Mood Swings: Determined, Healthy Wall Baseball Wins Thriller to Go 2-0
JACKSON TWP. — Following a star-crossed season in 2025, the Wall baseball team is ready for a rebound in 2026 and an opening-day rout of Jackson on Monday was a statement to that effect.
If Monday was an announcement that Wall is ready for a better season, Wednesday was an affirmation that the Crimson Knights are also ready for the success that doesn’t come easy.
After downing Jackson via mercy rule on Monday, Wall was down to its final out in the seventh when senior John Catanio hit a go-ahead two-run home run that set off a wild finish that ended with Wall — ranked No. 8 in the Shore Sports Insider Baseball Top 10 — outlasting Jackson, 9-5, in eight innings to win its second straight to open the season.
“I saw (the ball) up and I just swung,” said Catanio, who almost missed first base on his trip around the bases out of excitement. “I couldn’t really tell you what happened after that, because I don’t remember. Emotions were high, my first base coach had to calm me down a little bit.”
Wall senior John Catanio and his Wall teammates react to contact on his go-ahead home run at Jackson. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
“It was great having to battle through this early, get tested and respond back like they did,” Wall coach Jim Rochford said. “We’re going to need this down the road. We were down in the fifth, we were down to our final out in the seventh when John hit the home run. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, they (Jackson) were down to their final strike before they scored to extend the game. We battled through the adversity and found a way to win.”
Catanio’s home run was the biggest swing of the final three innings, but it was only one of three two-out hits from the sixth inning on that either tied the game or changed put a team in front. With Wall down to its last strike, sophomore Chris Knight worked a seven-pitch walk to extend the game and on a 1-1 pitch, Catanio crushed a 1-1 fastball from Jackson senior Caden Rathbauer over the leftfield fence to push Wall back in front, 5-4.
“The first at bat (vs. Rathbauer), I really got a read on the pitcher,” Catanio said. “I saw his slider a lot. He was probably throwing it more than he threw his fastball. I didn’t hit until I got my pitch.”
With Wall down to its last out John Catanio crushes a go-ahead 2-run homer for a 5-4 lead in the top of the 7th. pic.twitter.com/3ME6oWhIYH
— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) April 1, 2026
In Monday’s 10-0 Wall win in six innings, Catanio pitched a one-hit shutout and on Wednesday, he hammered a double in his first plate appearance of the game. Catanio led Wall in innings pitched on the mound and batting average at the plate last season, making him a leader on a team that relied on only one senior, started three freshmen and lost three pitchers due to injury.
“We knew coming in they were a better team than they showed on Monday,” Catanio said of Jackson. “We were ready, took the lead early, we down, 3-2. It’s the first time we have had a deficit all year. We fought through adversity and we came out on top in the end.”
Catanio’s efforts last season could not save his team, which went 9-11 overall and failed to make the NJSIAA Tournament in a loaded Central Jersey Group II section. Through two games, he has both pitched his team to a win and provided a swing that turned a loss into a win, although with more work to be done.
Senior right-hander Dan Hennessy — one of three Wall senior pitchers who missed significant time in 2025 due to injury — recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the seventh, but Jackson stayed alive when senior Aiden Alu hit a ground ball to shortstop that sophomore Jackson Soos bobbled, allowing Alu to reach safely. On the first pitch of the next at bar, sophomore Mike Fogarty ripped a double to the right-centerfield gap that rolled all the way to the fence, allowing Alu to score from first with the tying run.
More clutch hitting with 2 outs. Mike Fogarty smokes a double to chase home the tying run from 1st and Jackson sends the game to the 8th. 5-5. pic.twitter.com/SbW0HfbSBy
— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) April 1, 2026
Fogarty’s game-tying double made the bottom of the seventh the third straight half-inning in which someone hit a two-out, RBI hit to either tie the game or take the lead. In the bottom of the sixth, senior Carney O’Donnell chopped a 1-2 pitch through the middle to plate the tying run and propel Jackson into the lead, 4-3.
In the eighth inning, Wall won the game thanks to Jackson’s pitching losing the strike zone, so much so that catcher Dominic Zolla struggled to keep pitches from skipping to the backstop. The Crimson Knights struck for four runs, the first two of which scored on wild pitches while the third came in on an errant throw by reliever Kyle Johnson when he stepped off to attempt to catch Soos stealing second base with two out and a running on third. The fourth run of the inning scored on an RBI single through the middle by Knight. In the top of the eighth, Wall capitalized on four walks, four wild pitches and an error.
Wall senior Dan Hennessy. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
Hennessy returned to the mound and pitched a one-two-three eighth inning — aided by a diving catch by rightfielder Davis Harr for the first out of the innings — to earn the win in relief of senior left-hander Nick Plevier, who missed all of 2026 while recovering from Tommy John Surgery on his pitching elbow. Hennessy also did not pitch after April 23 of last season due to injury, nor did fellow senior left-hander Christian Suarez. With three key pitchers lost for the season, Catanio, 2025 graduate Dane Rue and Knight and fellow freshman Luke Dana were asked to step up and provide innings.
“It’s great to see them back,” Catanio said. “I’m so happy for them. To come back from Tommy John is a great achievement. They are a really big help in this rotation. We have such a deep rotation that, late in the season, when there are a bunch of games, that’s really going to help us out. I had a big job last year so it just feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders having those guys back healthy. It’s going to make me more efficient when I do pitch, because I’m going to be well-rested.”
Plevier threw 99 pitches in 5 2/3 innings of work in his first high-school game on the mound since the 2024 season. He struck out six and was charged with four earned runs.
“His pitch count got up there and he was relying a lot on his offspeed today,” Rochford said of Plevier. “He is just going to get stronger and stronger. Having these three guys back is just clutch. It makes our pitching so much deeper. We didn’t have that last year. That was a major factor.”
While the ask on the mound was a big one for the freshmen, they were up to almost anything Rochford threw at them and the early returns in 2026 are promising. Soos had a huge game at the plate Wednesday, leading off the game with a home run to right-centerfield and later ripping an RBI double that tied the game, 3-3. Knight also drove in a pair of run, the first of which was a line drive into left that put Wall ahead, 2-0, in the top of the third. Dana went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks Wednesday after he cracked a two-run triple in Monday’s win.
Wall ties it at Jackson in the top of the 5th on another big hit by Jackson Soos. This one is a double to make it 3-3, but Jackson’s Caden Rathbauer gets out of 2nd and 3rd with none out to keep it 3-3. pic.twitter.com/7yT3LvpPr2
— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) April 1, 2026
“It’s unbelievable — doing what they did as freshmen and watching them now as sophomores,” said Catanio, who was an All-Shore player as a pitcher and hitter as a sophomore as well. “I remember as a sophomore. When I first started, I couldn’t do anything. Jackson comes out and hits a first-inning home run in the second game. Knight’s getting big hits for us. It’s special stuff.”
Knight’s RBI single in the third gave Wall its 12th unanswered run vs. Jackson to open the season, but the Jaguars finally provided some loud resistance in the bottom of the third, when senior shortstop Matt Galayda launched a three-run home run for a 3-2 lead. Jackson starter Brandon Wilson pitched into the fifth inning and turned it over the Rathbauer, who faced a jam with Soos on second and none out after his RBI double, then retired the next three batters to escape — the last two of which came via strikeouts.
“I told the guys before the game: expect a different team,” Rochford said of Jackson. “These guys are not going to roll over because you beat them, 10-0. You’re going to see a better Jackson team and we did. It was one bad pitch by Nick and (Galayda) put a good swing on it to go up, 3-2, but we were able to come back and tie it and John came up big.”
Wall sophomore Jackson Soos watches his first inning home run sail toward the right-centerfield fence at the Don Connor Sports Complex.(Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
With a 2-0 start to the season, Wall will try to extend its ideal start by knocking off reigning Class A South division and Shore Conference Tournament champion Brick Memorial.
“We had really high expectations (last year) because we had a really good season the year before, but that was with a lot of seniors,” Catanio said. “It was kind of more on the juniors and the freshmen last year. The seniors this year, we have been playing together our whole life, so this is a big year for us and it feels good to be healthy and get off to a good start.”
“It seemed like nothing went our way last year, losing those pitchers,” Rochford said. “They have been saying, ‘This is our year. We want to work hard and we want to compete.’ It was great to come in, win two against Jackson, especially getting Nick and Danny on the mound. They were happy and they looked good. Now, we just have to take advantage of our opportunity, but it’s not going to be easy. Every day is a battle in A South.”
Box Score
Wall 9, Jackson 5 (8 Innings)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E | |
| Wall (2-0, 2-0) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
| Jackson (0-3, 0-2) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
Pitching
| Wall | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | PC |
| Nick Plevier | 5.2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 99 |
| Dan Hennessy (W, 1-0) | 2.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 37 |
| Jackson | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | PC |
| Brandon Wilson | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 63 |
| Caden Rathbauer (L, 0-1) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 57 |
| Carney O’Donnell | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Kyle Johnson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
Top Hitters
| Wall | Game Stats |
| Jackson Soos | 2-4, 2B, HR, BB, 3 R, 2 RBI, SB |
| John Catanio | 2-5, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI |
| Chris Knight | 2-4, BB, R, 2 RBI |
| Jackson | Game Stats |
| Matt Galayda | 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI |
| Mike Fogarty | 2-4, 2B, RBI |
| Carney O’Donnell | 2-5, R, RBI |
| Dominic Zolla | 1-3, BB |
