This past week was quite momentous for Oratory sports. Within the past few days, the school’s baseball team captured a few big wins, set a new winning record, and completed their journey of going undefeated in the conference. The team remained consistent in their performances, both on offense and defense. There never seemed to be a slump for the Rams, who consistently put up runs on the scoreboard and remained sharp on the mound.

On Friday, May 17, the seniors on the team were honored for their contributions to the athletics program at the school for the past four years. They, along with their parents, were acknowledged during a pregame ceremony, and then the boys then hit the field against Rahway for the last regular season home game of the season. Senior Will Demilt started things off with a bang. He drove a two-run shot over the right-field fence in the first inning for his first home run of the year, giving OP an early 2-0 lead. Senior pitcher Andrew Meisner got the starting nod and threw four scoreless innings, reinforcing his “ace” status on the team. Meisner also had fun in the batter’s box, smacking two hits on the day including a shot to the left-field corner that resulted in a triple. On this special day, a few more seniors added their names to the box score: Jack Sildat and Sean Carey each had an RBI single and the slugging Nick Demarinis got a single and a two-run inside-the-park dinger. In addition, OP’s other pitching star Jack Reilly threw a couple of solid innings and after Rahway scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 6-3, Junior George Castro made his season debut and closed the game for the Rams with two straight outs. Following the game, the baseball team was officially conference champions, and more importantly, undefeated in the UCC-Valley division. This was a first for any athletic program in the school’s history. In addition, the team was 15-5 on the season, one win away from setting a new winning record for an OP baseball team.

A couple of days later, the team competed under the lights at TD Bank Stadium, the home of the Somerset Patriots, against Rutgers Prep for the last regular season game before the state tournament. In the first inning, the Rams got off to a strong start, scoring three in the first inning with RBIs from Joey Del Sol and Jack Greco. Greco also started on the bump and shut down the Argonauts through the first three innings. Sophomore Logan Drone had a solid RBI line drive single to left field in the top of the 4th, while freshman Robert Grasso, in the first varsity start of his career, hit a double to left-center for a couple of RBIs of his own. Rutgers Prep scored one in the bottom of the fourth, and the Rams had a secure lead with a score of 5-1. Following another 3-run inning in the fourth, with runs driven in by seniors Nick Demarinis and Nick Sannito, the Argonauts responded with three runs of their own, making the game 8-4. However, following a clean inning from Jack Greco in the fifth, Demarinis came in on the mound and pumped through two innings to finish the game. In a very exciting, enjoyable atmosphere, the Rams earned a crucial win not just to go into states on a high note, but to set a new school record for the baseball program with 16 wins!

The members of Oratory’s 2019 varsity baseball team got their names written in the school’s history books. This past week, the deserving seniors were honored while the team set a couple new records. The season is not over quite yet, however, as the team will play a home playoff game against Paramus Catholic on Tuesday, looking to finish the year with a run in the state tournament. Vassar College-bound Andy Meisner will get the start on the mound and a win will give the team a quarterfinal game against Delbarton on Thursday.