Seton Hall Prep baseball team defeats Columbia during opening week

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep baseball team opened the 2023 season last week going 1-2-1. 

On Monday, April 3, the Pirates and Montclair played to a 2-2 tie that was called in the top of the eighth inning due to darkness. Seton Hall scored in the bottom of the first when sophomore catcher Henry Ayers drew a two-out walk. Sophomore courtesy runner William Mahala went to third base on an errant pickoff attempt and scored when senior Elijah Foster’s ground ball was thrown away. 

In the bottom of the third, sophomore Michael Bravette led off with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Ryan Probst, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield single by Ayers. Montclair scored one run in the fourth inning and tied the score with a run in the seventh.

On Wednesday morning, April 5, Seton Hall traveled to Millburn High School and dropped a 9-1 decision to Millburn. Foster drove in the only Pirate run with a long solo home run over the center field fence in the top of the fifth inning.

The next morning, the Pirates traveled to Underhill Field in Maplewood to face Columbia. The Pirates defeated the Cougars 8-7 in 10 innings. 

In the top of the third inning, Probst walked and later scored on an RBI single to left field by sophomore Marcelo Harsch. In the fourth they added a run when freshman Jordan Burwell hit a two-out double down the left-field line and scored when senior Owen Baratta singled down the right-field line. They increased their lead to 5-0 in the fifth when Foster had an RBI single to left field and Baratta hit a run-scoring single to center field. Columbia cut the Pirate lead to 5-3 when Brian Doubek hit a three-run home to right-center and sent the game into extra innings when Reno Spagnoli singled in a run and the tying run scored on an error. In the top of the ninth, Probst singled to center and Mahala launched a two-run homer to right field to give the Pirates a 7-5 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Nate Berenberg hit a two-out single to center and then Spagnoli fouled off 14 pitches before lining a game-tying two-run homer down the left-field line. In the top of the 10th, Burwell walked and went to third base on an errant pick-off attempt and scored on a single to right field by senior Evan Ravalli. Senior winning pitcher Berkeley Harsch threw the final three innings allowing two runs on three hits with five strikeouts.

On Saturday, April 8, the Pirates traveled to Randolph High School to take on the Rams. Seton Hall dropped a 9-4 decision. Trailing 6-0 after three innings, the Pirates scored four runs to cut the lead to 6-4. Burwell had an RBI double, Foster had an RBI single and the final run scored on a passed ball. Bravette was 3-for-4 on the day. 

Here are upcoming games:

• April 17: vs. Livingston, 4 p.m.
• April 19: at Montclair, 4 p.m.
• April 21: vs. Millburn, 4 p.m.
• April 22: vs. Msg. Farrell, of Staten Island, N.Y. 10 a.m.

  Seton Hall Prep baseball