Nutley HS baseball team falls to Cranford in North Jersey Section 2, Group 3 tournament semifinals to finish stellar season

NUTLEY – The Nutley High School varsity baseball team finished a stellar season after losing to Cranford, 8-6, in the state North Jersey Section 2, Group 3 tournament semifinals on May 31 in Cranford.

The eighth-seeded Raiders took a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning. But fourth-seeded Cranford scored six runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to win it.

In the third inning, NHS took a 2-0 lead. Senior right fielder and Rutgers-bound Anthony Condito hit an RBI double. Condito attempted to steal third, but the Cranford catcher’s threw the ball away, allowing Condito to score.

Cranford scored in the bottom of the third to cut it to 2-1.

In the fourth, senior Nick Miller hit an RBI single to make it 3-1.

The Raiders added three runs in the fifth inning to extend it to 6-1. Senior Andrew Santos had an RBI single to score Condito and Miller followed with a two-run double.

The Raiders finished the season with a 20-10 record, including finishing runner-up in the 84th Greater Newark Tournament where it they lost to Seton Hall Prep, which won its fourth straight GNT title.

Condito became the program’s all-time hits leader during the season.