Sharpe gets St. John the Baptist to CHSAA baseball final

St. John the Baptist is in the CHSAA baseball championship series - again. For the fourth year in a row the Cougars are in the final. And it's no wonder how they continue to put it all together in the postseason when it matters most.

With senior captain Kevin Courtney sidelined with a broken right wrist, it was the "other" team captain leading the way Wednesday for the Cougars. As Courtney, in full uniform to support his teammates, looked on from the visitor's dugout at Farmingdale State College, senior Joshua Sharpe lined a run-scoring single with two outs in the top of the sixth inning to break a tie at 3 and key a three-run rally in St. John the Baptist's 5-3 comeback win over St. Dominic.

The victory eliminated the defending champion Bayhawks and advanced the Cougars into this weekend's title series against the winner of Holy Trinity-St. Anthony's.

"You always want to be in a situation to win the game," Sharpe said. "It was a good pitch to hit and what a great feeling to come back and win. Our guys have really rallied around each other without Kevin. He's a great teammate and leader."

Sharpe came around to score, sliding home on a Mark Torres single, before being congratulated by a mob of Cougars.

"I'm the second leadoff hitter as the nine-batter," Sharpe said. "My job is turn the lineup to the top with some momentum."

Sharpe came through in a big spot to the delight of the Cougars' faithful. He didn't just flip the lineup, he moved them to the next round.

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The Cougars were resilient all game. Shortstop Joe DiGiamo will remember his run-saving dive on a ball hit up the middle that stymied a sixth-inning St. Dominic rally. With two outs, DiGiamo ranged quickly to his left toward centerfield, gloved what looked like a sure single, and flipped the ball with his glove to second base for the forceout. The defensive gem drew a standing ovation.

The intense heat dehydrated righthanded starter Tom O'Neill through six grueling innings. He battled a tough Bayhawks lineup and severe leg cramps to scatter five hits and strike out seven in a workmanlike effort.

"The defense was excellent," said O'Neill, who threw 102 pitches. "We can never be counted out in any game."

St. John's erased two one-run deficits. Trailing 2-1 in the fifth inning, Torres walked and scored when catcher Brian Hunter drilled a long triple to left-centerfield. The Bayhawks took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Tom Grillo lined a double down the leftfield line to score Joe Tracz to make it 3-2.

A sloppy start to the sixth doomed St. Dominic. With two runners on, Tyler Pope sacrificed the runners into scoring position before Jonathan Tenaglia lined out to leftfielder Derek Hirsch to score DiGiamo and tie the score at 3. The sac fly set up Sharpe's clutch hit.

"They had the big hits and we didn't," Hirsch said. "It's really that simple."