Bases loaded. Two outs. Bottom of the seventh. Brick Memorial held an 8-7 lead and was one out away from its first-ever Shore Conference Tournament title.
And yet, ShoreTown Ballpark in Lakewood had a certain buzz in the stands. The private school from Red Bank would find a way to win, right? Isn’t that what always happens? Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?
Moments later, Mustang closer Brayden Nalducci got No. 2 hitter Max Dantoni to hit a lazy fly ball to center field. Memorial’s Jimi Popp settled under it, squeezed the ball into his mitt, and within seconds, a full stable of Mustangs galloped onto the field to celebrate their conference title on Sunday night.
“It’s been like this all year, so why not one more time?” Memorial head coach Evan Rizzitello asked after the game. “We don’t make it easy, that’s for sure. But we seem to come through when it really matters. I’m so proud of these guys.”
Not only did Brick Memorial make history with its first Shore Conference Tournament crown. The team also made a statement to the rest of the conference – and the state.
“Beating RBC, another private school, and us being a public school is absolutely huge,” Nalducci said proudly. “It proves that talent can come from anywhere, and any team can beat anyone at any time. I truly believe we are the best team in the Shore.”
Rizzitello added, “As a public school with a ton of kids from Brick, we lose kids to some of these schools in the area. To go through CBA (in the semifinal) and RBC to get it done in this day and age is really special. It hasn’t really sunk in that Brick Memorial just won the Shore Conference Tournament, but it’s really special. I’m sure eventually it will sink in.”
Sunday’s victory came at a cost. The Mustangs had to use all three of their top pitchers in order to come away with a win. But it was worth it. No regrets.
Brody Moore started and pitched into the sixth inning. He allowed a first-inning run that put his team behind 1-0 but was otherwise pretty effective against a tough Caseys lineup.
Dan Golembiewski provided the first big hit for Brick Memorial when he laced a three-run double into right-center field with one out to give his team a 3-1 lead.
RBC cut the deficit to 3-2 on an RBI groundout off Moore in the third and added a two-out double by Drew Cannon to tie the game in the fourth.
Brick Memorial’s Joe McGlynn, who leads the team in hits, singled to center to give his team the lead back 4-3 in the top of the fifth. Moore sat the Caseys down in the fifth, and that’s when the game truly started to get wild.
It appeared the Mustangs had broken the game open to start the top of the sixth. Tyler Garbooshian ripped a two-out single to left field that scored Will Montanye and Matt McGlynn. The “visiting” team now had a commanding 6-3 lead.
But the Caseys mounted a rally in the sixth. Back-to-back singles, followed by a groundout, set them up with runners on first and third with just one out. A bloop to short left field by Luke Scaturro was mishandled by Garbooshian, who ran a long way just to get his glove on the ball. That scored a run and made it a 6-4 game with runners on first and second.
Rizzitello made the difficult decision to lift Moore, who had pitched admirably up to that point, for Zack Pirnik.
But there was a method to his decision-making. And it’s a script that had played out favorably for his team throughout the tournament.
“The lineup of Moore, Pirnik, Nalducci was absolutely the script for us,” he said. “But the way it transpired, that was not the script. It would have been awesome to go with just Moore and then Nalducci (to close), but we knew if we needed Zack he would be there for us. I went to him and had confidence in him. That was the script, to use those three, and in that order.”
Pirnik, who Rizzitello said has the perfect temperament in big spots, did what he was asked to do. Dantoni tied the game at 6-6 for RBC with a bloop single to right, but Pirnik struck out two straight batters to keep the game tied and crush all the Caseys’ momentum.
“Zack is emotionless,” Rizzitello said. “Giving up a big hit won’t take him out of a game. We have a lot of confidence in him and we have since day one as a freshman.”
The top of the seventh was an absolute rollercoaster. Going up against RBC ace Ryan Prior, who came on in relief earlier in the game, Golembiewski and Nalducci began the frame with two straight singles. Popp put down a sacrifice bunt that was mishandled by Prior. Everyone was safe, and Brick Memorial had bases loaded with nobody out.
The Caseys brought the infield in, and it worked. Moore bounced a grounder to first. Dylan Passo threw home for the force out, and catcher Aiden Funk fired back to first for a huge double play. What started as bases loaded nobody out was suddenly runners on second and third with two outs.
Facing the reality of a blown opportunity, something had to give. Luckily, Nalducci kept his composure on third base and came through with a play that will live forever in Brick Memorial baseball lore.
With Michael Figner at the plate, Prior fired a low pitch that bounced off Funk’s glove and settled just a few feet in front of home plate. Funk took off his mask and couldn’t locate the ball, which allowed Nalducci to make a break for it.
Nalducci read it perfectly and slid home safely for the go-ahead run that salvaged the inning and gave his team the lead.
“That was a huge heads-up play by Brayden,” Rizzitello recalled. “He’s not just a pitcher, he’s an athlete. That’s why he was able to take home.”
Memorial got an insurance run when Figner’s fly ball to left field was dropped by Jake Frankel. Popp scored from third, and Memorial led 8-6 going into the bottom of the seventh.
True to his word, Rizzitello went with Nalducci for the save situation. The tall, athletic right-hander notched a perfect save in the semifinal round against Christian Brothers Academy and was ready to do the same on Sunday night to clinch his team’s first conference title.
“I knew we still had a lead and I knew I could let up something small, a little base hit or something,” Nalducci said. I trust in my stuff and trust in my fielders behind me, and it ended up working out.”
Nalducci struck out the first two hitters before issuing back-to-back walks. With two strikes, Passo dribbled an infield single to second base that loaded the bases for the Caseys.
Up came Dantoni, who had tied the game in the sixth off Pirnik. Before his at-bat concluded, Nalducci balked in a run from third when he dropped the ball while standing on the pitching rubber. The balk cut the deficit to 8-7 and placed the winning run on second base.
No worries, though. Nalducci secured the final out for his team and the biggest “save” of his life.
“This is what I love doing, these high-pressure situations,” Nalducci said. “I got out there and focused on the next guy and the next pitch and it worked.”
The Mustangs’ celebration lasted deep into the night at ShoreTown Ballpark. And it was well-deserved. It also served as an excuse to exorcise some demons of the past.
For years now, Brick Memorial has won a ton of baseball games. The team has had a ton of talent. The one thing that has eluded the Mustangs is postseason success – especially, but not limited to, the state tournament.
“In previous years, we always seemed to fall apart or manage to lose games we should have won,” Nalducci said of the past four years. We haven’t won a state game in who knows how long, and we’re trying to change that this year. But the first-ever Shore Conference Tournament – I have so much faith in this team and so much faith in everyone on it. We really proved we’re the best team in the Shore.”
Rizzitello added: “The last couple of years we never got over the hump. We had all of the talent and the potential but we never got over it. It has all clicked this year so far.”
