Fallout from Fantastic Friday

Had Don Bosco lost by a run, it would have been easier to accept. Even if Seton Hall Prep won by the mercy rule, the Ironmen could have walked away from Friday's North Non-Public A semifinal between the state's two top teams with a tip of their caps to the victors.

The way things went down in reality made this one a bitter pill to swallow for Don Bosco.

toSeton Hall rallied from five runs down in the sixth inning, then won the game in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk, denying Don Bosco's upset bid with a 9-8 triumph. The crowd at Seton Hall Prep was great, a venerable who's who of North Jersey baseball among the 2,500 or so.

Faces in the crowd included Pascack Valley coach Frank Eufemia and Bergen County tourney guru Greg Butler; Rutherford baseball guru Joe Wladyka; Wayne Hills coach Chris Ianniello and his trusty assistant Jon Goldstein; members of the Passaic County champion Passaic Valley team, including Dan Alcala, the winning pitcher in Monday's title game; Eastside coach Pete Diaz; Montclair State coach Norm Schoening; of course, Mike Sheppard, Sr.; NJIT coach Ed Ward; Bergenfield coach John Farley; St. Mary ace Danny O'Neill; and former Don Bosco pitching coach Bobby Jones, along with former Don Bosco coach Leon Matthews, both of whom were rooting the Ironmen on.

Get the picture: it was a wild scene at Seton Hall Prep on Friday and the Pirates earned their celebration, regardless of how stunning and disappointing it was from Don Bosco's perspective.

Here are some of my thoughts on the afternoon, considering I spent more than seven hours on the Seton Hall Prep campus, arriving just after 1 p.m. and finally departing for home around 8:40 or so:

* Rick Porcello had given up six runs all season. Don Bosco scored eight in seven innings and should have had more, if not for overaggressive base running, including a pair of pickoffs by Porcello that squelched rallies. The Ironmen were locked in on Porcello's 90-mph-plus fastball and they ripped it all over the park, from Anthony Gomez's leadoff homer until the seventh. If not for those two pickoffs in the seventh, there's a chance Bosco would have scored even more.

* There was a 45-minute lightning delay even though lightning never struck in the skies above the diamond at Seton Hall Prep. The school has a weather detector, which blares when thunderstorms are within a three-mile radius of campus. For safety reasons -- aluminum bats, metal bleachers -- the playing fields must be cleared at first sign of lightning and must remain empty for 30 minutes after the initial lightning strike. At Seton Hall, the home plate umpire uses the alarm as a reference point.

Well, the teams left the field at 5 p.m. No lightning yet. At 5:25 p.m. -- still no rain or lightning -- the teams began to make their ways back to the field. At 5:27, the alarm went off again, and yes, still no rain or lightning. When the teams finally got back on the field, it was 5:45.

Don Bosco, which led 4-2 before the break, added two more runs to go ahead 6-2 at that point, seemingly pushing Porcello onto the ropes. Then, of course, it started raining.

Forty-five minutes, no rain or lightning. Play resumes and continues for the next two-plus innings in a steady rain. Sometimes you can't make this stuff up.

* Don Bosco senior Jaren Matthews and Seton Hall senior Steven Brooks, who became good friends while barnstorming the country on a baseball showcase tour, spent Friday morning at a pre-draft tryout in Yankee Stadium. Matthews hit four balls into the upper deck in right field, while Brooks -- a right-handed batter -- actually hit one out of the Stadium left-handed. He started switch hitting a few weeks ago. Unbelievable. I've been told by several sources that Matthews, who has signed with Rutgers, could go as high as the third round in next Thursday's draft.

* Matthews was scheduled to participate in a pre-draft tryout Saturday morning in Philadelphia, then he was heading up to Boston for a tryout at Fenway Park on Monday, with the Bergen County semis, a possible final and high school graduation at Bosco all sandwiched in-between.

Unfortunately for Matthews, a fastball from Porcello may have gotten in the way of all that. He was plunked by Porcello, clipped on his right elbow, and according to his father, Jaren was likely going for X-rays on Friday night after the game. He played the entire game and did not come out despite being in obvious pain. His elbow was heavily wrapped in ice, so it should be interesting to see if Matthews can play in Saturday's County semifinal vs. Emerson.

* Speaking of that game with Emerson, it will be interesting to see how hard Don Bosco takes the loss. It won't be easy, but I'll be honest, the Ironmen seemed to be dealing with the defeat fairly well afterward. There were a few tears, even some smiles, which surprised me a little bit. I would imagine the loss probably sunk in on the bus ride back to Ramsey, and the hangover could last until today, leaving the door open for Emerson to take a shot at the upset.

It's hard to go from underdog to favorite in less than 24 hours, but that's what Don Bosco will deal with at Demarest on Saturday.

* Eric Pfisterer deserved a heck of a lot better on Friday. He showed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was worthy of a start opposite Porcello. Hats off to a kid who worked his way back from a fractured pelvis last season. The junior lefty was the best pitcher on the field on Friday, at least until the sixth when he tired a little and Don Bosco coach Paul Sessa went to the bullpen.

* Should be interesting to see who pitches for Don Bosco against Emerson. Even though Jeff Hoffman only pitched two innings against Seton Hall, I wonder how much he'll have left. That was a very difficult appearance and a thankless job, considering the blood was already in the water and the Seton Hall Prep sharks were circling when Hoffman took the ball from Gomez in the midst of that rally.

* OK, this one bugged me ... bottom of the first, Bosco leads 1-0, Seton Hall has a runner on second with two outs and Porcello -- arguably the best hitter in New Jersey as well -- at the plate. There's an open base at first. I couldn't believe that the Ironmen decided to pitch to him, and of course, he drills Pfisterer's first pitch over the center field fence for a two-run homer and a 2-1 lead.

The next batter bounces out, ending the inning. I'm not one to second guess, at least not openly on the blog, but this one was amazing to me. I know it was only the first inning, but still, I would've never given Porcello a chance to swing the bat.

Elsewhere in North Jersey ...

* Hasbrouck Heights, great job by Rocco Minichiello and crew on the sectional crown. Would have been great to see an All-BCSL National showdown in the Group 1 semis on Tuesday, but Lyndhurst could not hold on against Hoboken. I saw Hoboken at the same field at Ramapo College last season in the same round lose to Pascack Hills and I'm guessing I'll be back in Mahwah a year later to see if the Red Wings can deny Heights a trip to Toms River.

* Cliffside Park drives all the way to Hackettstown, plays one inning before the game gets cancelled, so now the Red Raiders have to do it all over again on Saturday. It's tough enough to drive all the way out west once, now twice in a span of 24 hours ... hopefully Rogelio Aquino has some juice left in his right arm to give it a go on the mound and he didn't burn it in the pre-game.