NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School baseball team defeated West Orange and Caldwell to advance to the Greater Newark Tournament semifinals.
The sixth-seeded Raiders defeated No. 11 seed West Orange, 12-1, in the first round on Tuesday, May 10, at the Park Oval.
Joe Delanzo went 3-for-4 with a single, a double, a homer and 4 RBIs, and Mike Zitola had a single and two RBIs. Brandon Lucia had a single and an RBI, and Dylan Santos drove in a run.
Brandon Conte pitched four innings of three-hit ball, allowing one run, for the win.
The Raiders then upset No. 3 seed Caldwell, 2-0, in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, May 11, in Caldwell. Nutley scored both runs in the top of the seventh inning on RBIs by Ryan Gencarelli and Zitola. Zitola, Lucia and Santos each went 2-for-3 with two singles.
Delanzo pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout with six strikeouts and one walk.
Nutley has won six of its last seven games to improve to 10-7 on the season.
The Raiders will face seventh-seeded Bloomfield in the semifinals doubleheader at Doc Goeltz Field at Verona High School on Saturday, May 14, at 3 p.m. The other semifinal pits No. 1 seed Millburn and No. 4 seed Seton Hall Prep at 11 a.m.
Nutley lost to Bloomfield, 9-6, on April 12 in a Super Essex Conference–American Division game at Bloomfield.
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