Control of the game seemed to come apart in the top of the sixth inning for St. Vincent when St. Sebastian pushed across four runs to knot the score during a St. Bart’s Oldtimers Men’s Softball League game at Brookside Park in Scotch Plains on June 27. But steady nerves returned and St. Vincent became the beneficiary of a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning and clever pitcher Rob Del Cid slammed the door in the seventh for a 10-7 triumph.
The man of that moment was slugger Jarrod Pence, who not only slammed the three-run homer but also doubled and scored in the fourth inning to finish 2-for-3, with two runs scored and three RBI. Del Cid allowed 14 hits and four walks but did record a rare St. Bart’s strikeout.
St. Vincent totaled 15 hits and among the leaders was veteran Keith Karyczak, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Eric Carrero went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Jim Barba singled twice, scored twice and had an RBI. Leadoff hitter Scott Shulman singled twice and scored once.
St. Sebastian team captain Wells “Jean-Luc” Pikaart forged the way with a pair of singles and two runs scored – one in an exciting stumbling fashion. Bernie Penoro went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Kevin Caggiano singled twice and had two RBI. Geoff Dickstein singled twice and had an RBI. Leadoff batter & pitcher Erik Hastrup walked three times, singled and scored once.
However, when considering de- fense, Carrero at third base, was unbelievable. He accounted for six of the putouts. One was a knee-sliding snag of a bullet off the bat of Rick Cintron in the third inning. Carrero pulled off a pair of alert coverage maneuvers in the fourth that he converted to putouts. Then in the fifth, he robbed Cintron again with a slick, short-hop scoop that he converted to a putout. But his sidekick Barba at short also was involved in six smooth putouts. Del Cid absorbed a sharp liner off the bat of Tim Loesch.
The St. Sebastian defense also pulled off a few fine plays and Cintron in center was involved in several, including a icy snow cone grab of Carlos Da Costa’s shot in the fourth. Right fielder Bill Hillyer battled the glare of the sun but still hauled in a few difficult fly balls. Second baseman Penoro initiated a second-to-first double play in the third inning. Leftfielder Tim Loesch made a great running catch ofAner Sousa’s blooper behind second base in the fifth inning.
St. Sebastian scored once in the top of the first when Hastrup drew a leadoff walk, hooked to third on Loesch’s single to right and scored on Cintron’s ground out to short. St. Sebastian took a 2-0 lead in the second. Joe Urcino yanked a single to left, Hillyer slashed a single to right and Penoro loaded the bases with a hopping single over second. Caggiano brought Ursino home with a ground out to first.
St. Vincent got patient in the bottom of the second and took a 3-2 lead. DaCosta (1-for-2) drew a leadoff walk and Jim Devlin also walked. Barba lined an RBI single scoring Da Costa and Lou Balestriere bopped an RBI single to bring home Devlin. Pat Nigro’s sacrifice fly behind second brought home Barba.
Pikaart led off the St. Seb fourth with a single down the leftfield line. Roger Billotto (1-for-3) walked and Hillyer grounded out to second as Pikaart came stumbling home. St. Vince answered with four runs to seize a 7-3 lead. Carrero sizzled a single past first and Pence ripped a double to left. Karyczak yanked a two-run single to right. After the next two batters’ shots were hauled in by Cintron in center, Barba wiggled a single down the third baseline. Balestriere tapped a little dinker back to the mound that looked to be a sure out but the underhanded throw sailed well over the first baseman’s glove and out of bounds, which allowed Karyczak and Barba to skip home.
After neither team scored in the fifth, the Sebastians got active in the sixth and plated four runs to tie the score, 7-7. Pikaart deflected an infield single off the third baseman’s glove. Billotto singled to center. Hillyer’s grounder to second was mishandled as Pikaart scored. Penoro deflected an RBI single off Del Cid’s glove. Caggiano plopped an RBI single over first and Dickstein wiggled an RBI single past short.
The tie score opened St. Vincent’s eyes in the bottom of the sixth. Shulman beat out an infield single, Carrero hacked a double to center and Pence pounded his three-run home run over the centerfielder’s head.
Now it was up to Del Cid in the seventh. After yielding a single to Cintron, he got Pikaart to ground out to short, Billotto to pop out to the mound and Ursino to ground out to short.
St. Sebastian 110 104 0 7 St. Vincent 030 403 x 10
