The Ridgewood Varsity baseball team is fighting hard this season with an overall record of 11-4 and a league record of 4-3, only falling short to Paramus, Hackensack, and Don Bosco Prep. Captains Mitchell Campbell and Kyle Finnerty have helped the Maroons start off strong at their home opener on April 1 by beating Ramapo 12-2. On April 2, they went on to defeat Montclair 7-1. Next, the team stumbled with a couple of tough losses when Paramus defeated them 2-3 and Hackensack beat them 5-8. But the team redeemed themselves, beating Northern Highlands on their own field with a score of 4-1. The following day, the Maroons beat Paterson Eastside 10-0 in a knockout game, then defeated Indian Hills 14-0 the day after.
The boys continued their winning streak while playing away at Tenafly, 13-2, and Teaneck, 5-0. During the game against Teaneck, pitcher Kyle Finnerty had a no-hitter in the first two and two-third innings, followed by just three singles. He sealed the win after striking out four people in the homestretch.
On April 17, the boys lost their third game of the season after playing rival Don Bosco Prep. But, again, they showed resilience and came back to beat Westwood 14-9, Passaic Tech 10-6, Pascack Hills 10-0, and Ramapo 3-0.
On April 27, the boys got a chance to rematch Paramus at Vets Field, but suffered a close loss of 10-12. Overall, the boys team is currently ranked second in the Big-North Freedom Conference. Ranked just above the Maroons, Paramus has emerged as one of Ridgewood’s major rivals over the years.
Sophomore Chris Symington is third on the Maroons with a batting average of .421 over eleven games, while teammate Tony Zambito is hitting at a .359. Another sophomore, catcher Charlie Cardew, led with four RBI’s on opening day and is the second best batter on the team with an average .433. The overall best hitter on the team is first baseman Sean Cullen, who is hitting a .469, and leads the team with 19 RBI’s throughout the season.
The JV baseball team is also playing hard this season, cultivating a record of 7-5 with the help of captains Justyn Delli Veneri and Liam Benjamin, both juniors. They came out with a 6-3 win against Montclair, then lost against Paramus with a score of 5-11. Next, the team started to fight back by defeating Hackensack by fourteen points and Northlands Regional, 7-6. East Side beat the Maroons 0-10, but they came back with a three-game winning streak by beating Indian Hills (3-2), Tenafly (8-5), and Teaneck (5-3) in the next week. On April 17, RIdgewood played rival Don Bosco Prep in a close game, losing 2-3. Finally, in the recent week the team defeated Passaic County Tech 8-3, but fell short to Pascack Hills and Ramapo.
Sophomore Bobby Sullivan pitched 15 innings this season, resulting in 20 strikeouts and only one earned run. Meanwhile, junior Matt Gervolino pitched a total of thirteen and a half innings this season, striking out 21 players.
Be sure to come out and support the Maroons baseball teams, both JV and Varsity, before the season ends.
Jessi Schlicht
staff writer