Marauders accomplish "three-peat"
St. Peter’s wins third straight HCIAA title, caps unprecedented athletic year for school
A week ago, St. Peter’s Prep’s talented junior pitcher Peter Duda took the mound against Immaculata, and soon after, Duda took a pounding. Immaculata’s explosive hitting attack reached Duda in a big way, as the junior had to endure a brutal 16-5 thrashing in the NJSIAA Parochial A North quarter finals.
The HCIAA championship had yet to be determined and the Marauders had already earned their place in their third straight title game, staring at a third straight showdown with Memorial.
So while the Marauders were still licking their wounds from the vicious 16-5 beating, veteran Head coach Joe Urbanovich knew that Duda was ready to bounce back in a big way.
"There was no doubt in my mind," Urbanovich said, "Peter is too good of a pitcher not to be able to bounce back. He had a bullpen workout on Sunday and it was probably one of the better ones that he’s had. He suffered a setback, but then took it upon himself to come back. He knew he was a better pitcher than he showed against Immaculata."
Duda took the mound last Tuesday night against Memorial, looking to give his teammates a piece of immortality. No team had ever won three HCIAA titles in a row and after capturing the titles in both football and basketball, no school had ever laid claim to all three major county championships in the same scholastic year.
Needless to say, Duda didn’t disappoint, firing a two-hitter, leading the Marauders to their "three-peat" in a 3-1 victory over Memorial at Cochrane Stadium in Jersey City.
"He was magnificent," Urbanovich said. "He threw his breaking ball for strikes consistently and that’s the first time that he did that all year. Although he’s had games where he’s had more strikeouts, no one drove the ball on him. He was just dominating. They loaded the bases with no out and they only got the one run on him. That showed how dominating he was."
With Duda pitching so well, there wasn’t a way that the Marauders were going to be denied their piece of history. They all understood that no team had ever won three straight baseball titles, that no school had ever accomplished a clean sweep of the major league championships.
"Without saying anything to the kids, that’s the main reason why I wanted to win with this group," said Urbanovich, who never won the HCIAA title in his first 22 years of coaching and now has four crowns in the last six years. "They could have something to hang their hats on. We all preach excellence and giving their best. This team was able to see it come to fruition. The pressure was on from the beginning of the season, because the football and basketball teams had already won the league. Without putting any undue pressure on ourselves, it was already there."
Urbanovich praised his special team, especially some key players who were able to enjoy each stage of the "three-peat" championship run, like senior Fran Rotella.
"He had a great game in three straight county championship games," Urbanovich said. "When he was a sophomore, he hit a two-run homer that got us back into the game against Memorial. Last year, he had a good game and this year, he drove in the first run. All he’s done for us is hit. He epitomizes the kind of kids that we have."
Senior pitcher Dan Sweeney was also a member of all three HCIAA title teams. Other seniors, like first baseman Jimmy Supple, were able to play a major part of the basketball title and then the baseball championship.
"When you’re successful, you don’t settle for anything less," Urbanovich said. "I think what Jimmy and the basketball team did in the winter carried over to the baseball season."
Senior John Talty was a key player on both the football and baseball championship teams.
"John was very unsung for us," Urbanovich said. "He had to step in and become the catcher and that was not easy, but he did a great job."
Urbanovich was asked if he wondered why he was not able to win a county championship for more than two decades and now he’s enjoyed four titles in six years.
"I have thought about it," Urbanovich said. "Honestly, I’m not doing anything differently. I’m still trying to work the same way from March 8 until the end of the season. I give them consistency and I take it very seriously. And I’ve done the same thing for 27 years. There were a few times when I wondered if I was doing something wrong. But I love doing what I’m doing and working for the people that I work for. We have good kids who are very focused. The way I look at it, we should win. Not that we don’t respect the other teams, but we certainly have the best players."
The victory also had a special meaning for Urbanovich and his players. Other than making history, the championship was dedicated to the memory of former team manager Jerome Pederson, who tragically passed away in March at the age of 27, right before the season was set to begin.
"We began our year by going to G’s funeral," Urbanovich said. "He’s always been a part of what we’ve done. The kids honored him by wearing the G on the shirtsleeves and wearing G on their armbands. To honor him, I still keep his warm-up jacket in my office. He’s still with us."
Urbanovich said that he wanted to win the title for the school so much that he was physically exhausted the day after the win.
"I got up at five in the morning and couldn’t sleep, couldn’t do anything," Urbanovich said. "I had to take the day off and it wasn’t to celebrate. It was really more like a relief that we were able to win."
The pressure to win will be there again next season, when six underclass starters return, including Duda, the master on the mound, who will be one of the most watched and scouted players in recent memory, probably going back to the days of St. Anthony’s hurler Willie Banks in 1987.
"From what I’ve been told, it will be like a three-ring circus," Urbanovich said. "But it’s going to be interesting. My JV coach [Carmen Spina] and freshman coach [Mike Gomez] are already preaching what has to be done for next year. They’re used to it now. They know what to expect."
It’s called winning.