Pastore Aces Oratory's Test For Pioneers' First Win

Senior pitcher Doug Pastore delivered an array of unhittable bullets all day long against Oratory Prep Thursday afternoon.

When all was said and done, the ace pitcher had delivered the Pioneers' varsity baseball team its first win of the season with a four-hit performance.   

“Doug did everything we asked him to,” New Providence coach Chris Brodeur said.  “He’s the No. 1 guy, and we ask him to go out there and shut down the offense, and he did a nice job."

Pastore struck out 10 Rams in five innings, and while a high whiff total is certainly impressive, the key for the senior yesterday was when he was able to get those strikeouts.

Faced with the tying run on third and no outs in the third inning after a two-base error, Pastore stepped up, pounding the outside corner with a lively fastball to strike out the side and hold the advantage for the Pioneers.

The senior energetically twirled off the mound and shouted, “let’s go,” as he bounded into the dugout. 

“We hadn’t scored that many runs and I was just trying to keep my team fired up and into the game,” Pastore said of the animated display.

Three batters later, after a walk, a wild pitch and two strikeouts, Pastore laced a two-out RBI single to right-center field to score what would eventually prove to be the deciding run.

The Pioneers (1-1) had played power ball to get their first run, as designated hitter Joe Randazzo crushed a ball over the centerfielder’s head for a home run in the second inning; in the fifth, it was time to go small.

After Mike Kennedy singled and got to second on a wild pitch, junior leftfielder David Dinerman dropped down a bunt that barely reached the lip of the grass in front of home plate.  But Oratory’s battery mates both hesitated to pick up the ball, and Dinerman beat the eventual throw.  The Rams first baseman compounded the problem by overthrowing third base when Kennedy tried to take the extra bag, and as a result, the Pioneers took a 3-0 lead.  Catcher Stephen Zimmerman, who went 2-for-4, followed with an RBI single to left to make it 4-0.

Most of the Pioneers’ spring scrimmages were cancelled due to the poor weather, and they have already had two games postponed for the same reason.  Because of the winter-like early spring weather, they haven’t really had an extended chance to face live pitching, making small ball all the more important until the weather improves.

“That’s really the No. 1 name of the game, you’ve got to be able to play the team game,” Brodeur said.  “It was nice to see Joe Randazzo hit one out today. He’s got a lot of power, and if he gets into one, it can go.  So that’s one of the things that’s nice to see, and maybe the rest will come along with it.”

In the bottom of the fifth, Pastore fell into another jam after he threw high to first on a comebacker and allowed a single to right.  But, once again, he didn’t shy away from the moment.  The senior first got creative, using the oft-ridiculed fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move to get the second out.  He followed by uncorking a filthy slider away to strike out the final man he would face on the day. 

“He’s my guy, I’ve got to have confidence in him,” Brodeur said.  “I don’t worry too much about him.  He’s worked very hard on his composure in those situations, and it shows on the mound.”

Brodeur brought in the No. 2 pitcher in his stable, Michael Marchesano, to close out the game.  The Pioneers were trying to avoid a repeat of last Saturday’s meltdown, in which they blew a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh to Governor Livingston.

Marchesano made sure this didn’t happen again; the sophomore struck out three of the six batters he faced over two hitless innings to slam the door shut this time.

“We’re always confident in the seventh inning, that’s a one-time thing and we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Pastore said of the team blowing the lead on Saturday.

The Pioneers will try to follow up on their first win when they play Newark Academy on Saturday at 2 p.m.  The game will be played at Governor Livingston.