St. Augustine defeated in state baseball final
TOMS RIVER, N.J. - It was way past the time for constructive criticism. Standing in the outfield with his disappointed team around him, St. Augustine Prep coach Mike Bylone wasn't interested in rehashing the mistakes that cost the Hermits their best chance to win the Non-Public A state title.
TOMS RIVER, N.J. - It was way past the time for constructive criticism.
Standing in the outfield with his disappointed team around him, St. Augustine Prep coach Mike Bylone wasn't interested in rehashing the mistakes that cost the Hermits their best chance to win the Non-Public A state title.
He wasn't interested in discussing a couple of wind-blown fly balls that appeared to confound his outfielders or a pair of baserunning miscues that sucked the air out of the Hermits' last-gasp rally in the seventh inning.
"It's the best against the best and you have to play your best," Bylone said after St. Augustine dropped a 4-2 decision to Seton Hall Prep in the Non-Public A state championship game Saturday at Toms River North High School. "We left a few things out there."
But in the last postgame meeting of the season, Bylone focused instead on the big picture: the remarkable run that carried the Hermits, the No. 6 seed at the start of the Non-Public South A tournament, to the brink of the program' second state title.
"An amazing run," Bylone said. "I told the guys, 'Look how far we came.' "
Seton Hall Prep (28-3), which won its eighth state title, was led by senior catcher Nick DiNicola, who rapped a pair of RBI hits and also threw out a pair of baserunners in the seventh inning.
St. Augustine (20-9) got a two-out, two-strike, two-run single from junior Jake Catalano to cut Seton Hall's lead to 3-2 in the top of the fifth.
"It was a great experience, just being here," said Catalano, the Hermits' starting pitcher. "It makes me want to work even harder to try to come back and win it next year."
Seton Hall took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on DiNicola's RBI single. The Pirates added two more when a long fly ball by Jack Zyska bounced off an outfielder's glove for a two-base, two-run error.
The Pirates added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth when DiNicola's high fly ball carried in the wind past an outfielder for an RBI double.
"They played on the same field," Bylone said of the windy conditions in the outfield at Ryan Field.
St. Augustine, down 4-2, had its first two batters reach base in the seventh inning. Both were thrown out by DiNicola.
"Overaggressiveness," Bylone said. "It's baseball. It happens. It just happened at the wrong time.
"I told the guys, 'If it was the regular season, I would be yelling at you.'
"But after the game, it was time to look back and how far we had come. We were the underdog in every game but the first one, and every win, every inning, we fed off it."
In keeping with the team's underdog theme, Bylone elected to be the visiting team after winning the pregame coin flip.
"We like that [first-base] dugout," Bylone said.
In the outfield after the game, the players exchanged hugs and handshakes before making the long trek in the slanting sun to gather their belongings from the dugout that had been the home base of their improbable playoff run.
"Before it started, I didn't even realize how much it would mean to me," senior Billy Chillari said. "I didn't even know what it would feel like to go on a run like this. It was an unbelievable experience."
St. Augustine 000 020 0 - 2 7 1
Seton Hall 000 310 x - 4 6 0
WP: Nick Maldonado. LP: Jake Catalano.
2B: SH-Jack Zyska, Ryan Toohers, Nick DiNicola.
@PhilAnastasia