Clippers nip Yankees to claim ABCCL title

CHRIS KELLY staff East Brunswick's Dan Lanzano and his Freehold Cllippers teammates won the ABCCL title with a pair of wins over the Manchester Yankees in the league finals recently. It wasn't easy, but the Freehold Clippers captured their first Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League (ABCCL) championship on Aug. 6, beating the regular season's top two teams in a pair of playoff series.

After a grueling second-round playoff, the Freehold Clippers claimed the team's first-ever spot in the ABCCL championship finals. To get there, the underdog Clippers had to first defeat 2005 champion Toms River Black Sox, and then fight it out for four straight days with the 2006 regular-season champion Wall Angels.

After splitting the first two games, the Clippers and Angels left the field Friday night still tied 8-8 at the end of nine innings. The contest resumed on Saturday, and in the top of the 10th, Dave Drechsel (Lafayette) led off with a single to left. Jackson's Tim Doherty (St. Francis) followed with a sacrifice bunt advancing Drechsel to second. The next batter, Vinny DiBenedetti (Felician), was hit by a pitch. Jackson's Dan Morvay (Wagner) followed with an infield hit, loading the bases. Middletown's Pat Rogers (Wagner) laid down a successful squeeze bunt to score the ninth run and put the Clippers up 9-8.

In the bottom of the inning, the Angels managed to get a runner to third base but were unable to push him across, securing the victory for the Clippers.

The Clippers had no time to rest on their laurels. The first game in the best-of-three championship round began immediately after, and the Clippers left off where they began the day, claiming a 5-3 win over the Manchester Yankees, the regular season's second-place finishers

Hazlet's Mike Nunes (Montclair State) was 3-for-5 on the day with a triple and two singles and one RBI, while Drechsel had the big blow of the day, driving in two runs in the four-run fifth inning, that sealed the victory for the Clippers. Morvay's single and DiBenedetti's three-bagger also contributed to the offense. Terry Wells (Bentley) was the winning pitcher for the Clippers, and Lincroft's Chris Yamaguchi (Bucknell) recorded the save.

On Sunday, the championship series switched to Monmouth University. Faced with elimination, the Yankees dominated in the first game of the day, scoring an 8-4 win. For the winning Yankees, Adam Taha (Central Connecticut State) was 2-for-4 and Brick's Rob Parks (Villanova) was 2-for-4 with a double, pacing the offense.

Lefty Matt Coulson (Monmouth), of Freehold, pitched nine strong innings, allowing four runs, eight hits and striking out 12 Clippers to earn the win. For the Clippers, Morvay continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-3, including a double and one RBI, and Jackson's Bruce Reibis (Rowan) blasted a two-run homer, but it wasn't enough to overcome the four-run deficit.

In the second and deciding game of the day, the Yankees sprinted out to a three-run lead at the end of the third inning, aided by two errors by the Clippers. The Clippers responded with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning. Reibis led off with a double to left center. A hit batter and a walk loaded the bases for Rogers, who singled, driving in two runs and narrowing the Yankees' lead to 3-2. The score remained unchanged until the top of the seventh. A leadoff walk, a hit batter, and another walk loaded the bases. Consecutive singles by DiBenedetti and Nunes gave the comeback Clippers a 6-3 lead. The Clippers added another run in the top of the eighth on a leadoff double by Drechsel and a run-producing sacrifice fly by Tim Doherty. In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees generated an unearned run aided by a Clipper error and a single by Taha.

Holding a 7-4 lead, the Clippers slammed the door on the Yankees in the ninth, claiming their first ABCCL championship. Matt Singer (Seton Hall) picked up the win for the Clippers, and East Brunswick's Dan Lanzano (Wagner College) earned the save with one and a third innings of shutout relief. Steve Pfeil (Caldwell College) suffered the loss while Billy Ryan (Caldwell) and Taha each went 2-for-3.