5/23/2011 - Judgment Day for Lions, Vikes
Judgment Day: May 21, 2011.
For those who believed and worked hard good things would come. That certainly happened on Saturday for those who waited and they were rewarded with a gift that will last forever.
Wait, do you think I was talking about the Judgment Day that was spread all over the news last week? No, I’m talking about the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex championships held last Saturday, silly.
Although it did rain pretty hard in Sparta on Saturday the world did not come to an end, but for the members of the Pope John baseball and Vernon girls lacrosse teams, May 21, 2011 will always be remembered as a special day for years to come.
The Lions and Vikings capped terrific runs in their respective tournaments and brought home championship trophies to Sussex County in a tournament that hasn’t been too kind to the county since its inception in the fall of 2009.
Both teams were the favorites to win titles, but as everyone knows, that is easier said than done.
Both teams had great motivation coming into the tournament. Vernon lost in last year’s final to Hunterdon Central 9-6 and PJ was stunned in the early rounds with a 6-1 loss to Voorhees.
That burning desire to erase those bad memories carried both clubs and it culminated with outstanding performances in the finals.
Let’s start with Pope John. The Lions have been thinking about this tourney since the Voorhees loss in 2010 and Pope John went out and faced the very best the Hunterdon County had to offer in North Hunterdon, Voorhees and Hunterdon Central, the defending tourney champs.
The Lions knocked off each powerhouse on consecutive Saturdays behind one of the best batteries in the state in senior catcher Alex DeBellis and classmate, hard-throwing righty Brendan Mayers.
The horrible weather and Pope John’s deep starting rotation allowed Mayers to get all three starts and he was nothing short of masterful. The Rutgers-bound Mayers went 3-0 with three complete games as he allowed just five runs and fanned 29 with a sparkling ERA of 1.62
One of those wins was a 4-2 head-to-head showdown with Sean Keselica of Voorhees, who beat PJ last year. The Virginia Tech-bound lefty was also on his game except for a couple of bad pitches.
But those pitches were to DeBellis. The UConn-bound senior ripped the first pitch for a bad-hop triple in the first inning and he later hit a key, game-tying inside-the-park homer to knot the game up at 2.
In the final against HC, Mayers overcame a comebacker off his shin and cramps in his leg to gut out a masterful four-hit, eight-strikeout effort, getting the final out on a strikeout as the Lions made a huge dog pile at home plate to celebrate their 8-1 win.
DeBellis also clubbed an opposite-field three-run dinger to spark a six-run third inning and the Lions were on their way.
Mayers was rightfully named the tourney’s MVP, but you couldn’t have gone wrong with DeBellis, either.
It was a lot of fun covering PJ’s ride to the title. I usually don’t get to see much baseball with my softball and lacrosse duties, so it was great to watch the county’s best go out and prove it.
Like the PJ baseball team, Vernon’s girls lacrosse team has been state-ranked all season and the best team in the county, by far. The Vikings sailed their way through the tourney with only a couple of road bumps.
The Vikes crushed P-Burg 20-5 before rallying for a 14-11 win over Hunterdon Central to reach the final. In the final, Vernon’s “Big Three” of Leslie Werner, Jess Mills and Brittany Ast carried the Vikes to a 14-10 victory over North Hunterdon.
Werner, who scored 14 goals for the tourney and was named MVP, tallied five times as did Mills. Ast was brilliant with two goals and several assists, including our Sport Beat Play of the Week.
Ast connected with Mills on a perfectly placed long pass off the carpet for a goal which is worth watching over-and over.
It has been a magical year for Vernon girls lacrosse and for Brittany Ast and Brittany Parak in particular. The duo won H/W/S titles in two sports as they were key members of the girls soccer team which won it all last fall.
In its second year, schools from Sussex have done much better in the tourney in all sports and that is a good sign. I have stated in the past that I like the setup and if it stays this competitive, it just might become one of the best in the state.
FOND FAREWELL….It was announced last week that High Point football coach Jim Delaney will take over the Montville program after the school year in a sad turn of events for the High Point football community.
Delaney’s teaching position at High Point was eliminated due to budget cuts and the fourth-year head coach needed to find a new job. Well, that new job will be as the head man at an American Division rival, and the whole situation stinks.
It is shame Delaney had to go. He built the Wildcats (8-3) up from a winless team to a squad that won its first state game since 2001 before falling to state powerhouse Wayne Hills in the North 1, Group 3 semifinals.
The kids at High Point had bought into his program and the weight room was filled with kids hoping to be the next Billy Smith, Nick Boyle or Austin Caldwell.
The program was going in the right direction before the budget ax fell. You can’t blame Delaney for doing what was best for him and his family. You can’t live on just a coach’s salary.
Delaney’s departure came as very sad news for High Point AD Gib Carter, who knew the day was eventually going to come.
“We didn’t want him to leave,” said Carter. “It is a big loss. He did a phenomenal job and you couldn’t ask for anything more from a football coach. He is a great guy, great coach and great educator. It is just a huge loss for High Point.”
Yes, indeed. Delaney had a career record of 19-22 with 13 of those wins coming in the last two seasons. He was the Mugs Media Coach of the Year in 2009 after he led High Point to a 5-5 mark, its best since 2001.
But more importantly, he got the community excited about High Point football again. For a school nationally known for its wrestling, football flew way under the radar and Delaney was on his way to making the Wildcats a perennial winner.
With his “flexbone” offense, the Wildcats were a well-oiled offensive machine under the guidance of quarterbacks Chase Kieffer for the first two seasons and Kevin Fasano the last two.
Carter said the job will be posted and the school will go through the process of interviewing candidates.
If you want my two cents (and I know you do) High Point should strongly consider assistant coach and boys basketball head coach Bill Percey.
Percey has great energy and enthusiasm and the kids really like him. He coached under Chris Olsen at Wayne Hills and he knows how to win. He has done a great job building up the boys hoops program and I see no reason why he wouldn’t pick up where Delaney left off.
So we will have to wait and see. But it won’t seem right seeing Delaney wearing Montville colors next fall. I wish Jim all the luck in the world. He is a good guy and good coach.
As for the two other High Point coaches who are in limbo due to the budget crunch, outstanding swim coach Erik Carlson and boys lacrosse coach Marc Russell, Carter said no decision has been made about their return to coaching.
It is just an unfortunate sign of the times. At a time when there is a coaching shortage, High Point could lose three dedicate individuals all in the name of “fiscal responsibility.”
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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