three passed balls. In the bottom part of the frame, Matriciano knocked in his second run of the game to extend Hanover’s lead to 5-2.
Once DiRocco left the game, Immaculata’s hitters feasted on Hornet pitching. With two out and one on, Frank DeNick hit what looked to be a liner to deep left. With gusty winds, the ball carried over the fence to close the deficit to 5-4. In the fifth, Matthew Marquis added another home run that landed a good 30 past the fence off of Joe Rinaldi evening the score. During certain at-bats, Rinaldi looked unhittable—but fastballs up in the zone and five walks will not elicit favorable results to any pitcher. In the sixth, Immaculata opened things up with four hits and three runs. This deficit would be too much from which Hanover could come back.
Game Notes:
Immaculata reliever Jaime Colt was lights out on the mound in the 4th and 5th innings tallying 4 strikeouts (3 looking) and only surrendering one hit…Dan Dimeo appears to be winning the battle for the Hanover RF spot…Tom Gambino has been the Spartan coach for 20 years and this was the first time they have played Hanover or any other Morris public school.
Duty Calls:
Both teams have to fill key positions due to graduation. Former Hornet catcher Elliot Hagburg is now playing at NJIT and right fielder Matt Meyerkopf is attempting to walk-on at Rutgers. Immaculata lost star pitcher Kyle Morrison to Wagner and left fielder Kenny Gregory was drafted.
12:00 - Baseball - Morris Hills @ Delbarton
