WEST ORANGE, NJ – The Pirates baseball team, comprising Seton Hall Prep players, is currently in its second year of existence. They are coached by all former SHP players – head Coach Dan Fornaro (Class of 1999), and assistants Stephen Kress (2003), Nick Mascelli (2013), and Mike Sheppard Jr. (1977). They play against the top club/travel teams in North Jersey. They play around 30 games during June and July. They had 7-5-1 on the season through July 7.
They recently competed in the 7th Annual Ed “Faa” 16U Baseball Tournament at the Lincoln Park Turf Baseball Complex in Jersey City. Last season, they won the tournament. This season, they went 1-2-1. In their first game, they defeated Langan Prospects, 6-5, in eight innings. In the first inning, Ryan Monteleone walked and scored on a triple by Dominick Carlucci to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
After Langan tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the second, the Pirates scored two runs when Thomas Jupin doubled and scored on a RBI single by James DeCicco, who later scored on an error for a 3-1 lead after two innings. They added two runs to that lead in the bottom of the fourth when they scorced two runs as Connor Baratta walked and scored on a RBI single by Pietro Tripodi, who stole second and third and scored on a sac fly to right field by Monteleone.
Langan scored one run in the sixth and three in the seventh to tie the score at 5-5 after seven innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Nick Adubato drove home the winning run on a suicide squeeze for the 6-5 victory.
Tripodi had a no-decision, but pitched very well. In five innings, he allowed two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. After the game, he said, “I felt like I had command of all my pitches and could locate them.”
In the second game of the day, the North Jersey Cardinals defeated the Pirates, 2-0. Jupin pitched very well, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk over six innings. Tripodi was 1-for-2 and a walk, Monteleone was 1-for-3, and Anthony Stirone was 1-for-3.
The next morning, they played the North Jersey Giants to a seven-inning, 3-3 tie. In the second inning, trailing 1-0, Adubato singled and later scored on an infield groundout by DeCicco. The Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the third inning when Tripodi walked and scored on an RBI double by Alex Duffy. They fell behind 3-2 in the fifth inning when the Giants scored two runs. They tied it in the top of the seventh when Andrew Mitzak singled and scored on a two-out, two-strike single to left field by Sam Nomura.
In the final game of the tournament, the Pirates lost to Langan 7-1. Tripodi was 2-for-2 with a run scored, and Patrick Ackerman was 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI.
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