PISCATAWAY – The Ridgewood Maroons defeated the Kingsway Dragons 7-6 to win the NJSIAA Group 4 Baseball Tournament Final. The Maroons were able to hold on after blowing a 7-0 lead to win their second state title in the last four seasons.
In a game that was sloppy to say the least, it was a hard-fought victory for Ridgewood, who had to deal with a Kingsway team that came all the way back from a big lead. Senior relief pitcher Brady Ross was the star, who made the stop with the bases loaded in the final out of the game, ensuring the championship trophy would be heading back to Bergen County.
“I mean, the last thing I wanted to do is mess it up,” Ross said. “I just thought, you know, on the bus ride home, it’s 45 minutes an hour. I just I really want to go home with that trophy. And I was saying, you know, I want to be there for all my kids, all my friends I’ve been playing with for eight to 10 years. I just really wanted to bring it home, do it for them, do it for me, and just do it for the whole town of Ridgewood.”
Ridgewood wasted no time starting to score runs. It started with a bases-clearing three-run single for Hudson Feeney, followed by an RBI double for Justin Loffredo, and a Brody Perrapato RBI single to end it. Right out of the gates, the Maroons were up 5-0.
They would keep it going in the top of the second, adding two more runs. A Will Ardito score on error and an RBI single from Kotaro Kim gave them a seven-run lead. At that point, Kingsway Senior pitcher Tyler Rodgers was pulled from the game after allowing seven hits, three walks, two hit-by-pitches, and seven earned runs in only 1.1 innings.
The Dragons finally responded in the bottom of the inning, thanks to scoring on two separate wild pitches. While they only got two runs and were still down by five, there was still plenty of baseball to be played.
It didn’t stop there. Kingsway continued to chip at the lead in the bottom of the third and was able to come all the way back. A two-run single for AJ Ward, a sac fly from Ashton Ford, and the second score on an error of the day for Austin Schmidt made it 7-6. This was enough to end the day of Ridgewood’s starting pitcher, Ryan Nitch, who let up four earned runs and walked six batters in three innings.
All the scoring between the two teams quickly came to a halt after it became 7-6. The relief pitchers, Ridgewood’s Brady Ross and Kingsway’s Nate Bott, took control and combined for a total of five hits and 10 strikeouts, letting nobody stand a chance.
Though things settled down, it couldn’t end without one last piece of drama. In the bottom of the seventh, the Dragons went from down to their last at bat to bases loaded. With the tying run 90 feet away, all they needed to do was get a batter on base like they did the three previous times. However, in the end, it was Ross who was notorious, forcing a pop-up to seal it. After jumping out to a big lead early and blowing it, the Maroons were able to overcome a rally and win their second state title in three seasons.
Both teams’ performances were far from perfect. Between a combined 12 walks, two hit-by-pitches, and a total of 19 strikeouts from the batters, neither side could get anything going. There may have been a total of 13 runs scored, but half of them were off wild pitches and errors.
The hero by far for Ridgewood was Ross. In a moment where the Dragons were clearly charging, Ross came in in the fourth inning and was a game-changer. Between strikeouts and forcing ground outs and popups, he was dealing the right pitches that kept his team from getting in any sort of trouble. Even in the bottom of the seventh, where it was bases loaded, and all they needed was a run, he clutched up, kept his cool, and made it through to the end.
“He was really clutching. He’s been like that the last three games, so really proud of him,” Ridgewood head coach Kurt Hommen said. “We walked the one kid to make it bases loaded, because Brady throws strikes, and we just figured, let’s have him take a shot with the guy you can force a play at any base. And he just handles it well. He’s just ice water in his veins, whatever you want to call it, but he did it.”
The Maroons could not have finished off a now 25-7 season any better way. They will celebrate now, but look to defend their title come next spring.
