Extended Cut: CBA Falls in 11-Inning, 2-Day Epic Championship Game

HAMILTON TWP. — A two-day, 11-inning marathon of an NJSIAA Non-Public A championship game was the perfect opportunity for the Christian Brothers Academy baseball team to showcase the deep, dominant pitching staff that helped the Colts climb to the cusp of their first overall state championship since 2015.

Unfortunately for CBA, Don Bosco Prep had a star of its own and after senior shortstop and New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year Nick Becker started the scoring Wednesday night with a two-run home run, he ended it with his speed when the Non-Public A title game finally concluded Thursday afternoon at Veteran’s Park.

Becker sparked the winning rally in the 11th inning with his legs, scoring the clinching run on a sacrifice fly by senior Nicky Gilpin to cap a 5-4 Don Bosco win and end an 11-inning marathon that spanned two days and was played in four hours and 25 minutes combined between Wednesday and Thursday. The championship is the ninth in program history for Don Bosco, which trails only Gloucester Catholic (22) for the most all-time in the state.

“Our motto all year has been, ‘Whatever it takes,'” Becker said. “We also always talk about playing all 21 outs. It is either ’21 outs’ or ‘whatever it takes’ and this group really did whatever it took.”

The game-winning sac fly by Gilpin to score Becker. https://t.co/fzZQpvET1N pic.twitter.com/yMcoNo4CMM

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) June 12, 2025

The NJSIAA suspended the Non-Public A final at the beginning of the ninth inning Wednesday night because of a Hamilton Township ordinance that requires games to end 30 minutes before the park lights go out at 11 p.m. Although the NJSIAA was granted an extension to 11:30 p.m., it was still not enough time to complete the game on Wednesday night, with CBA and Don Bosco tied, 4-4, through eight innings.

“Once you get to this point, the work is done already. You let the kids go play baseball,” Don Bosco coach Mike Rooney said. “If you establish a culture where your coaches trust your players and the players trust the coaches, you’re ready for whatever the game of baseball throws at you — even something as bizarre as the last 24 hours.”

“We talked all morning and last night about embracing this,” CBA coach Marty Kenney Jr. said. “You get to play in two state championship games. We get to ride the bus together again, we get to put the jersey on again. We didn’t want to look negatively on it. We saw it as another day with our brothers. I thought our approach was great. We just didn’t finish the innings.”

When play resumed on Thursday, both teams brought an improved defense to the field after they combined for nine errors in the first eight innings. That defense, plus the pitching of CBA senior Jack Dufficy and Don Bosco junior Junzen Sarza led to scoreless innings in both the ninth and 10th, which set the stage for Don Bosco to win the game in the bottom of the 11th.

Becker fell behind, 0-2, against Dufficy, who had him set up for his second consecutive strikeout after senior Shane Langan got him to whiff with two runners on in the eighth inning. This time, Becker hit a chopper to the left side that CBA’s defense could not field cleanly and the senior shortstop took advantage by racing all the way to second base to set up an Ironmen threat with none out.

“I kind of knew they weren’t going to throw me much offspeed after my first at-bat,” Becker said. “I just trusted my hands, tried to get my foot down, get the ball on the ground and run and that’s exactly what I did. I was going for two right out of the box. I was going to try to make them make a play and then trust my guys behind me to get me in.”

“He can hit the ball 400 feet and he runs,” Kenney Jr. said of Becker. “He turned that little ground ball into a double. It changes everything. Most of our guys hit that ball, it’s a single. He’s just an athlete. One of his throws across the diamond, I was like, ‘wow.’ There is a reason he is who he is. We just tried to stay away from him and we had success last night and we had success today. We get him to roll over on it, but unfortunately, we didn’t make the play and they capitalized on their opportunity.”

Becker did not hesitate breaking for third on Sarza’s ground ball to CBA shortstop Colin Hoverter, who took the out at first base as Becker pulled into third with one out. Gilpin — who pitched three solid innings of relief on Wednesday night and was on the mound when the game was suspended — then lifted a fly ball to medium centerfield. After securing the second out of the inning, CBA senior Will Fahey unleashed a throw to the plate but Becker had more than enough speed to make it to the plate on a dive, delivering Don Bosco the winning run.

“The best players have to be the best players when their teams need them the most,” Rooney said. “That’s (winning pitcher) Ethan Lee, that’s Nicky Becker, that’s Nicky Gilpin. When your best guys are the best guys on the field and they are also leaders that can elevate players to be a little bit better, that’s how you win championships.”

CBA squandered chances to score in each of the three innings played on Thursday. Hoverter led off the day with a line drive to the left-centerfield gap that rolled all the way to the warning track and pulled into second base with an apparent double. Don Bosco, however, appealed the play at first base and Hoverter was ruled out for failing to touch first base. Instead of a runner on second with none out, Sarza — Don Bosco’s pitcher to start the ninth inning — retired the leadoff batter of the inning with the top of the CBA order coming up. Sarza retired the next two batters on a fly out to rightfield and a ground out to Becker at shortstop.

“Just stay in the moment,” Kenney Jr. said of his message to the team in the unique scenario of re-starting the game in the ninth inning. “When we didn’t score, it was like, ‘Okay, let’s get that leadoff hitter, let’s get three outs and let’s survive until the next inning. The first couple innings, we were able to do that. We just ran out of luck.”

In the top of the 10th, CBA catcher Danny Tsimbinos led off with a walk and Wednesday’ starting pitcher Dylan Iwanyk ripped a single through the left side that pushed courtesy runner Nick Pascucci up to second base.

Senior third baseman Dan Russo attempted to sacrifice to no avail on the first two pitches of his plate appearance, then hit a firm ground ball to second base that Gilpin fielded and flipped to Becker for the clean turn on a 4-6-3 double-play. Sarza then struck out the next batter to shut the door on CBA’s first threat in extra innings.

Despite his team’s missed chances at the plate, Dufficy kept the Colts in the game. The senior right-hander took over in the bottom of the ninth and retired the first five batters he faced. Don Bosco catcher Chase Bagley hit a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th for the Ironmen’s first hit since Becker’s home run in the first, but Dufficy got out of the inning with the help of a sliding catch by junior leftfielder Jayden Matejicka near the leftfield line in foul territory.

“I thought Dufficy threw the ball great,” Kenney Jr. said. “He has done it for us all year and did it for us last year in those big Shore Conference and (Monmouth) County games. He was awesome again. All of our guys were. Three hits in 11 innings. It’s amazing — a team as good as that, we give up three hits. It stings.”

CBA again threatened in the top of the 11th with back-to-back one-out singles by sophomore Alex Fiore and Hoverter — the second of which was a hit-and-run that moved Fiore up to third base to give the Colts runners on the corners with one out. Don Bosco went to the bullpen and junior right-hander Ethan Lee. The Virginia Tech commit walked Fahey to load the bases with one out, then induced another huge 4-6-3 double-play to complete another scoreless inning for the Don Bosco bullpen.

“We have hit into a lot of double-plays lately,” Kenney Jr. said. “I don’t understand it. It’s the way the ball bounces, but it’s unfortunate. I am pretty proud of this group. I just felt like this game was ours.”

After Becker’s home run in the first inning, all seven runs that crossed the plate on Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon were unearned. The teams combined for 10 errors in the game, but Don Bosco did not commit any on Thursday after making six in the first eight innings.

“We’re a better team than yesterday,” Rooney said of his team’s performance during the first eight innings on Wednesday night. “We made some mistakes and some plays that are not really in our DNA, honestly. When you look at the board, we had more errors than we had hits, but I think it means the kids listened to the message of move on from yesterday.”

“I was worried about it being hot and just being sloppy today and it was three really good innings,” Kenney Jr. said. “Somehow, these two teams sucked it up, fought, battled and I thought our guys, especially, game in with great energy.”

Wednesday night’s portion of the game ended with CBA senior right-hander Shane Langan carving through Don Bosco’s lineup over 2 1/3 innings on 43 pitches. Langan entered the game with runners on second and third and two out in the bottom of the sixth inning and fired three fastballs to the glove of  Tsimbinos for an inning-ending strikeout, which kept the score tied, 4-4.

After CBA came up empty against Gilpin in the top of the seventh, Langan struck out the side in order in the bottom of the inning to move the game into extra innings, with the Colts senior punching out the first four batters he faced.

Gilpin countered with a one-two-three inning of his own and Don Bosco mounted a threat against Langan in the bottom of the eighth when Langan hit catcher Chase Bagley and walked leftfielder Mike Hanna on consecutive batters with one out. That brought Becker — a potential day-one selection in July’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft — to the plate with a chance to win the game with a base hit.

Langan, however, was up for the challenge. He got ahead, 0-2, with a pair of elevated fastballs that Becker swung through and on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Langan froze the N.J. Gatorade Player of the Year with a pitch on the lower-outside corner for strike three and the second out. The CBA senior then struck out Sarza to end the threat, the eighth inning and the night of baseball at DeMeo Field.

Langan entered Wednesday with a 0.81 ERA and 39 strikeouts against seven walks in 17 1/3 innings this season — all as a reliever. By rule, he was the only pitcher from Wednesday’s action still eligible to pitch into Thursday, but with 43 pitches already on his ledger, Langan was granted a rest day by Kenney Jr. He finished his senior season with a 0.71 ERA in 19 2/3 innings — all in relief — with just five hits and eight walks allowed. Even more impressively, Langan struck out 45 of the 76 batters he faced on the season for a strikeout percentage of 59 percent.

“We just laugh about it,” Kenney Jr. said of Langan’s dominance — both on Wednesday and throughout his senior season. “He comes in and gets the strikeout right away, but then he gets in a pressure situation with Becker and you’re like (oh, no). He just steps up again. It’s almost comical. I don’t have any words for it. It’s not just the strikeouts; it’s the lack of contact. They just don’t see the ball off of him. It’s not like he is throwing 96. It’s a quick arm action, he spins it pretty will, but it just gets on you and guys have a tough time with it, obviously.”

After falling behind, 2-0, on Becker’s home run off Iwanynk, the Colts scored three runs in the top of the sixth without a hit thanks to three Don Bosco errors. Hoverter turned in the memorable at-bat within CBA’s three-run first when he capped a 10-pitch at-bat with a sacrifice fly that tied the game, 2-2. The Ironmen tied the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth and took the 4-3. lead in the fifth on another error with two out in the inning.

Last night, bottom of the 1st: Nick Becker is on the first-round radar in this year’s MLB Draft and he shows why in the bottom of the 1st. Iwanyk leaves a slider up and Becker blasts a 2-run homer to left for a 2-0 Bosco lead. pic.twitter.com/g5zF6OYlMi

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) June 12, 2025

CBA’s game-tying run in the top of the sixth was also unearned, but it was forced by some inspired base-running by senior Justin Fuerbacher. After senior third baseman Dan Russo chopped a single into leftfield leading off the inning, Fuerbacher was summoned to pinch run and stole second base. He then darted to third on a chopped to the left side, scooting into third just ahead of Becker’s shovel to Sarza on the bag.

That gave junior Jayden Matejicka an infield single and set CBA up with runners on the corners and none out. Gilpin got a key strikeout, but Matejicka stole second base and when the throw from Bagley got away from the bag, Fuerbacher broke for home and scored without a throw, tying the game, 4-4.

Iwanyk and fellow junior Danny DiTullio combined to cover the first 5 2/3 innings prior to Langan’s entry into the game, with Iwanyk going 3 2/3 and DiTullio pitching two before passing the ball to Langan. Don Bosco, meanwhile, went to the bullpen with none out in the top of the second when senior left-hander Anthony Costello exited the game with an apparent injury. The Ironmen went to senior Dylan Henshaw for four innings before Gilpin took over for the next three.

“They were good, but we were prepared,” Becker said of CBA’s staff. “We knew what to expect and we had a good plan. Plus, we had great guys on the mound, too. Like I always say: I’ll take my 27 over anybody else’s.”

The silver lining to CBA’s heart-breaking defeat on Thursday is that it is set to return three imposing starting pitchers in DiTullio, Iwanyk and fellow junior and University of Virginia commit Sean Loggie, as well as five starters — second baseman Dylan Reynholds, Iwanyk, Jayden Matejicka, first baseman Jared Matejicka and Hoverter — in the lineup. That is little consolation, however, for a senior group that ends its decorated two-year run with a tough loss in a valiant effort.

Over the last two seasons, the current group of seniors led the Colts to at least one of every championship available to them, minus the overall Non-Public A title. The Colts won the Class A North division title in each season and in 2024, claimed both the Monmouth County Tournament and Shore Conference Tournament titles. After coming up short in the NJSIAA Tournament to close out 2024, CBA rolled to its first South Jersey Non-Public A championship in 10 years.

“The only thing they didn’t accomplish was winning today,” Kenney Jr. said of his senior group of the past two years. “They have had as good of an experience as you could have had. Last year, we were a little bit of a surprise. This year, we had a target on us. It wasn’t like we stumbled. We got to a final, we got to a semi. We got to another final. They did what they were supposed to do and live up to who they were supposed to be. I told them before the year, ‘We could be a better team this year and not win as many championships. It’s just baseball.’ It went that way a little bit, but it’s been awesome. These two years have been a lot of fun.”

 

Box Score

Don Bosco 5, CBA 4 (11 Innings)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	11	R	H	E
CBA (22-5)	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	8	4
Don Bosco (25-2)	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	5	3	6

Pitching

CBA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	PC
Dylan Iwanyk	3.1	2	3	2	5	4	84
Danny DiTullio	2.1	0	1	0	2	1	47
Shane Langan	2.1	0	0	0	1	6	43
Jack Dufficy (L, 4-2)	2.2	1	1	0	0	1	32

Don Bosco	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	PC
Anthony Costello	1	0	3	0	1	2	33
Dylan Henshaw	4	2	0	0	1	4	60
Nicky Gilpin	3	3	1	0	0	6	58
Junzen Sarza	2.1	3	0	0	1	1	35
Ethan Lee (W, 6-0)	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	15

Top Hitters

CBA	Game Stats
Danny Russo	2-4, BB, R
Jayden Matejicka	1-5, R, SB
Dylan Reynholds	1-3, 2 HBP
Colin Hoverter	1-4, RBI
Dylan Iwanyk	2-5
Alex Fiore	1-3, BB

Don Bosco	Game Stats
Nick Becker	1-4, HR, BB, HBP, 3 R, 2 RBI, SB
Mike Hanna	1-3, BB, R
Chase Bagley	1-4, 2 HBP, RBI