Homers, Clutch Pitching Lead Erial to Victory

As expected, the competition was raised a notch for the Erial Major Division Little League All-Stars in the team's opener of New Jersey's Section 4 tournament Tuesday night.

Fortunately, Erial raised its game also, combining power, big-time pitching and a flare for the dramatic to pull out a 5-3 win over Margate to advance to the winners' bracket semifinals.

Backed by two-run homers from Matt Mastrogiovanni and Sean Gaugler, Erial jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings. However, that lead shrunk to 5-3 and Margate had runners on second and third in the sixth before Devin Leary struck out the only batter he faced to end the game.

Erial will be back in action Thursday in Linwood. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The game's last inning was full of drama. Reliever Anthony DiMartino appeared to close the game on a strikeout when a foul-tipped third strike was ruled to be caught by the catcher for the third out. Erial players headed off the field in celebration, but a base umpire overturned the call, following a protest from the Margate bench, and ruled the play a foul ball. It was ruled the ball hit the dirt before reaching the catcher's glove. The players returned to the field and the Margate batter stroked a single on the next pitch to load the bases.

Margate then got a two-run double from Isaac Robinson off DiMartino to close within 5-3.

Devin Leary took over on the mound for the first time this playoff run and finished off the win with a strikeout on a 3-2 pitch.

“That’s just what this team does. They keep their mental toughness no matter how many outs (Margate) was given that inning,” Erial manager Jeff Mastrogiovanni said. “We just kept fighting and focusing. It didn’t matter that the tying run was on second base. Devin Leary came in and closed it out. Devin hadn’t pitched in three months, but he looked good.”

The late game drama led to a little more sweat dripping down than even the 90-degree night could produce, but all that mattered to the players was that it went down as another win.

“I thought we were out of it before with the strikeout, and I thought some of the pitches Devin threw earlier were strikes, but in the end we got the win,” Matt Mastrogiovanni said.

Before the frantic final inning, it was the Erial fireworks that were the story. The local ballplayers took a 1-0 lead with small ball in the first inning, producing a run on four singles. In the third, it was all about home runs as Mastrogiovani blasted a curveball for a two-run shot well over the left-field fence and Gaugler sent a line drive out in center.

“I was looking for a curveball because in the first inning he struck me out on a curveball,” Mastogiovanni said. “It felt good to get curve and get my first home run out of the way.”

With the home runs from Mastrogiovanni and Gaugler, the team now has 16 in six games. Equally as impressive is that seven different Erial players have left the yard.

“It pumps all of us up,” Mastrogiovanni said of the homers. “It makes us all want to participate. No one’s heads are down when some one hits a home run. We are all cheering.”

Gaugler was also dominant on the mound for much of the game, breezing through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. He left with the bases loaded and no outs, but DiMartino limited the damage to just one run, thanks to a pair of strikeouts and a ground out.

The ability for three pitchers to deliver in key spots is a luxury that many teams do not have and one that the Erial manager is thankful for.

“We don’t skip a beat (no matter who is in),” Mastrogiovanni said. “The defense has confidence in all the pitchers. All of our pitchers throw strikes. They can move it in, can move it out and just hit their spots. They are not throwers they are pitchers.”