No. 5 Edison forces extras, then walks it off on Lutz single in 8th to top No. 7 South Plainfield 5-4, in wild finish to battle of unbeatens

Early on, even though the home team scratched across a run in the first, it looked like No. 5 Edison and No. 7 South Plainfield would be tangled in a pitchers’ duel on a beautiful Saturday morning on the red turf along the Boulevard of Eagles.

Jayden Jiminez settled in for the Tigers, pitching to contact.  Edison’s Dom Innocenti struck out five of the first six batters he faced.

Eventually, South Plainfield got on the board, taking a 3-2 lead with two runs in the sixth, then adding an insurance run in the top of the seventh to give Tigers a 4-2 advantage.

But Edison scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to send it to extra innings.  And after a one-two-theee top of the eighth by Braydon Roma in relief, Isaiah Lutz drove in the game winner in the bottom of the frame with a single to center with the bases loaded and two out.

Darren Tirado got the offense started, as he led off the bottom of the first with a double to the gap in left, and after a strikeout of Robert Roma, starting pitcher Dom Innocenti – who was throwing heat early and struck out the side in the top of the first – singled to make it 1-0 Edison.

South finally broke through in the top of the fourth.  Aiden McCarthy led with a single, took second during the next at bat, and after Chris Loniewksi struck out,  Andrew Bena singled to right to tie the game at one.

Edison went back in front in the bottom of the fifth.  Connor Murphy led off with a double, a sac bunt moved him to third, and Damien Calendra singled him in to make it 2-1 Eagles.

But South Plainfield went ahead in the sixth. Dom Massaro got hit by a pitch to lead it off, stile second, and came around to score on a double by Aiden McCarthy. Chris Loniewski walked to put runners on first and second for Bena, who grounded to short. Ray Tavarez went to second for the first out, but Connor Murphy’s throw went past first, allowing McCarthy to score, making it 3-2 Tigers. Innocenti would get a pop up and stirkeout to end the inning.

The seventh would bring the Tigers a much-needed insurance run. With one out, Joe Stanzione reached on an infield hit up the middle. Pinch-hitter Mike Fiore walked, so did Massaro, and with the bases loaded, McCarthy knocked in a run to make it 4-2 with sacrifice fly to center. A strikeout ended the inning.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Edison would tie it, with a little bit of controversy. Murphy hit a hard ground ball to third, and reached on a throwing error. Lutz hit a double to drive him in and bring Edison within one. That’s when things got interesting.

Calandra was called on to bunt, and it was fielded by pitcher Jayden Jiminez. But the ball was to the first base side, and by the time he fielded it, he chose to make a tag instead of tossing to first, but the umpires ruled he missed the tag. Tigers’ head coach Scott Gleichenhaus came out to argue, saying not only did Jiminez make the tag, but that Calandra went out of the base path to avoid the tag. The umpires discussed, upheld the call, and Gleichenhaus continued to argue, but to no avail.

The play moved Murphy to third, and with Aidan Kaplan on in relief, Tirado grounded to third, scoring Murphy and tying the game at four. But South Plainfield held there. Robert Roma hit a sharp liner to short, which went off Calandra’s shoulder, and he was called out for interference, then with Innocenti at the plate, Roma was thrown out trying to steal second on the first pitch to end the inning.

Braydon Roma, now in his second inning of relief for Edison, got the Tigers in order in the top of the eighth, and the Eagles’ bats did their thing.

Innocenti led with an infield hit to short, where the throw may have pulled the first baseman off the bag, but he appeared to beat it out anyway. After Sam Kentos struck out, Ray Tavarez was intentionally walked after one pitch, and Kaplan retired Brayden Toma with a strikeout. But by now, Edison had second and third on a pair of wild pitches.

That brought Lutz to the plate, and he quickly roped a single to center, scoring Innocenti, and giving Edison a 5-4 win in eight innings.

Braydon Roma got the win in relief in his first appearance of the season for Edison (3-0), while Adian Kaplan took the loss in relief for the Tigers (2-1)

Cllick below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with Edison senior Isaiah Lutz and head coach Vinnie Abene, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: