Marcelo Harsch fires no-hitter, leads Seton Hall Prep baseball

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep baseball team had a great week going 2-0 to raise its record to 9-6-1 on the season.

On Wednesday night, May 3, the Pirates traveled to the Park Oval in Nutley to take on the Raiders. Sophomore right-hander Marcelo Harsch tossed a no-hitter to lead the Pirates to a six-inning, 12-0 victory. 

The offense was led by sophomore William Mahala who was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored while senior Elijah Foster was 3-for-4 with two RBI, and sophomore Michael Bravette, freshman Jordan Burwell and senior Owen Baratta each drove in two runs. 

Harsch had six strikeouts and only allowed a one-out walk in the bottom of the third inning. Following the game, Harsch commented on his performance. “It was the first time ever I pitched a no-hitter at any level of baseball I played. My arm felt lively and all my pitches were working. The key tonight was getting ahead of the hitters and having great defense behind me.”

On Friday, May 5, the second-seeded and reigning champion Pirates hosted No. 15 seed Verona in the first round of the 90th Greater Newark Tournament at Porcello Field in West Orange. Seton Hall won 10-0 as Foster threw a six-inning, one-hitter. He only allowed a leadoff single to center field by Andrew DePaul and had 15 strikeouts and three walks. Senior Ryan Probst was 3-for-4 with four RBI while Bravette and senior Evan Ravelli each had three hits with one RBI, and Harsch had two hits with one RBI, including a solo home run. 

Foster said after the game, “I was a little bit off in the first two innings but I settled down and got ahead of the hitters  the rest of the game. I trusted my defense and they did not let me down.”

The Pirates were scheduled to host No. 7 seed West Essex in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 10, after press time. The GNT semifinals will be held at Porcello Field on Saturday, May 13. The winner between Seton Hall and West Essex will face the winner between No. 3 seed Livingston and No. 6 seed Bloomfield.