Key Hitting, Strong Pitching Lead Knights to Championship Game
For the third time in four years, the baseball team has advanced to the Non-Public B sectional championship. The third-seeded Knights punched their ticket to the sectional title game yesterday after upsetting second-seeded Hudson Catholic by a score of 7-4.
“It was about as complete a game as we’ve had all year,” said head baseball coach Dave Pasquale. “Our pitching was fantastic, our defense was flawless, and we had some timely hitting that allowed us to get some runs on the board.”
The Knights jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to a big hit from Mike Taylor ’20 followed by key bunts from Mike Giammarino ’19 and Joe Skapinetz ’21 and concluded with an RBI groundout from Eddie McCarthy ’20.
The big blast of the game came from AJ Donofrio ’19 as he smacked a three-run home run in the seventh inning which proved to be the difference in the game. Also scoring runs for Gill were Jake Sempervive ’21, Matt Kalinak ’21, and Nate Fodor ’22.
“AJ showed yesterday why he'll be a successful hitter at the Division I level next year,” said Pasquale. “He took a pitch on the outside part of the plate and crushed a three-run home run to left-center field. It turned out that we really needed all three of those runs so it was huge.”
Gill was also led by a great pitching performance from Skapinetz as he struck out 12 hitters in 6 and 2/3 innings while only allowing three runs and two hits.
“Joe was brilliant,” remarked Pasquale. “He's been terrific all year, but to do it in his first start on such a big stage says a lot about his makeup.”
The Knights will now take on St. Mary High School in Rutherford on Friday, May 31 as they try to claim their first sectional championship in program history.
“St. Mary's is very good every year and this year is no different,” said Pasquale. “They're the number one seed for a reason, but our guys are excited about the opportunity to play their way into a state championship game.”
Gill St. Bernard's School
Gill St. Bernard’s is a private, coeducational day school for students age three through grade 12, located in suburban New Jersey. Each of the three school divisions provides a rigorous, meaningful, and age-appropriate curriculum, and all students benefit from the environmental learning opportunities that exist on our 208-acre campus.