May 20, 2012

Marist celebrates after winning the Ed Ford Memorial Baseball Tournament. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Marist vs St. Peter's Prep Baseball Photo Gallery

JERSEY CITY – It would have been difficult to script a worse start for Marist. A seemingly endless array of fielding miscues resulted in five runs allowed and a team on the brink of collapse.

Instead, these Royal Knights didn't just settle down, they dominated.

Sophomore Matt Littrell recovered from the rough start to retire 21-straight batters as Marist chipped away and eventually defeated St. Peter's Prep 7-5 in nine innings to win the Ed Ford Memorial Baseball Tournament yesterday at Cochrane Stadium.

The victory gave Marist its first county championship since 1973.

"We have talent. We have players that when they're down, you just got to keep them level," Marist coach Ron Hayward said. "If you keep them level, they keep their heads right. We knew we could battle. We came here to play a baseball game."

The fourth-seeded Royal Knights (20-5) looked anything but ready at the start. Littrell was rudely greeted by three straight hits by second-seeded St. Peter's Prep (17-11), the last a two-run single off the bat of T.J. Ward in the bottom of the first.

It went from bad to worse for Littrell and Marist as a throwing error allowed Ward to score. Another throwing error allowed courtesy runner Sean Falzon to score the fourth run and Anthony Pilovsky scored on a passed ball to make it 5-0.

"My whole team was nervous at the beginning," Hayward said. "Balls dropped that we never drop. They're kids. They're in a big moment."

After a dropped fly ball, Littrell struck out the next two batters to end the disastrous first inning, but not before throwing more than 40 pitches and trailing 5-1.

"They said it's their fault, but I was like 'no, it's all of us.' When one makes a mistake, everyone makes a mistake," said Littrell, who gave up two earned runs in the inning. "I just stepped up and pitched my heart out."

The two strikeouts the end of the first marked the start of an incredible stretch of 21-straight batters retired by Littrell. He was aggressive with his fastball and consistently frustrated the dangerous Marauder lineup with a two-seam fastball, which even Littrell said he was surprised at its effectiveness.

"Every game we played, Matt's troubles were in the first inning," Hayward said. "I knew once we got out of the first inning, he'll be comfortable. Once he got out of the first inning he was good."

"When I was in control, I felt I was going to dominate," Littrell said. "I'm just going to throw, get outs and that's it. It was my time to shine, my time to dominate and for our team to win."

With Littrell in command, Marist started to chip away at the deficit, scoring two runs in the second inning and one more in  the third. The Royal Knights would even it up in the fifth when number nine hitter Andres Santana singled, stole second base and came around to score on a Mark Peralta single.

Littrell's streak came to a close on a Ward single with one out in the eighth. After an intentional walk, Littrell escaped the jam with a D.J. Wilson fly out to deep centerfield.

Marist broke through for its first lead of the game in the top of the ninth when Josh Salgado singled just beyond the reach of a diving Anthony Rinaldi between first and second, allowing Steve Tsugranes to score what would be the winning run.

"I was just waiting for my pitch, having patience and waiting for a pitch in my zone and hit it," Salgado said. "It was a fastball outside and I just went with it."

Derek Edge would score an insurance run as Littrell (eight innings, four hits, two walks, seven strikeouts) was pulled for Danny Mirabel.

Mirabel gave up a pair of two-out hits, before recording the final out on a fly to centerfield.

"I've been here before in the same situation, same inning, two years ago when I was at St. Mary's," Mirabel said, recalling his appearance in this game as a sophomore. "Last time we lost and I gave up the game winning hit. This year it turned out the other way. I'm just glad I got to pick up my teammates."

Peralta was 3-for-4 with two walks and Santana scored two runs.

Mike Doran took the loss for Prep, allowing two runs (one earned) in four innings of relief.

T.J. Ward went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base for St. Peter's Prep. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Marist vs St. Peter's Prep Baseball Photo Gallery