Team of the Year: Baseball

Just as the old saying goes, ‘Save the best for last.’

It appears Pascack Valley’s baseball team has done just that, being the last remaining team still competing for PV, and perhaps the most accomplished.

No other Valley sports team in the 2020-21 school year has reached the finals of the state sectional tournament, albeit with some teams not even having the opportunity to partake in a state sectional tournament, like football and wrestling. The baseball team has reached the North 1, Group 3 state sectional final nonetheless, as PV is set to take on Teaneck on Friday at home, with the winner taking home the state sectional title.

@PV_Indians do it again!!! Down 1 in the 6th and PV pushes across 2 – go on to defeat Roxbury 2-1. Criscuolo finds a hole on the right side to single in the winning run. @PV_Indians advance to the N1G3 Sectional Final!!!

— PV_Baseball (@PV_Indians) June 9, 2021

A state sectional semifinal berth is certainly something to be proud of, but coach Will Lynch believes the team can accomplish even more.

“We still have some things that [the team] wants to accomplish.”

The baseball team suffered the same fate in 2020 as the rest of the spring sports, having the entire season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to an almost entirely new roster for Valley, but the team has not had any problems coming together this season.

“They’re together all the time,” Lynch said. “They have each other’s backs. They’re picking each other up. They like each other.”

Lynch said the team spends time together outside of practices and games, and that the team has “kept the tradition” of going out to eat chicken wings on Wednesday nights.

Even having nearly two dozen people playing together, the team is able to find common ground.

“[We have] 20 different personalities,” Lynch said. “But they have the one thing in common, everyday, [which is] that they come and play baseball together.”

In baseball, teamwork is especially important, with each player needing to do their part every single time the team steps on the field.

“We need 20 kids everyday,” Lynch said. “They have to be there. They have to be part of what we’re doing.”

Not only has the team been able to enjoy their time together, but the success has come in a season in which the team had very few returning players.

“I think there was very little varsity experience at all [prior to this season],” Lynch said. “There were only three kids who had any experience whatsoever, and all of them were part-timers. They weren’t regular everyday players.”

According to Lynch, the only players with any varsity experience prior to this season were seniors Cole Porter and Jared Shiffman, along with junior Charlie Saul. Shiffman has continued to make an impact for Valley this year as a pitcher, while Saul has spent his junior campaign in center field.

Porter has been able to pitch and play the field for Valley, and even reached the New Jersey Senior All-Star Game as a pitcher for the Northeast Region. The New Jersey Senior All-Star Game is composed of four teams for four different regions of the state, with the Northeast Region consisting of the 25 best players from four counties.

Hitting in the leadoff spot for Valley, Porter has been extremely effective with his bat in addition to his success on the mound.

Senior Mason Baronian also reached the New Jersey Senior All Star Game as an infielder, joining Porter and representing Valley at the game on June 15. In his first and only season for PV, Baronian has certainly made his mark on the offensive end as well.

“[Porter] has scored a tremendous amount of runs from the leadoff spot,” Lynch said.“[Baronian] has had a phenomenal year.”

The offense has been Valley’s greatest asset this season, according to Lynch, and the team will look to its bats once again in order to move on in the state sectional tournament.

“When it’s clicking, it’s a very nice lineup,” Lynch said. ‘I wouldn’t want to be a pitcher against them.”

The top five of the lineup specifically has been successful all year, led by Porter, Baronian, and Saul, along with senior Zach Traina and sophomore Zach Novakowski.

The rest of the lineup has been no slouch either, with seniors Anthony Rossomando, Steven Bussanich, and MJ Biener making an impact along with junior Dylan Criscuolo.

In addition to their state sectional tournament run, Valley also made a run in the Bergen County Tournament, eventually falling to Don Bosco Prep in the semifinal.

PV was seeded fourth in the tournament, with three private schools – Don Bosco Prep, Bergen Catholic and St. Joseph’s – seeded first through third.

“The county believed that we were the highest ranked public school, which was a tremendous accomplishment for these kids,” Lynch said.
Although the team reached the semifinal of the county tournament and the state sectional final, Lynch believes the team can make an even bigger mark.

“I’ve been very happy with what [the team has] done so far,” Lynch said. “Our work isn’t done yet.”