STAFF REPORT

    TOMS RIVER -- Christian Brothers Academy looked perfection in the face for the better part of six innings and never blinked.
    It raced out to an early lead, sending mighty Don Bosco Prep back on its heels. And, when its unbeaten opponent made a move and gained its first lead, CBA didn’t flinch, countering with two runs of its own to forge a tie. The Colts were making all the right moves, even sniffing out a potential suicide squeeze Don Bosco was prepared to execute in the bottom of the sixth.
    But, what CBA learned was that in order to interrupt perfection you must be flawless.
    With one out and runners on the corners, an errant pickoff attempt at first base resulted in the ball getting loose down the right-field line, allowing Mike O’Keefe to dash home from third with the go-ahead run. When senior left-hander Eric Pfisterer worked out of a tight jam in the top of the seventh, stranding CBA runners at second and third, he’d put the finishing touch on both an undefeated season and the Colts with a dramatic 5-4 victory in the NJSIAA Non-Public A state championship at Toms River North.
    "When you play a team like this, you have to play near perfect," CBA coach Marty Kenney said. "We had some opportunities offensively with the bases loaded (in the third and fifth innings) and then in the last inning. It’s the mental and physical mistakes in a game like this that can kill you."
    Kenney was quick to make sure what was accomplished wasn’t lost in the final score.
    "I am happy with the way the year has been," he said. "This team has been one that has far overachieved. If you saw us play in March, you’d never thought we’d be here. I told them the last couple of weeks they’ve come a long way and that we can compete with some pretty good teams."
    Dan Avella sent a resounding message that Christian Brothers Academy wasn’t about to bow to the highly-regarded Ironmen, who defeated the Colts, 7-0, back in late April at the Shore Challenge. With two outs in the top of the first, the junior first baseman jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Mike Dennhardt, a 17th-round pick of the Seattle Mariners in this week’s Major League Baseball draft, and unloaded a solo blast over the right-center field wall to light an early spark.
    "He just got drafted and everyone was saying how good he was," said Avella, who went 3-for-3, of Dennhardt. "When I hit the home run, everyone was pumped.’’
    When Zach Tanenbaum, who reached on a walk, raced home on a wild pitch in the top of the second to make it 2-0, CBA's confidence only grew.
    However, Don Bosco isn’t an unfathomable 33-0 without reason. Ben Luderer blooped a run-scoring single to right in the bottom of the second to pare the deficit in half and when CBA loaded the bases with one out on a double by Anthony Cirillo and a pair of walks, Dennhardt recovered with a strikeout and ground ball to elude trouble.
    Another boost for the Colts was having its ace on the hill. Junior Pat Light, who did not pitch in the first encounter, effectively neutralized a Don Bosco lineup that boasted a .449 team batting average by limiting it one run on two hits over the first three innings but was introduced to how quickly it can heat up in the fourth.
    Bryan Struk delivered an RBI single and scored one batter later when designated hitter Chris Picyk doubled into the right-center field gap. When No. 9 hitter Sam Cerbo singled to drive in Picyk, Don Bosco assumed a 4-2 lead.
    Yet, CBA was not done. Shawn Purves and Avella each singled with one out and a throwing error on Pfisterer, a 15th-round selection in the draft by the Cincinnati Reds who relieved Dennhardt in the fourth, allowed Ricky Berger, who was running for Purves, to score. Senior Steve McSherry followed with a run-scoring single to knot the game.
    "Everyone probably thought they were going to pull away," McSherry said. "But we stayed in the game and were never out of it. We had every shot to win the game.’’
    Instead, it was Don Bosco which capitalized on its chance. Mike Rossi relieved Light, who struck out two, walked three and gave up four runs on six hits over four innings, and worked an event-less fifth. But with one out, consecutive singles by Luderer and Picyk put runners on the corners, setting the stage for the miscue on the attempted pickoff.
    "We were loose and ready to go," McSherry said. "Dan hits a home run in the first…it doesn’t get better than that. We kept our heads high. They just scraped out another run.  It was a good season. No one expected this.’’

Box Score
Don Bosco Prep 5, Christian Brothers Academy 4

Christian Brothers Academy (20-9) 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 – 4 7 2
Don Bosco Prep (33-0)                     0 1 0 3 0 1 x – 5 9 2

WP: Eric Pfisterer (10-0)
LP: Mike Rossi (1-1)

Doubles: (CBA) Cirillo, Himmelman. (DBP) Proscia 2, Picyk.
Home Runs: (CBA) Avella.