Huskies Survive First Round Scare, Advance Over Roosevelt

Michael Jacobson placed a perfectly executed squeeze bunt down the first base line in the fifth inning of Thursday's first round playoff game against Roosevelt, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs and washing away half a game of missed opportunities as Harrison recovered from a slow start to beat the Indians 10-4 at Harrison High School.

To that point it looked like last year's Section I runner-ups were on their way to a season-ending loss the the lowest seeded team left in the tournament. Led by a three-hit game from centerfielder Jose Diaz and a strong pitching performance by Osvaldo Morales, the Indians held a 3-1 lead entering the fifth inning, when the Huskies eventually blew the game open.

Diaz belted a solo home run off of Harrison starter Brian Lobel on the first pitch of the game. After the Huskies scrapped together a run in the bottom of the first, Roosevelt added two more in the top of the third with another Diaz single and a Johan Rojas double to jump ahead 3-1.

"We can compete with anybody when we play our game, Harrison is the best team we've played all year," said Roosevelt Coach Ian Fairclough. "They made big plays and they stayed in it, I've got to give it to them."

Morales kept the Huskies off balance for the first half of the game, walking only two batters in five innings of work. Ten of his 15 outs were recorded via the fly ball, as Morales frustrated the Harrison lineup in what would be the senior's final game for Roosevelt.

"He has really good control, nice kid," said Fairclough. "That was one of the best games he's pitched."

Harrison, meanwhile, stayed in the game behind a strong pitching performance from Lobel, who didn't walk a batter in a complete game victory. After running into trouble in the first and third innings the pitcher settled down in the middle innings, holding Roosevelt scoreless in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

"I give him a lot of credit," said Harrison Coach Marco DiRuocco. "When it counted he just battled—he never gave up, he could have went in the tank early but he just kept fighting."

After a missed opportunity in the fourth inning were the Huskies had runners on first and third with one out but failed to score, Harrison finally broke through in the fifth. Back-to-back singles by Max Bruckner and Peter Viscogliosi set the table for Harrison. After a groundout and an error on a pick-off attempt, Austin Pollack singled to set up Harrison with runners on second and third and one out in a one-run game.

With both runners in motion Jacobson dropped the squeeze bunt that probably saved the game for Harrison. Both runners scored, giving Harrison a 4-3 lead, and Jacobson reached first safely. A double by Michael Chiarella added another run in the frame as Harrison jumped ahead 5-3.

"We've gone over it all year long," DiRuocco said of the key double-squeeze play. "We executed it to perfection and it was a great play. Michael Jacobson did a great job with it, that was clutch."

With Harrison leading by two, Lobel retired the first two batters in the sixth and Harrison catcher Alex Becket threw out Morales on a stolen base attempt one pitch after he was hit with a foul ball to quickly end the inning. The Huskies plated five runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by a Viscogliosi two-run home run, to put the game out of reach.

"It's a crazy game, that's why we love it," said DiRuocco. "The ups and downs we go through in the regular season are only going to make us stronger and it proved to be so. We got in a jam and we ended up breaking out of it because these guys worked so hard and never gave up."

Harrison advances to take on John F. Kennedy High School on Friday afternoon in a second round matchup. The Huskies will send Bruckner, the teams number one starter, to the mound against the highly-seeded Gaels.