NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ- The wind and cold air have been present for most of the month of April, but it’s been the Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders varsity baseball team who have been on a hot streak, winning four of their last five games coming into their game Friday afternoon. At times, it appeared they were on their way to a win, but their leads would vanish and they fell behind by a lot.
They saw leads of 2-0 and 4-2 get away in the bottom half of the first two innings, as the J.P. Stevens High School (Edison) Hawks stormed back and took advantage of some mishaps in the field, the wind also factoring into the ball hanging around when put in play during the early innings.
“[J.P. Stevens] played great,” Johnson head coach Dave Kennedy said. “Every time we scored, they did a good job and answered. It was one of those games.”
Johnson scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to turn an 8-4 deficit into a 9-8 lead, but J.P. Stevens tied the game at 9-9 with the tying run scoring on an error. With one swing of the bat, Johnson took back the lead in a slugfest.
Senior Joe Turek took the first pitch he saw and sent it to deep left field and out for a go-ahead solo home run. Sophomore Max Carmino recorded an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning as the Crusaders rallied from an early deficit to defeat the Hawks 11-9 in the Autism Awareness Challenge at North Brunswick Community Park.
“It was a great win for us,” Turek said. “We all played well together.”
After surviving threats from J.P. Stevens in the bottom of the sixth inning, Carmino singled up the middle to score Lopez to give his team some breathing room, the score now 11-9 Johnson.
“I knew we needed one more run to give us a much better chance of winning,” Carmino said. “I just had to put [the ball] through the infield.
Earlier on, it didn’t look as if Johnson would have a chance at a win. After Perez and Traina reached base, Young singled to right field, driving home Perez to complete the rally, giving his team a 5-4 lead. Senior Frank DiSerio made it 6-4 with an RBI single of his own.
Zederbaum drove home two more runs with a double as the lead grew to 8-4. With the manner of runs scoring and the struggles of defense on both sides, it seemed offense was going to be the answer to getting a win.
Falling behind 8-4 now, Johnson knew they were going to have to buckle down and get it back, or it was going to be a tough outing and stall to the team’s latest momentum. Johnson got one run back, senior Mike Casalino coming in on a groundout from freshman Kyle Adorno to trim the deficit to 8-5.
Then the top of the fifth inning came around and Johnson got everything started at the plate. Turek and senior Kevin Metz (infield single) both reached base and sophomore Steve Harrington walked to load the bases with no outs.
Senior Anthony Caldiero got his team closer, working a bases-loaded walk for an RBI, scoring junior courtesy runner Brett DaCosta to cut the J.P. Stevens lead down to 8-6. Senior Mike Casalino followed with a bases-loaded walk of his own, scoring Metz to make it 8-7.
Then, Adorno stepped up to the plate and on a 2-2 count, he connected for the game-changing two-run single, scoring Harrington and Casalino to give his team a 9-8 lead.
“It was a tough, windy [and] cold day, but the guys were hitting,” Kennedy said. “We have to field the ball better. It was really nice to see the offense pick up the pitching and defense, where we’ve been good defensively and pitching. Sometimes, you have to ham-and-egg it.”
Adorno went 2-for-4 on the day with four RBIs (RBI double in second inning, RBI groundout in fourth inning and the two-run single), continuing to add to an impressive start to his varsity baseball career.
“It’s no surprise how good Kyle is doing because he is such a good player,” Casalino said of Adorno.
As the game shifted to the bottom of the sixth inning, J.P. Stevens continued to push for the tying run. Senior Joe Morrone led off the inning with a single, but was thrown out by Turek attempting to steal second base. Junior Nick Perez walked and senior Joe Traina reached on an error, before Adorno got Young to pop out to Johnson senior Zach Thornton to end the threat.
The Hawks answered instantly in the bottom of the seventh inning in a push to tie the game. Junior Steve Zederbaum singled and senior Matt Pastor reached on an error by Harrington to put the tying run on base and bring the potential winning run to the plate. Adorno buckled down for the pursuit of the last outs.
He got junior Shiv Patel to pop out for an infield fly out and the next pitch after that to Morrone was heartstopping to the players in the Johnson dugout and the fans. Morrone sent a dangerous line drive to left field, but Casalino got into position to make the catch to end the game.
“To be honest, that play was an easy play,” Casalino said. “I just made it look a little harder than it actually was.”
After an 0-3 start, Johnson is on a roll, capturing their fifth win in the last six games, a streak that features wins over UCC-Mountain Division opponents Union Catholic and Summit, Woodbridge, and a 15-run effort over Westfield, fueling the team’s confidence after a high-scoring win.
“It shows we never give up,” Metz said. “In our season, we started off a little shaky and now we’re on a roll.”
Earlier on, Johnson took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Carmino scored on a fielding error and DaCosta scored on a pickoff error from J.P. Stevens sophomore starting pitcher Joe Young. The Hawks responded with a run scoring on an error and an RBI single from Morrone.
Casalino walked to start the second inning and stole second base. On a failed attempt at a fielder’s choice, he and sophomore Saul Lopez were at the corners with no outs. Adorno doubled on a deep fly ball to center field, easily scoring Casalino to give Johnson back the lead, 3-2. Carmino drove home Caldiero on a groundout to give Johnson a 4-2 lead.
After that, the scoring was a constant back-and-forth manner, but Johnson was pleased with coming away with another big victory.
“Overall, the game was crazy, going back and forth, but luckily in the end, we got the win,” Casalino said.
The Johnson Crusaders (5-4) return home to take on Linden HS Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
The J.P. Stevens (Edison) Hawks (3-9) will head back out on the road to play at St. Joseph’s HS (Metuchen) Monday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
