St. John the Baptist's Joey Rivera settles down, earns save against Kellenberg
St. John the Baptist's Joseph Gubitosi lines an RBI double to the outfield against Kellenberg during the Corey's Promise baseball tournament on Tuesday at the Moriches Sports Complex. Credit: George A Faella
Sometimes, a deep breath is all you need.
St. John the Baptist junior pitcher Joey Rivera was halfway to a four-out save in Tuesday’s NSCHSAA baseball opener against Kellenberg. The Cougars’ three-run seventh-inning lead was in jeopardy after Rivera plunked a batter to put two men on base with just one out, but he just needed to calm down.
“To be honest, on the (ensuing) mound visit, I just wanted to give him a little breather,” St. John the Baptist coach Ryan Dalton said. “Talked about everything but baseball, get his mind off things. And just told him I have a ton of confidence in him.”
Rivera struck out the next Kellenberg batter on three pitches. Kellenberg first baseman Jack Durso had a two-strike, two-RBI single to cut it to one, but Rivera picked up another three-pitch strikeout in the next at-bat to close a 5-4 St. John the Baptist win at Moriches Athletic Complex.
“Last year, I probably wouldn’t have — my head would have been everywhere,” Rivera said. “This year, I feel like I’m more mature. I stayed in and I just got the last out.”
Tuesday’s game was part of the league’s opening day honoring Corey Phelan, a Greenlawn native and former Philadelphia Phillies minor league who died in Oct. 2022 after a six-month battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
St. John the Baptist (2-0, 1-0) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Joseph Gubitosi’s two-RBI double. Firebirds catcher Jimmy Ernst had an RBI single to make it 2-1 after one, but the Cougars never surrendered their lead to Kellenberg (0-1).
“We said early on, let’s get a few runs early to give us a little bit of comfort, give us some confidence,” Dalton said. “We did just that.”
Jacob Schmutz’s RBI infield single gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead in the third inning, and Gubitosi scored on a balk to make it 4-1. Kellenberg leftfielder Ryan Langner’s fourth-inning RBI double made it 4-2. Raymond Ferguson’s seventh-inning RBI single gave the Cougars their fifth run.
St. John the Baptist starting pitcher Marco Pipia went three innings, allowing three hits. Daniel Czeczotka, the Cougars’ winning pitcher, allowed one run in 2 ⅔ innings.
“This is a special team,” Rivera said. “We’re gonna wake a lot of people up today.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
