Historic season for Haddon Heights baseball ends with state final loss to Ramsey
HAMILTON TWP. – This year’s Haddon Heights High School baseball team set a new standard of excellence for the program.
It’s why it justifiably received a championship-level applause following its 5-2 loss to Ramsey in the Group 2 final at Bob DeMeo Field at Veterans Park Saturday night.
While the Garnets didn’t take home the title, no squad in school history has ever come closer.
“I’m proud of ’em,” head coach Eric Newell said. “Don’t let this one game define who we are. We accomplished a lot of things.”
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They won their first sectional crown since 2015 and became the first Haddon Heights team to ever play for a state championship.
“It means everything,” senior Caden Bodine said.
And with more than half of the starting lineup and three of their top five pitchers set to return in 2023, the lessons of this spring can push them even further next season.
“Never give up,” responded sophomore Jake Griess when asked what the most important lesson he learned this year was. “Even if you’re down by a couple runs, you can always come big in the big games and come back. We had a bunch of walk-off playoff games and we never got down, never got too high or too low. We stayed in the middle track. You never want to be a roller coaster. We want to be on that middle track, on that monorail, smooth and straight.”
Kirk twirls gem
Ramsey captured its first-ever state championship thanks largely to left-hander William Kirk, who was magnificent in a complete-game four-hitter as he struck out 13 and walked 3.
“All credit to their pitcher, that kid was great,” Newell said. “He was electric. Thirteen strikeouts, and a lot of them just with the fastball. Lot of credit to him. Lot of life and movement on the fastball.”
Heights jumps out early
Bodine got the Garnets started on the right foot as he demolished a solo homer over the left field fence to give his team a 1-0 lead in the opening inning.
“It felt pretty good,” said Bodine, who finished 2-for-2 with a walk.
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Haddon Heights made it 2-0 in the third as Griess hit a two-out single and John DiCostanzo roped a double to center field to plate him.
Defense decides the game
The Garnets made a trio of outstanding defensive plays in the early going against Ramsey.
Second baseman Nolan Lachall made a diving stop at second base and threw out Kirk to end the first inning, Griess started a sensational double play in the second and Vincent Nasuti played a blooper beautifully in right field in the third as he threw out a runner at second who got caught waiting to see if he’d make a catch.
However, defense wound up playing a huge part in the loss too as all five Ramsey runs were unearned. The Rams tallied four runs in the third, two on an error and two more on a Connor O’Hara’s single. All four came with two outs.
O’Hara plated another run in the bottom of the fifth on a fielder’s choice after an error helped a runner reach third.
“We didn’t play a bad game, I mean, they only had two hits, so got to feel good about that, but three errors defensively in a state final, that’s going to hurt you,” Newell said.
They said it
“Just a lot of really good kids. A lot of really good kids and a group of seniors that took on a leadership role this year and had a ton of fun with coaches. And watching the kids grow. That’s what it’s about.”
– Newell on what he’ll remember most about this spring.
Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Haddon Heights baseball falls to Ramsey in NJSIAA Group 2 final
