Pompton Lakes baseball flips the script on Pequannock to win sectional title
Sean Farrell / NorthJersey.com
POMPTON LAKES – Every morning, Pompton Lakes baseball coach Mike Riordan walks through his hallway and sees a photo of another team piling up on his home field.
The picture comes from last year’s sectional final loss to Pequannock and reminds him what the Cardinals set out to accomplish this spring.
So when Pompton Lakes stepped onto the diamond Monday against the same team in the same round, there was no lack of inspiration across the dugout. This one was personal.
“That hurt us,” senior Nick Laccitiello said. “We’ve been thinking about that ever since that day.”
Pompton Lakes channeled that emotion and a dominant start from left-handed ace Tyler Benway to beat Pequannock, 5-0, and wrestle away the North 1, Group 1 championship for themselves. Benway struck out 13 batters over 6.1 innings before getting pulled due to pitch count limits.
Vincenzo Stigliano came up with the final two outs and got the Pequannock clean-up hitter to strike out looking to end the game.
“I was actually really worried about what happened if we didn’t win,” Riordan said. “These kids are just baseball junkies and we practice Saturday and Sunday. They would never take a day off. I was worried for them. It meant so much for this group. A lot of these seniors are four-year starters and they don’t really have any hardware yet until now.”
What it means
Pompton Lakes (24-4) clinched its first sectional crown since going back-to-back in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Finishing off the latest title run with a shutout was poetic for a team that’s leaned on pitching and defense all season long. The top-seeded Cardinals allowed only five runs in the sectional tournament and held 18 opponents this year to one or fewer.
Next up is a trip south on Wednesday to face North 2 champion Dayton in the state semifinal round.
“We’ve all been playing together since we were about 8 years old, maybe even before that,” said Laccitiello, whose team graduated only one senior from a year ago. “The bond we have is like no other team in this state.”
Pequannock finished the season at 19-10.
Turning points
Pompton Lakes took control in the championship by scoring all its runs with two outs. The first example came in the second inning when Laccitiello singled the other way to bring in Jonathan Popavich and Angelo Fusaro.
“My approach coming up was just base hit,” Laccitiello said. “Keep it simple. That’s what I’ve been taught since I was a little kid. To come up in big spots like that, the pressure is all on the pitcher. He’s got to throw you strikes.”
Pompton Lakes plated another run in the third inning when Jayden Villalta reached second on a wild pitch and scored on a Popavich single up the middle. That was plenty of run support for Benway, who scattered five hits in his final start at Hershfield Park.
“Pressure just goes over his head,” Riordan said. “So when he gets into tight situations, I don’t really worry about it. He’s just a stud that throws strikes all game long. Sometimes when he loses control for one batter, he comes right back.”
Benway showed that calm demeanor while warming up in the seventh while he smiled and nodded to a home crowd chanting his name. A pair of RBI singles by Stigliano and James Rodas in the top of the frame gave Benway and his teammates more breathing room while closing in on a title.
“It feels amazing,” Benway said. “Words can’t describe it. We’ve been on a mission from sophomore, freshman year. Last year, we came up so close. To get it back against the same team is an unbelievable feeling.”
