April 26, 2012

Junior Ryan O'Connor didn't allow a hit after the first inning for St. Peter's Prep. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

North Bergen at St. Peter's Prep Baseball Photo Gallery

JERSEY CITY – A long leadoff triple from Willie Cruz may have prompted a mound visit from Jason Uliano to Ryan O’Connor. Despite the quick meeting Uliano, the St. Peter’s Prep catcher, knew he had little to worry about in regards to his ace pitcher.

“He just said to relax, it’s only one hit,” said O’Connor about the mound meeting. “Bear down and keep going.”

It turned out to be the last hit O’Connor would allow.

O’Connor allowed just one hit and two walks with six strikeouts to effectively shutdown the North Bergen offense and lead St. Peter’s Prep to a 3-1 victory yesterday at Cochrane Stadium.

“I didn’t really say much to him,” said Uliano. “I think he pretty much did it himself out there. He’s really good at settling down and he’s a really calm pitcher out there. He doesn’t get rattled at all. He got settled in and there’s the result. He did a real good job for us.”

Cruz would score on Brandon Diaz’s sacrifice fly to center one batter later in what turned out to be the only offensive threat from a Bruins (10-4) squad ranked No. 16 in the state. Mixing his fastball with a curveball and changeup, O’Connor (4-1) would frustrate the North Bergen lineup, retiring eight in a row after the Cruz triple.

“There’s not much that fazes Ryan,” St. Peter’s Prep coach Pat Laguerre said. “He’s an experienced kid. He’s pitched a lot of big games. He’s got good stuff, he trusts his stuff. He gives his teammates a good sense of security behind him because he throws strikes, he makes quality pitches and he can get out of jams. He’s got good enough stuff to do that.”

“The off-speed stuff was working,” O’Connor said. “They’re a really good hitting team so you really couldn’t dominate them with fastballs. You had to work everything.”

O’Connor may have been dealing, but the Marauders (10-4) were equally frustrated trying to hit Marco Hernandez. North Bergen’s junior lefty held Prep without a hit or walk over the first four innings with seven strikeouts.

Uliano broke up the no-hit bid when he turned a bloop hit that dropped near the leftfield line into a hustle double to lead off the fifth.

“(Marco’s) a great pitcher,” Uliano said. “He keeps the ball down and away. He changes speeds, gets you off-balanced. Anything you get off of him, you got to take advantage of.”

Knowing it could be their best and only chance against Hernandez, Anthony Pilovsky followed with a perfect bunt down the third base line for a hit and O’Connor helping his own cause with a RBI single up the middle to tie the game.

After a Jack McNulty sacrifice, Hernandez was called for a balk to score Pilovsky with the go-ahead run and Anthony Rinaldi added some insurance with an infield single to plate O’Connor.

Hernandez would allow just five hits and zero walks with nine strikeouts in six innings, but it wasn’t enough for him to avoid taking the tough-luck loss with O’Connor on the other side.

“When Anthony Pilvosky laid down the bunt and he was able to beat that, I said we had the potential to have a big inning,” Laguerre said. “I knew we weren’t going to have many because Marco was throwing the ball really well and getting ahead of guys. But the one inning we had an opportunity we were able to break through.”

O’Connor had retired 10-straight before a Jose Moreno walk to lead off the seventh. But any hopes of a North Bergen comeback were short-lived when O’Connor induced Pasquale Andruela into a 1-6-3 double play and retired Hernandez on a liner to third to end the game.

“You tip your hat to St. Peter’s and the kid who pitched for them,” North Bergen coach Pat Brady said. “He did a great job. He kept us off-balanced all day. When you get one hit, there’s not really much you can do.”

“I didn’t even have to move my glove,” Uliano said. “(Ryan) was hitting the spots, inside, outside, changing speeds. All of his pitches were working. He was really great today.”

Marco Hernandez struck out nine batters and didn't allow a hit until the fifth. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

North Bergen at St. Peter's Prep Baseball Photo Gallery