By Jim Hague
His team had just lost another heartbreaking one-run contest in a span of 48 hours, but Nutley High School baseball coach Bob Harbison was keeping a stiff upper lip.
Even though the Maroon Raiders lost, 2-1, to Montclair in the Greater Newark Tournament championship game on Sunday at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, and two days later, dropped a 4-3 decision in eight innings to Morristown in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group III state playoffs, Harbison knew that better times were ahead with his program.
“We do have a young team and we should be good next year,” Harbison said. “But we can’t use being young as an excuse anymore. The four sophomores have played a lot and have a lot of experience. We played well against some good teams. It’s horrible to go out like this, losing tough games like this, but we’ll be okay.”
How many times can a high school baseball team hit three homers in a single game and still manage to lose?
That’s what the Maroon Raiders did against Morristown. Phil Condito, Nick Gariano and Austin Kunz all hit solo homers, with the sophomore catcher Kunz’s blast ending up clearing the Nutley Oval and ending up landing on Franklin Avenue.
Gariano and Kunz hit their homers one batter apart in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving the Maroon Raiders a 3-2 lead, but Morristown scored one run in the seventh and another in the eighth to win it.
“We just weren’t there yet,” Harbison said. “We didn’t play well from the beginning of this game. Maybe there was some leftover from the loss to Montclair, who knows? We hit three homers in this game, but in reality, we didn’t hit the ball the right way. We didn’t go the other way and string some hits together. We’re not going to beat the good teams like that. We let it happen.”
Harbison was a little disappointed that the Maroon Raiders carried a bit of a hangover from the tough loss to Montclair, a game where Nutley appeared headed to a two-run rally to win it in the seventh inning, only to be stopped by a miraculous catch in centerfield.
“Those things happen in baseball,” Harbison said. “We have to be able to bounce back after a tough loss. Hopefully, the returning players will remember this. If they want to be successful, they can’t let one loss linger to the next game.”
The Maroon Raiders do lose a handful of players to graduation, like talented shortstop Gariano and outfielder Jack Kraft.
But having a backstop like Kunz returning is a major plus. Slugging designated hitter Luke Kelly returns. So does centerfielder Nick Liaci, who can track down anything hit to the outfield. Left fielder Nick Mercandante has shown a ton of promise. Second baseman Anthony Rossi, a slick fielder with a good bat, is also only a sophomore.
Plus, the Maroon Raiders have their two of their top pitchers returning in Joe Feraco and Kyle Cresci. There is certainly a lot to work with.
A year ago at this time, the Maroon Raiders were under .500 and Harbison had no idea what the future held.
Now, Harbison has a lot of hope and promise for 2013, with a host of talented players returning.
“I think our record (15-12) is about where I thought we would be this year,” Harbison said. “We played well in a lot of games against good teams and we’re only going to get better. I’ve been trying to instill that in them that they are a good team.”
The Raiders had proof they were pretty damn good. After losing to Morristown, they rebounded well and defeated Seton Hall Prep, 4-2, on Thursday. Seton Hall was once the No. 1 team in the entire state and was nationally ranked. It marked the second time in three weeks that the Raiders knocked off the Pirates. There’s proof in itself.
The Maroon Raiders were a good team in 2012 and should be even that much better in 2013.
