HAMILTON — Kenny Quijano flung his glove in the air and spiked his baseball cap to the ground. The St. Mary state-championship wait was over.
Quijano, a senior right-hander, struck out 12 Gloucester Catholic batters in a complete game to lead the Gaels to a 4-3 victory in Thursday’s NJSIAA Non-Public B baseball final at Veterans Park.
St. Mary (21-9) captured its first state title since 1998, when coach Dennis Hulse was a player. This is the program’s fourth championship all-time, counting two in the now-defunct Non-Public C group in 1976-77.
“I’m almost at a loss for words,” Hulse said. “Everyone looks at Kenny, as they should with the game he threw. But it’s a collective [effort] with seven seniors leading the way.
“It feels awesome, and it’s probably one of the biggest upsets you’re going to see in a while in the state tournament, so we’re very proud of that.”
What it means
St. Mary denied Gloucester Catholic (20-6) its 20th state title all-time, while completing one of its best seasons. The 1977 Gaels squad had been the last to go as far as the Bergen County semifinals before this year.
As for those nine losses? Four came against Non-Public powers from the Big North United and three were against the other Bergen County state finalists: Emerson, Pascack Hills and Ridgewood.
“This is my ninth year here, and we’ve been preparing every year for this game,” Hulse said. “And we’ve only gotten to it once [a 2-0 loss to Holy Cross in 2016]. But getting to this game against [Gloucester Catholic], and beating them, it’s not fazing us.”
“We’re definitely battle-tested,” Quijano echoed. “Going out there, facing a team like Gloucester Catholic – and beating a team like Gloucester Catholic – says a lot for the program.”
Key inning
Although there were plenty of tense moments down the stretch, the outcome hinged on the events of the second inning.
Gloucester Catholic had the bases loaded with one out in the top half but could push across only one run. Florida State-bound slugger Lillo Paxia came home on Greg Iannelli’s groundout after leading off with a double.
Quijano then induced another groundout and alertly picked off a runner from second with a 1-5-6-1 relay for the third out.
“We knew we would face adversity, and we knew we were the underdogs,” Gaels catcher Joe Valentine said. “But we knew if we came out and performed like we did last week [in a 2-1 sectional-final win], we’d come out on top.
In the home second, St. Mary No. 9 batter Mekhi Hinds got the first of his two hits (which accounted for two-thirds of the team total). His RBI single started a four-run outburst, and the run he scored on an error at the end of the frame held up as the game-winner.
Game balls
► Quijano (9-2) allowed three earned runs on six hits and walked only two, and he punctuated the victory by striking out the side in the seventh. The Teaneck resident plans to pitch at Rider.
► First baseman Luke Lesch hit a long solo home run for the Rams in the fourth and finished 2-for-3.
► Hinds was one of four different Gaels to score a run, along with Branden Melendez, Sal Verlingo and Adam Juchnik (pinch-running for DH Angelo Marabello).
They said it
“We’ll be remembered for a long time. A state championship hasn’t happened here in a long time… it’ll take a couple days to sink in, actually, but we’re all excited and happy with what we’ve done.” — Quijano on the St. Mary senior class.
