'I thought it was a great idea,'' Johnson said. Johnson made the decision to move Halvorsen to left after assistant coach Brian Blood suggested it. Halvorsen began the game in right field, but was moved to left when Biello was summoned to pitch. A throwing error then enabled Mike Contiliano to reach second. Hunterdon Central had pulled within 9-8 on a homer to left by leadoff batter Christian Petino with one out in the seventh. It was a good hit, but I had to get there.'' 'I've been playing outfield my whole life,'' Halvorsen said. Halvorsen played a key role in saving the game for Howell with a sliding catch of Logan Mason's line drive toward the left field line with one out in the bottom of the seventh. 'We know when he comes in, he's throwing strikes.'' He's a solid pitcher,'' said Howell junior outfielder and leadoff batter Russell Halvorsen, who put his team ahead for good with a two-run single in the fifth. 'I was just trying to keep them off-balanced, work down,'' Biello said.

He recorded two strikeouts and got a ground out to second after a leadoff walk in the sixth.

'But, that's baseball, anything can happen.''īiello got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by getting clean-up batter Chase Fischer to ground out to first. 'I knew I was an option, but I didn't think it was going to get to me,'' said Biello, who started the game in left field and had not pitched in a high school game since May 27. Then, it was Aiden Bauer for one inning before senior left-hander Ryan Biello pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to pick up the save for Bauer, who recorded his first win of the season. Jason Pace, who picked up the save against East Brunswick and the win with two perfect innings against Cherokee, followed and pitched a third of an inning. Nick Barracato, who pitched seven outstanding innings against Cherokee after Furlong was injured. Howell needed almost every available arm it had to put the seven innings together. They brought us to this point, They made us want to win these games (the last two games) for them. 'Seeing them in the dugout was awesome with everything they've gone through,'' Strauch said. 'They are our guys. 'Being the underdogs takes the pressure off us, and we get to prove people wrong.''įurlong and Gomes, who were a combined 4-0 in the state tournament, were in the dugout cheering their teammates on. 'We love being the underdogs,'' Strauch said.

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