Hilltoppers Run For State Title Ends In the Semifinals

BERKELEY HEIGHTS—The Hilltoppers' run for the state championship ended Tuesday afternoon when they lost to the Governor Livingston Highlanders in the state sectional semi-finals.

"We played well," said head coach Kevin Zaleski. "They came out and beat us.  They were the better team today."

Summit had trouble finding a way past the Highlanders, who had beaten them both times they had met in the regular season.  In the first inning the Hilltoppers went three-and-out as the top of the order struck out, grounded out to second, and hit a fly out to center field. 

The Highlanders offense did not have much better luck.  Pat Birosak started the game on the mound for the Hilltoppers.  Birosak continued his strategy of putting the ball over the plate and trusting his team to take care of any contact.  The first two Governor Livingston batters hit fly balls straight to Kenny Miller in center field.  The third batter hit the ball into the left field fence, but Matt Rea got to it quickly and held the runner to a single.  Chris George, at second base, took care of the fourth batter, and Summit went into the second inning tied, 0-0.

The Hilltoppers could not score in the second inning either.  Again, the boys never even made it to first base.  The talented Highlanders defense forced them to go three-and-out again and the boys moved into the bottom of the inning still tied, 0-0.

Governor Livingston did not let the opportunity pass them by.  The Highlanders played an aggressive inning.  The first batter reached first on an error, then stole second.  The second batter hit a single to right field, bringing in the runner on second for the first run of the game, then stole second as well.  The third batter grounded out to George for the Hilltoppers' first out, but pushed the runner to third base.  A wild pitch brought in the second Highlander run.  The fourth batter hit a single up the center, then stole second.  Miller took care of the second out when the fifth batter hit a fly ball right to him.  A double brought in a third run for Governor Livingston before third baseman Joe Weil scooped up a ground ball and threw it to first baseman Jay Crisfield for the final out of the inning.  The Hilltoppers left the second inning down 3-0.

The bottom of Summit's batting order went three-and-out in the top of the third inning.  The boys continued to make contact with the ball, but were unable to find a hole in the Highlander defense and went into the bottom of the third down by 3.

The Hilltoppers battled to keep themselves in the game.  Shortstop Ben Roessle fielded a ground ball for the first out.  The second batter singled, then was safe at second on a fielder's choice when the third batter hit the ball to Weil.  The fourth batter hit a huge double into center field to bring in the fourth Highlander run.  George made the final out for the Hilltoppers, who left the inning down 4-0.

Summit was back to the top of the batting order in the fourth inning, but again came away empty handed.  For the fourth straight inning the Highlanders prevented Summit from even reaching first base.  The boys went into the bottom of the fourth down 4-0.

This time the Hilltoppers did not let Governor Livingston score.  Rea held the first batter to a single by getting the ball in quickly from left field.  Birosak took care of the second batter who botched a bunt attempt and popped it up right to the pitcher.  The third batter was safe at first on a fielder's choice, but was tagged out stealing second base to end the inning without any further damage to the score.

In the top of the fifth, the Hilltoppers were rewarded for keeping their heads in the game.  Roessle reached first on an error, then stole second, to get things started for Summit.  The next two batters struck out, but the Hilltoppers have never had a problem with two-out rallies.  Crisfield reached second on an error, bringing Roessle in, and then took third on a wild pitch.  George singled to bring Crisfield home and the Hilltoppers left the inning down by only two runs.

"We were down 4-0 and we could have easily hung our heads," Zaleski said, "but we didn't.  We came right back into the game, giving ourselves the chance."

With newfound energy, the boys held off the Highlanders again in the bottom of the fifth.  Weil got the first out when a pop up came right to him.  Roessle had a great grab on a ground ball for the second out.  George dove on to the ground for a fantastic block on the next play, and the batter had to hold at first base.  Nick Oristanio took care of the final out of the inning, and the Hilltoppers went in down 4-2.

They were not down for long though.  Rea was walked and then stole second to start the inning.  Two outs put the Hilltoppers in exactly the situation they seem to thrive in.  Roessle was walked, putting runners on first an second.  Then Matt DeWald came up with a huge double that was just shy of a home run to bring both Rea and Roessle across the plate before the Highlanders could make the third out.  The Hilltoppers went into the bottom of the sixth inning tied 4-4.

Governor Livingston did not let the game get away from them though.  The first batter singled, then took second on a wild pitch.  The second Governor Livingston batter struck out, but the third hit a huge double to bring in another Highlander run.  At that point, after 70 pitches, the Hilltoppers sent Miller to the mound to relieve Birosak.  The fourth batter hit a fielder's choice to Roessle who threw the batter out at first.  The next batter was walked, putting runners on first and third.  The sixth batter hit a single to right field, giving both runners time to cross the plate.  Then the seventh batter hit a home run for the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.  The Hilltoppers took care of the final out, and left the sixth inning down 9-4.

Summit tried to rally in the top of the seventh inning.  Crisfield got to first on an error, and Weil singled to center field, but the Highlanders put the game away quickly after that.

"We battled back to make it 4-4 and they beat us with some hits," Zaleski said. "We can't be disappointed.  We didn't beat ourselves."

The Hilltoppers may have lost the game, but making it this far in the state tournament was not something that most expected for the boys.  This team had its best season in more than a decade.

"This has been an incredible season for Summit Baseball," Zaleski said. "People are recognizing that Summit Baseball is back.  That's a huge thing.  It means a lot to go out like this.  Whether we won or lost, in my mind, we're going out on top."

The Hilltoppers will play the final game of the season tonight against Parsippany.  The game will take place at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island at 7.