Poly Prep nearly had the perfect bounce-back performance two days after an unexpected loss to Dalton.
Blue Devils ace Nick Storz had a perfect game through five innings against Fieldston, but left with tightness in his tricep. He and his team had to settle for a combined no-hitter with Nic Mulitiz in a 7–0 home victory over Fieldston in Ivy League baseball on April 25.
The players spoke after last week’s 9–2 loss to Dalton about getting back on track quickly.
“We got together in the locker room and said, ‘those days happen, but we got to come back strong,’ ” said sophomore centerfielder Pat DeMarco. “We showed it today.”
The hard-throwing Storz did just that on Saturday, breezing through five innings and striking out nine. The best-hit ball was a deep fly out to centerfield by Fieldston pitcher Drew Semler in the first inning. Storz then didn’t feel right leaving the mound with a 5–0 lead in the fifth. He was lifted as a precautionary measure, but he worked out the cramp as the reliever hit the mound for the sixth. By that time, however, Storz knew the game in good hands.
“It’s hard, but I knew Nick Mulitiz was going to come up, and he was going to save the game and everything was going to be great,” Storz said.
Poly Prep, the four-time defending private school state champions, gave Storz plenty of run support in the first inning. The Blue Devils scored four times with help from some fielding miscues by Fieldston (4–5, 3–4). DeMarco and Storz each delivered RBI doubles in the frame.
“That set the tone for the game,” DeMarco said. “We just drove off that.”
Poly (10–2, 8–1) added a run in the fifth and three more in the bottom of the sixth. DeMarco and Daniel Bakst each drove in three runs and Anthony Prado scored twice.
Fieldston’s lone base runner was a walk of Logan Luttway in the top of the seventh. The only other times the Eagles threatened, Storz fanned Harry Fishman on a 3–2 pitch in the fifth and Jack Upton was called out on a close play at first. DeMarco put the exclamation point on day with a sensational diving catch in the left centerfield gap in the seventh.
“He does a lot of everything,” said Poly Prep coach Matt Roventini of DeMarco. “He’s a hell of the hitter. He’s a hell of a defensive player. He’s talented.”
The whole Poly squad has shown its talent as it tries to win a fifth-straight state title. The team hit a bump against Dalton, but got back on track with a big win against city power George Washington on Saturday.
While Poly doesn’t like to lose, the team grew from it.
“I’m not a big fan of losing a game to humble you,” Roventini said. “At the same time, I think some time you revaluate yourself and refocus and I think we did that.”
