CBA baseball squad comes up one run short in final game
BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent
The Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) baseball team threw its best punch at the top team in the state (and perhaps the nation) on Saturday, only to run out of fight in the end.

JEFF GRANIT staff A dejected Shawn Purves of Christian Brothers Academy after losing 5-4 to Don Bosco Prep in the Non-Public A baseball final in Toms River on June 7.

Facing an undefeated Don Bosco Prep team ranked No. 2 in the nation by USA Today, the Colts gave the Ironmen one of the toughest games of their 33-0 season, dropping a hard-fought 5-4 affair in the Non-Public A final in Toms River.

CBA head coach Marty Kenney, the state's second all-time winningest coach with 627 wins, has seen a lot of good baseball teams over the course of his 35 years of coaching - and is quick to rank this year's Bosco team with the very best.

That makes Saturday's effort even more satisfying for a coach whose young teamexceeded everyone's expectations this season.

"We've had some tremendous efforts of late, and I think a lot of that is because we've been in a few championship games this year, whether it was the county tournament or the Shore Conference Tournament," Kenney said. "We weren't going to be intimidated [against Bosco], and I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that we played them before [in the Shore Challenge] and hung with them then, too. That game was 3-0 at the end of five innings before they opened it up a bit on us."

On Saturday, CBA (20-9) had the Ironmen feeling nervous as the Colts put runners on the corners with nobody out in the top of the seventh. However, Bosco's Eric Pfisterer, who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 15th round on Friday, got the next three batters on a pop-up, a strikeout and a groundout to notch his 10th win of the season.

CBA, which started five juniors and two sophomores, got on the board first, when Dan Avella launched a first-inning solo home run off Ironmen starter Mike Dennhardt, who was drafted by the Seattle Mariners on Friday in the 17th round. Dennhardt, who was pitching on just three days' rest after beating Seton Hall Prep, 3-2, on Tuesday, went the first three innings before giving the ball to Pfisterer.

The Colts made it 2-0 in the second with Mike Tanenbaum scoring on a wild pitch after leading off the inning with a walk.

Bosco got a run back in the second off CBA starter Pat Light, who was also pitching on three days rest, then added a three spot in the fourth to take the lead. Light pitched well, allowing four earned runs on six hits in four innings ofwork, butwas hurt by a pair of pop-ups in the fourth inning that were misplayed into base hits.

Down 4-2, CBA managed to tie the game in the fifth, when Ricky Berger scored from third on a botched pick-off play. The batter, Steve McSherry, then lined a pitch off the shortstop's glove into left field to scoreAvella with the tying run.

Ironically, it was another botched pickoff that gave the Ironmen the lead they wouldn't relinquish.With runners on first and third with one out, CBA pitcher Mike Rossi faked a pick-off attempt to third base, and turned to throw to first, even though he appeared to have Bosco's Mike O'Keefe leaning toward home. Unfortunately, Rossi's throw to first got past first baseman Matt Luongo, allowing O'Keefe to score what turned out to be the winning run.T

hough the loss was certainly disappointing for the Colts, Kenney was quick to point out that his team overachieved greatly to even reach the state final.

"I don't think anybody expected us to win our division, much less South Jersey," he said. "Obviously, we wanted the win on Saturday, but I'm very pleased with the overall end result."

Kenney, who led CBA to its only state title in 1977, has come very close to winning a second title over the years, only to fall short, often in heartbreaking fashion. This loss, however, can hardly be considered heartbreaking, since the Colts matched up with an elite team, and though they didn't play the perfect game, they played well enough to be in position to win.

"It was a no-lose situation for us," Kenney said. "There was really no pressure on us, like a David-versus-Goliath situation. Everyone expected us to lose."

Prior to the game, Kenney reminded his players that they had earned their shot at knocking off the Ironmen.

"I just reminded them how hard they've worked this year," the coach said. "If they didn't play well, I didn't want it to be because of nerves."

And after his team nearly pulled off the upset, Kenney was understandably proud of his team.

"I always like a team that overachieves, and this team certainly did that," he said. "There was a lot of talk among the other teams in the Shore that if you're going to beat CBA, this was the year to do it, and I think these kids took that personally a little bit." Early on, CBA's season was in jeopardy when the Colts lost their two top pitchers to season-ending injuries. That's when Light became the first player to step up in a big way.

"The emergence of Pat Light as a toplevel pitchermade a big difference," Kenney said. "Once we realized we could count on him, we were able to focus on our weaknesses and work on improving in those areas.

"We played a lot of juniors and sophomores, with a lot of the sophomores who got experience where in most cases they wouldn't," the coach added. "We had to look to some young players to have an impact that we wouldn't normally do."

And the Colts'maturity over the course of the season led to their unexpected postseason success.

"We started playing better, more consistent baseball toward the end," Kenney said. "I always expectmy teams to be competitive, but inApril therewere some doubts.We just couldn't find that consistency."

This Colt team also lacked the offensive firepower of some of the elite CBA teams of the past.

"We had to change our style a little bit, play a little more small ball," Kenney said. "Our offensive numbers were not quite what they've been in years past, but they certainly did enough."

The end result - a team that has earned the respect of its veteran coach.

"I put this group right up therewith a lot of the top teams we've had," Kenney said. "It's not so much the number of wins, but whatwewere able to dowith the talent that we had. We achieved as much this year as some of the teams that won 26, 29 games.

"I would rather overachieve than underachieve, and in that sense, this year ranks up there with some of our best seasons."