The St. Joseph (Mont.) senior players were in a hurry to get the game in on Wednesday due to the oncoming rain, but they still managed to savor every moment.
On the grassy and wet field sitting atop the hill behind the Montvale school, the Green Knights seniors - along with their teammates and coaches - got the field ready the day beforehand to prepare for the rain, and all they could do was hope that this game would get in.
State tournament contests all across New Jersey were postponed, but not this one. In the opening round of the Non-Public A North tournament, seventh-seeded SJR jumped ahead early on with a 6-0 lead.
They ignored the rain. They just wanted to play baseball one last time together on the field they called home for four years. Almost improbably, the game finished in time before the storm front filed in.
Taking down 10th-seeded Dwight-Englewood in five innings, St. Joe's collected an 11-0 win, improving to 17-9 to be victorious one final time at home.
"Regardless of the weather, we were 'all in' today. That's the team's motto, and it with being our last home game, it meant a lot to win and to just be able to play," senior captain Chris Gantaifis said.
"We just tried to soak it all in. We gave it one thousand percent from the first inning to go out here on a good note. But we're not done yet," senior captain Carter Grande said.
SJR batted around in the home-half of the first inning. Senior Myles Gomez led off with a single and a stolen base.
Ryan McCabe, Carter Grande, Aiden Reilly, and Chris Gantaifis each laced an RBI single in the first inning.
SJR, who has outscored their opponent, 34-3 over their three-game winning streak, adding four more runs in the ensuing three frames to escape the rain in a five-inning victory.
Lorenzo Zeccardi lofted a sacrifice fly RBI in the second inning. In the third, Kevin Comblo cranked a two-RBI opposite-field double, and Zeccardi notched his second RBI of the game on a single to make a 10-run lead for the Green Knights.
Justin Olivo singled and scored in the fourth inning on an RBI knock from Frankie Juliano.
Senior John Cocciadiferro was hit by a pitch and scored, too.
Logan Jarer nabbed the win on the mound. The sophomore right-hander allowed just one baserunner across five innings, striking out four batters. It's the fifth time he has gone five or more innings this season.
While St. Joe's has just played their last home game, they continue their potential run to a title with a tournament quarterfinals matchup against second-seeded Seton Hall Prep on May 30.