No Quit in Tartans on Diamond

Buried in an 8-1 hole against a Gloucester County Institute of Technology baseball team that had already mercy-ruled four teams this season, the forecast looked bleak for Thursday.

The Tartans were not getting quality pitching, were making errors and were failing to get timely hits.

It had the feel of a "just one of those days" type of games.

But if the Tartans have learned one thing from their early-season struggles, it’s to fight to the bitter end.

Highland rallied back from the deep deficit and got the tying runs on base in the bottom of the seventh inning before finally succumbing to GCIT, 12-9.

The loss left a bitter taste in the Tartans’ mouths, but there was a sense of pride in knowing how hard they fought.

“I’m proud of the effort we gave,” said Highland head coach DJ Gore. “The problem was when we picked up three (runs), we gave them two back in the next inning, and you can’t do that against good baseball teams. They’re a good baseball team. They are 8-3 for a reason. We had a couple of shots early that we just didn’t capitalize on and we fell behind early.”

Highland trailed 5-0 after two innings and 8-1 entering the bottom of the fourth. The Tartans were able to scratch one run back in that frame when Justin Incarvite plated Jay Smith on an RBI groundout. Highland then scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to close within 8-5 thanks to an RBI single from Smith and a two-run single by Bryan Beech.

GCIT came back with two runs in the top of the sixth, but Highland got them right back on a two-run single by Justin Munyon. GCIT again plated two in the next frame, but Highland still wouldn’t back down. The Tartans got a two-run single from Matt Miniconzi and loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh before finally running out of steam.

“To our credit we played a full seven innings. There were just a couple of plays we didn’t make,” said Gore. “That happens.”

Centerfielder Frank Angeloni said the team started performing better at the plate in the later innings because players stopped looking to hack at the first pitch they saw.

“We are real good, we just have to take our pitches,” said Angeloni, who had two hits, a walk, an RBI and a run. “We have to take more pitches. Guys always swing at the first pitch and that’s not always a good time to do it. When we hit our pitches, we do real good.”

He added that he noticed players took rough outings in the field with them to the plate.

“The errors just killed us,” Angeloni said. “We got down from that and let it bother (us) when we were at bat.”

The loss dropped the Tartans to 6-6, but considering the team graduated 12 seniors last season and started the year 0-3, Gore likes where his team is. He credits the success his team has had this season to a never-say-die mindset.

“It was just the attitude of never quitting,” Gore said. “I have a group of kids that just don’t quit. They are going to keep fighting, keep battling, and give you everything they have. That’s all we can really ask for.”