In a battle of Cinderella runs in the Central Jersey Group 4 tournament, one would see its dance go for one more hour – or game – and the other would see its slipper fall and head home.
For ninth-seeded Hillsborough, the Raiders established from the start that they were not going home.
They put up a five-run first inning en route to a 10-0 victory in five innings over 12th-seeded Montgomery to advance to the sectional final for the first time since 2012, when they won the North Jersey 2 Group 4 title, where Hillsborough made it to the state final before losing to Manalapan 2-0.
The Cougars had a solid start to the game, putting runners on the corners in the first inning against Raiders starter Brayden Fox, before he struck out second baseman Kenta Komatsu to get Hillsborough out of the inning clean.
In the bottom half of the first, five consecutive Raiders reached base to start the game against Cougars starter John Donahue, with two walks sandwiching three straight ground-ball singles, two of which did not leave the infield.
First baseman TJ Westlake started the scoring after leadoff batter Tommy Kester walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch, with Westlake bringing him in on a high chopper over the outstretched glove of Montgomery shortstop Patrick Fogarty.
Catcher Alex Reiling walked with the bases loaded to bring in the second run. Second baseman Brian Quabeck struck out swinging to record the first out, but shortstop Elijah Dawes hit into an RBI groundout, putting runners on second and third. Right fielder Shane Khurana dunked a flare shot into right field to score two more runs, before he was picked off at second base. Nine Raider batters got to the plate to start the game.
Donahue settled in nicely after, retiring the side in the second inning in eight pitches. Fox matched him however, facing four batters in the second and third innings with 19 combined pitches.
In the bottom half of the third, centerfielder Andrew Advani singled – one of his three hits on the day – before stealing second base, and advanced to third on a groundout. Reiling and Quabeck drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Dawes drew a third straight walk to score another run, forcing Montgomery to make a pitching change with one out.
Right fielder Mason Neufeld relieved Donahue and did his job, forcing two straight swinging strikeouts to avoid any further damage.
In the top of the fourth, the Cougars put together a rally sparked by Komatsu’s leadoff double. He advanced to third on a groundout, before left fielder Michael Englert walked and reached second base on defensive indifference. With runners on first and second and one out, Fox caught a hot-shot comebacker from catcher Evan Puleio, and got a flyout from Fogarty to continue his shutout.
The Raiders got another man in scoring position with two outs, but Neufeld got Fox to fly out to right field to end the inning. Fox got his revenge in the top of the fifth, retiring the side in order against the Cougars’ top of the order.
In the bottom half, Hillsborough’s offense got back to humming along. Reiling led off the frame with a home run to left field to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead. Quabeck reached on a hit-by-pitch and Dawes hit a single to put runners on first and second, then advanced to second and third thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Khurana. Third baseman Jason Williams reached on a fielder’s choice, but a run scored as Puleio was unable to hold on to a play at the plate, giving Hillsborough its eighth run.
With the lineup card flipping over, Kester got hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing up Westlake. On a 2-0 hitter’s count, he saw a ball over the plate and laced it to left-center field, scoring two runs and ending the game in five innings.
Fox finished the day going the distance with five shutout innings pitched, with two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts, earning the win.
Donahue took the loss, throwing 2.1 innings with five hits, five walks, and five runs (all earned) with one strikeout. In relief, Neufeld threw three innings, allowing five runs on four hits, no walks, and two strikeouts.
The Cougars’ season comes to an end at 10-15, while the Raiders will advance to face second-seeded Old Bridge in the Central Jersey Group 4 final. The Knights came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat third-seeded Edison 4-3 in eight innings.
Click below for postgame reaction from Hillsborough pitcher Brayden Fox, first baseman TJ Westlake, catcher Alex Reiling, and head coach Matt Mosko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: