When Nutley baseball coach Eric Puzio brought his team together for a talk after the Maroon Raiders’ 6-0 loss at the hands of Seton Hall Prep in the Greater Newark Tournament final, they weren’t greeted with words of disappointment.
Instead, the message was one of excitement over what potentially awaits Nutley in the state tournament after showing it could hold its own against a team ranked No. 2 in the state and a pitcher, Harrison native JJ Drennan, that is a possible selection in the MLB Draft this summer.
“This is such a great test for us,” said Puzio, adding that he was proud about how far this team has grown since going 5-19 two years ago. “I said to these guys in the huddle, this is going to be the best team you see. Now you have an opportunity to bring that experience into the state tournament.”
Puzio also knows for sure after Saturday’s final at Doc Goeltz Field in Verona, that he has a potential ace on the mound in Sean Fealey. The junior struck out 13 Pirates on the day, showing that, despite allowing five earned runs on seven hits and four walks, he has the ability to shut down any lineup Nutley may see moving forward.
“Having a guy rise to the occasion for that type of situation, that type of performance is just commendable,” Puzio said about Fealey, who pitched complete game wins over Millburn and West Essex earlier in the tournament. “He’s the reason why we’re here.”
Seton Hall Prep broke through against Fealey and Nutley in the bottom of the third when Joey Maiella hit a bases-clearing double. An error brought in a fourth Pirates run in the inning.
With Drennan on the mound, such a deficit proved insurmountable for the Raiders. Drennan, who threw a perfect game in the first round and a no-hitter in the semifinals for Seton Hall Prep, struck out 11 over 6.2 innings against Nutley, allowing just two hits and two walks.
“It’s been awesome,” said Drennan, who lowered his season ERA to 0.63. “I just want to go out there and do the best I can every single day. I know my team’s going to go out there and put up runs, so I just have to do my job and throw strikes.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)