On May 11th, 2024, the Delbarton Green Wave, driven by a collective determination, faced off against Randolph, one of the two teams that had managed to beat them all year. Aidan Dill, Delbarton’s Seton Hall University Commit, took the mound for the Green Wave in the Morris County Tournament semi-final and delivered a masterclass, throwing 5.1 innings of scoreless baseball in just 80 pitches. Delbarton spaced out their offense and scored 1 in the first and another in the fifth. Christian Zebrowski, a Middlebury College Commit, replaced Dill on the mound and threw 1.2 scoreless innings in relief, sealing the victory. This triumph propelled Delbarton into the MCT Final. Their mission was clear: win their fifth MCT Championship in a row.
Just after Delbarton’s semi-final game ended, the Green Wave was alerted of Chatham’s thrilling upset over #1 Morris Knolls. Joe O’Toole took the mound for the Eagles and put up two zeroes to start the game. However, O’Toole surrendered five runs in the third, and Chatham quickly built a 6-1 lead. Wes Maksimow was lights out for the Cougars, allowing only one run over 6.1 innings. The Cougar’s offense was firing on all cylinders as Justin Regno, Kyle Ruddy, Peter Fodero, and Charlie Shumansky all had at least 1 RBI. The Cougars held on to secure the 8-1 victory and geared up to play the intimidating Green Wave.
On Thursday, May 16th, at 7 pm, with Aidan Dill’s first pitch, the Delbarton Green Wave and the Chatham Cougars officially began their matchup. Dill came out of the gate with intensity in inning number one, retiring Chatham 1-2-3.
Chatham pitcher and Pace University Commit Wes Maksimow followed suit and kept the game scoreless. Maksimow escaped a huge jam in the third, and Dill responded by striking out the side in the top of the fourth.
Trent Jenks relieved Maksimow and quickly fell into trouble. Matt Tafuri got aboard and stole second, taking third on the overthrow. Garcia drove Tafuri home with a fly ball that was dropped in left field to give the Green Wave a 1-0 lead.
Aidan Dill finished his outing with a 10-pitch sixth inning. His final line was 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, and 7 strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA to 1.69.
Delbarton added an insurance run in the bottom of the 6th after Miles Handy singled and then scored on a Matt Tafuri base hit to right field.
With three outs remaining, Chrisitan Zebrowski owned the mound for the Green Wave, striking out the side and lowering his season ERA to an astonishing 0.48. With his final strikeout, the Delbarton Green Wave were officially crowned Morris County Tournament Champions for the fifth straight season.
Aidan Dill, with his phenomenal pitching performance, won the MCT MVP award for the third year in a row.
Delbarton improved their record to 22-2 and looks forward to the Non-Public A State Tournament.
Coach Shatel’s win counter between hockey and baseball rose to 913 with the victory. Though 1,000 is in his mind, the opportunity to win the Non-Public A State Tournament is his and the team’s first priority.
