The midpoint of the 2024 Baseball season was reached last Monday.
On Monday, the 15th, River Dell began their two-game set against Mahwah, a team who is also competing for the league title. During the 2nd game of the week, River Dell bounced back after starting the 3rd inning down 9-5.
Sophomore Nate Silverstein hit his first homerun of the season, along with doubles from David Nunez and Junior Mason Nagle. Although they ended up losing the game 10-9, Sophomore third baseman and pitcher Michael Porco threw 4.1 innings, allowing just one earned run while also only throwing 41 pitches.
River Dell played Cliffside Park on Friday, the 19th, and pitchers Alex Pascale and Irei Hashimoto only allowed 3 runs in the entire seven innings. Ten hits and five runs were enough for River Dell to snap out of the loss column. River Dell: 5; Cliffside: 3.
For the last game of the four-game week, the Hawks travelled to New Milford where they lead 6-0 by the second inning. Senior Pitcher Sean Golden threw ten strikeouts in only 4.1 innings while junior Tim Oddo finished the last 2.2.
Both pitchers only allowed one earned run, while River Dell’s bats couldn’t stop. Two hit games from Sean Lauterhahn and Mike Porco led the game, while the team netted six stolen bases and had more runs than hits!
Sophomore Jordan Mellaci also got his first career varsity hit on the 20th. Four more insurance runs in the fifth ended this game, as River Dell beat New Milford 10-2.
The next week, River Dell started their two-game set with Indian Hills. Looking to extend their win streak to three games, the Hawks were home on Tuesday and away on Wednesday.
Led by Tyler Bustillo’s amazing outing, (6 IP, 2 ER, 5 K) and a four-hit game by Senior Sean Lauterhahn, River Dell hung on until the seventh inning. Their pitcher Pascale got out of a jam and secured the win for the Hawks, 4-3 extending their win streak to three.
In a 13-10 nail-biter, Indian Hills broke RD’s streak; but, not their momentum as the Hawks enter the second half of their regular season. While they get hotter and hotter, can the Hawks make a surprise push in the county and state tournaments? Only time will tell.
