For the first five and a half innings of the Non-Public North B quarterfinal between fourth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas and fifth-seeded Rutgers Prep, the two evenly matched teams were entrenched in a classic pitcher’s duel.
Trojans southpaw Louis Rizzolo and Argonauts righty Li Perez dazzled through their first five innings, leaving the game deadlocked at 1-1 headed into a pivotal bottom of the sixth inning.
In that inning, St. Thomas Aquinas’ bats showed up. In a big way.
The Trojans batted around and tacked on five runs in the frame to take a 6-1 lead, ultimately winning by the same score to advance to their second straight sectional semifinal, on the back of a complete game from Rizzolo.
St. Thomas Aquinas struck first, scoring in the bottom of the second inning after right fielder Josh Figueiredo hit a two-out RBI double to the centerfield wall to score Declan DiCarlo, who led off the inning with a full-count walk. Perez rebounded with a strikeout of the ensuing batter to end the inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, Rutgers Prep made its move. Catcher Maddox Chu drew a one-out hit-by-pitch and stole second base. The very next batter, left fielder Ethan Nepomuceno, tied the game with an RBI double to left field.
The bottom half of the inning saw the Trojans nearly strike again, but Perez battled through an inning where he walked three batters to load the bases. With two outs, the bases loaded, and down to his last batter due to the pitch count limit, Perez struck out Lucas Cassino swinging with a full-count fastball to end his outing in a gutsy way.
Rizzolo stifled any Argonaut momentum gained from that moment, however, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts and a groundout.
With the game still deadlocked at one run apiece going into the bottom of the sixth, the Trojans needed a difference-maker and got one.
Peter Wheeler relieved Perez on the mound, and he struggled to find the zone from the start. He walked designated hitter Harrison Eng on four pitches, then Figueiredo on a full count to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Left fielder Junior Perez laid a perfectly executed bunt down the third base line to load the bases with an infield single, setting up centerfielder Jack Valenzuela in a tie game.
On a 3-1 count, Valenzuela saw the fastball he wanted and sent it out to left field, scoring two runs and giving the Trojans the lead back. With the lineup card flipped over, Rizzolo reached on a jam shot that bounced off the glove of shortstop Alex Perez to reload the bases, still with nobody out.
Catcher Adrian Sanchez, the ensuing batter, laced a ground-ball single through the middle of the infield to score two more runs. Third baseman Will Bethea struck out swinging to record the inning’s first out after six straight St. Thomas Aquinas batters reached base.
Second baseman Declan DiCarlo drew an intentional walk on a 3-0 count to load the bases for the third time in the inning, leading to an RBI sacrifice fly from Cassino. Batting for the second time in the inning, Eng flew out to centerfield to end the sixth, but the damage had been done.
Rizzolo continued his cruising outing into the seventh, getting two flyouts in short order, but the Argonauts put up one last fight with back-to-back hits to put runners at the corners. The very next batter, however, Rizzolo shut the door by striking out Rutgers Prep third baseman Okasha Asrar.
Rizzolo finished his complete game with seven innings pitched, allowing five hits and one run, with one walk and seven strikeouts. Perez had a strong outing of his own in five innings, allowing one run on three hits, five walks, and 11 strikeouts.
St. Thomas Aquinas improves to 16-8 on the season and will face the winner of the top-seeded Montclair Kimberley and ninth-seeded Newark Academy in the sectional semifinals. The Argonauts’ tournament run comes to an end at 13-10 on the season, with one game against North Brunswick left on the schedule on June 5th.
Click below for postgame reaction from St. Thomas Aquinas pitcher Louis Rizzolo, centerfielder Jack Valenzuela, and head coach Tom D’Agostino, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
