St. Joseph of the Palisades and St. Mary’s of Jersey City both met defeat in Parochial B. The rest of the county’s diamond dandies had already called it a season before Tuesday.
It meant that when the smoke cleared Tuesday, only one Hudson County baseball team remained, namely the Tigers of Memorial High School.
The Tigers soundly defeated Fair Lawn, 12-2, Tuesday, to advance to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV title game, where the Tigers were scheduled to face Morristown Friday afternoon (after press time) at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School.
The win over Fair Lawn came on the heels of a 11-1 lambasting of Roxbury in the opening round of the state tournament. It appears as if the Tigers put on their hitting shoes at the right time.
Incredibly, after the Tigers lost to Bayonne in the HCIAA Coviello semifinals two weeks ago, a lot of the players thought their season was over. But veteran coach Tony Ferrainolo, who collected his 600th career victory just a few weeks ago, wouldn’t stand for a complete meltdown after the loss.
“For the first time that I can remember, we came back to practice with a bad attitude,” Ferrainolo said. “They thought the season was over. So we had a little locker room talk, that the shirt across their chests reads ‘Memorial,’ and that Memorial always comes up big in the state tournament. That we play every game in the state tournament like it’s a championship game and that we’re not used to quitting. We definitely had to change our way of thinking and in a hurry. I went back to coaching like it was the first week of March, getting on them every single day. They had to go out and prove a point.”
Ferrainolo, who has guided the Tigers to five state sectional titles and one overall Group IV crown during his illustrious 27-year career, sensed that the Tigers’ frame of mind was much better by the time they faced Roxbury.
“I was not used to having a game not mean anything,” Ferrainolo said. “I take everything seriously and I wanted them to realize that. I think winning that first game did a lot to build their confidence. When I get them to believe that they can play with anyone, then they rise to the occasion.”
Ferrainolo had some concerns entering the state tournament, because his ace pitcher, Robinson Polanco, had developed a sore arm and was unable to pitch. It meant the rest of his team had to step up and play at a higher level.
“Robinson developed some stiffness in his arm and told me he couldn’t pitch,” Ferrainolo said. “So that means we had Jesus Castano, but it was also fortunate that we were able to hit the ball.”
The Tigers have been on fire at the plate in the two state playoff wins, banging out a total of 26 hits. In the win over Fair Lawn (a team that Memorial never faced before in its history), the Tigers also belted three homers – all coming from unlikely sources.
Yuniel Misa pitched the final two innings of the game, but he also hit a monstrous homer over the left field fence in Miller Stadium. It was Misa’s third at-bat of the season.
“He never batted before,” Ferrainolo said. “Now, he wants to take batting practice. After that homer, I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ I only put him in to pitch.”
Misa has been stellar on the mound, surrendering just three hits in 17 innings pitched, while striking out 22. The junior is showing that he has a promising future.
Another unsung hero is Al Cadiz, who had three hits, including a homer, in the win over Fair Lawn. Freshman sensation Ramon Feliz also had three hits and a homer, but being a rising star, it was almost just a matter of time before Feliz started to perform as expected. This is just the beginning for that talented youngster.
“When it comes time for the state tournament, you need everyone to pick it up,” Ferrainolo said. “These kids might be no-names, but they all contribute, because even the ones you tend to rely upon might not come through. These kids are all getting big hits for us.”
There was some positive news out of Memorial, before the Tigers faced Morristown, in a match-up between two of the most successful coaches in New Jersey high school baseball history. Polanco’s arm is feeling better and he might be able to throw.
“I might be able to use Robinson,” said Ferrainolo, who ranks fourth all-time in baseball coaching victories in New Jersey and was slated to face the all-time coaching win leader in Morristown’s Harry Shatel, who has more than 730 wins. “We never faced each other before.”
It means that almost 1,400 wins will be on the field at the same time when Morristown takes on Memorial for the right to keep going. Right now, the Tigers are the last team standing in Hudson County.
“All the other teams have packed up their stuff and gone home,” Ferrainolo said. “We’re the only team left. It means a lot to us that we represent the whole county. There’s pride in the accomplishment of being the last team still playing. It’s something we point out to them and we want it to keep going.”