Underdog Keyport no-hits Owls in state tournament

Things were looking great for the Highland Park Owls, with a #3 seed in the Central Jersey Group 1 sectional baseball tournament. Their opponent, 14th-seeded Keyport, came into Monday's clash with a 3-14 record. It looked like a mismatch -- but Red Raiders hurler Ryan Chandler had other ideas.

Shortstop Ryan Devlin smacked a home run and Chandler did the rest, tossing a no-hitter with eight strikeouts as Keyport recorded a 3-0 victory. The loss ended the Owls' tournament hopes at 13-7.

Highland Park looks to wrap up the Greater Middlesex Conference Gold Division championship with a win over Timothy Christian in its season finale on Wednesday.

 

Both teams could not not manage a hit through the first three innings. Junior hurler Ben Vietze, who finishes the season with a 7-2 record, was untouchable, fanning six in the first three innings, including five straight strikeouts. Devlin had the big two-out hit in the top of the fourth, smacking a first-pitch fastball by Vietze over the right field fence to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

 

The Owls had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth inning. Freshman designated hitter Tyler Vella walked to lead off the frame. A sacrifice bunt by freshman right fielder Andy Powell moved Vella to second. Sophomore first baseman Will Callahan walked to put runners on the corners but Chandler buckled down, fanning junior third baseman Phil Gianolio Falk and inducing junior Patrick Ambrosio to ground out to third.

The Red Raiders used small ball to score two big insurance runs off of Vietze in the top of the sixth inning for a 3-0 lead. Left fielder Greg Dillow of Keyport recorded an infield hit and stole second. Cory Romanetz singled to left, then stole second. Catcher Greg Armstrong grounded out to second, scoring Dillow, and Devlin grounded out to first to score Romanetz.

Vietze pitched valiantly, allowing just five hits while fanning 11 and walking none.

"It was a well played game," said Owls first-year head coach Mark Blevins. "Ben threw very well today. Give credit to Ryan Chandler who was around the strike zone, kept the hitters off-balance, and controlled the game."

The closest the Owls came to getting a hit was in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore centerfielder James Webb was just nipped on a grounder to first baseman Connor Thomson, who threw to Chandler covering for the out at first base. In the bottom of the seventh, Chandler struck out Vella, Powell and Callahan to secure the no-hit victory.

Sophomores Angelo Odato and Nicholas Nolan, two of the Owls' key weapons offensively this season, missed the contest due to illness.

 

Blevins knows a lot more is to come from this team when next year approaches. The team loses just two seniors (co-captains Reuben Kuchinsky and Donald Wen) from this year's squad. Vietze, Nick Baay, Jason Potts and others should lead the way next year as seniors.

 

"We have a long way to go and need to do more to go further and understanding the effort to succeed," said the coach. "The kids need to do more, keep up their grades and show a lot of dedication to the program."

"We went down a division this year," Blevins added. "Our players gained a lot of confidence, which gives us momentum for next season."