| VIDEO: Ronchi's hit delivers county baseball title for Randolph | ||
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Luke Ronchi delivered a game-winning hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as Randolph edged Roxbury, 2-1, in the final of the Morris County baseball tournament. With pinch-runner John Petrone on second, Ronchi lined a curveball into right field to plate the winning run. It will be a moment frozen in time in Ronchi's memory, just as the spectators at Horseshoe Lake Park in Roxbury were frozen in the unseasonably cold temperatures for mid-May.
Randolph pitcher Dave Sacco battled through six innings, shutting out the Gaels despite not having his best stuff. Sacco came through time after time with clutch strikeouts, stranding nine Roxbury runners on base, seven of them in scoring position. Andrew Conklin's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth gave Randolph a 1-0 lead, and it appeared that might be enough until Roxbury tied the game in the top of the seventh against a reliever. A bunt hit by Joe Maugeri set the stage for Blake Isakson's RBI groundout. But a leadoff walk by Brian Boulineau got the Rams going in the bottom of the seventh, and Tyler Poulin sacrificed Petrone to second. One batter later, Ronchi came up with the banner-winning hit. It's the first county baseball title for Randolph in six years, and gives the Rams revenge for a loss in the MCT final in 2011 to Roxbury. For sports video highlights of this Morris County baseball final, click play in the box at left. |










