MATER DEI PREP’S SEASON COMES TO AN ANTICLAMATIC END IN STATE PLAYOFFS

MATER DEI PREP’S SEASON COMES TO AN ANTICLAMATIC END IN STATE PLAYOFFS  

By Mike Ready 
 
MIDDLETOWN – Mater Dei Prep’s late-season batting slump continued into Tuesday’s NJSIAA South, Non-Public B first-round game against visiting Wildwood Catholic as the 12th-seeded Crusaders ended the season for the fifth-seeded Seraphs with a 7-1 victory. 
 
Wildwood Catholic didn’t do the Seraphs any favors by starting ace Ben Church, who is one of the premier pitchers in South Jersey, and entered the game with a miniscule 0.41 ERA allowing just two runs in 35 innings pitched with 40 strikeouts.
 
Church, who possesses a blazing fastball that reaches 85 mph and a wicked curve ball, went the distance striking out 13 batters while allowing just one run on five hits with one walk. 
 
Mater Dei’s once promising season ended on a dismal note. After compiling a 13-4 record, including going 12-0 in B Central to capture their first division title since 2015 and first-ever undefeated division record, the Seraphs fell on hard times the last two weeks of the season going 0-5, including Tuesday’s loss. 
 
“The last two weeks have been a little disappointing,” said Mater Dei head coach Pat Riddell. “We haven’t hit the ball and today was another one-run game. We make mistakes where we kill ourselves the last couple of weeks and that’s not how we played when we were 13-4.
 
“I saw that online and I was like, ‘Oh blank,’” said Riddell when asked if he was aware of Church’s stats coming into the game. “You try to talk to the kids and puff them up but they saw what I saw and when you’ve been struggling at the plate the way we have been, seeing a talented pitcher like him sure doesn’t help.”
 
As disappointing as the last two weeks were for the Seraphs, it can’t take away from some of the things the team accomplished this season – number one being the division title and Riddell is proud of his team for that. 
 
“We had a nice run,” said Riddell. “At times we played flawless baseball and that’s what you need to do. I thought we were one of the better teams in our division coming into the season but I didn’t think we’d go undefeated. That added a nice little bonus to it.
 
“I thought it was perfect the way the division season ended with two division wins against Point Pleasant Beach because I thought we were the two best teams in the division. We played our butts off for those two games against them and Brandon (Tuesday’s starting pitcher Brandon Sansone) pitched outrageous. He went 13 1/3 innings without giving up a run. It’s a really good rivalry between the two of us, so that was nice.”   
 
Riddell had nothing but high praise for his graduating seniors and their contributions throughout their high school careers. 
 
“My senior guys, I love them, they’re the best,” said Riddell. “Cassin (Robert) behind the plate is a tremendous ball player and a great kid. He just got the scholar-athlete award for Mater Dei and we were just up in Edison for that. Brandon (Sansone) transferred here last year and he’s done everything I could ask of him since coming over here. He’s been a stud on the mound for us for two year and was just selected the B Central Pitcher of the Year when the coaches voted on that last week. 
 
“Chase (Hardy) is a kid I’ve known forever. I coached his two brothers so I’ve known him since he was little and he’s grown up with me and is like a son. And Jimmy Cody is a great kid too, and one of the nicest kids you’re ever going to meet. I’m sure he would’ve liked to have seen the field more and I wished I could’ve gotten him out there more if we had the chance.” 
 
Sansone’s season record dropped to 5-3 after Tuesday’s loss but he still finished with an excellent 3.36 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 41.2 innings pitched. At the plate, Sansone hit .333 in 36 at-bats and led the team with 12 RBI. 
 
Cassin led the team with a .436 batting average along with 11 RBI in 39 at-bats, while Hardy finished with a .243 batting average with a team-leading four doubles plus 10 RBI and 12 runs scored. 
 
Juniors Sean Turner, who averaged .357 at the plate with 10 RBI, two doubles and 12 runs scored and went 3-2 on the mound with a 4.85 ERA, Mike Folk (.268, 17R), Pete Gorman (.333, 5RBI, 10R) and Patrick Mastro (4-1, 30 IP, 30K, 0.70 ERA) are the top returners for the Seraphs entering next season. 
 
Eight of Mater Dei’s nine losses this season came against Class A division opponents, with the ninth coming against Point Boro, which just won the Ocean County Tournament and is ranked in the Shore Conference Top 10. 
 
“Once you get out of the B Central you don’t get away with the mistakes we were making,” said Riddell. “I try to play a tough schedule; I like to play up. I think it’s better to play good competition and we scrimmage crazy up too which is nuts sometimes but I think it gets us ready.”
 
With all things said and done, it was a season the Seraphs can build on and take that division title to heart. 
 
“I told the guys the one thing they can’t take away from us is that we’re undefeated division champions. As much as the last two weeks have not been much fun, it was a nice run and there’s not too many people in Mater Dei baseball that can say they had an undefeated championship season.” 
TagsSpring