Delbarton baseball topples Randolph to earn third straight Morris County Tournament title

MONTVILLE — Aiden Dill was on the bottom of a pile. After Dill induced a groundout to end the Morris County Tournament baseball final, his Delbarton teammates streamed from all corners of the field and the dugout.

The Green Wave toppled Randolph, 5-0, to earn its third straight MCT title. Spraying water bottles in the air, they dashed to the pitcher's mound and leaped on each other.

It was a sight not even Dill had visualized.

A sophomore lefty, Dill had learned he'd be starting the MCT final two days after No. 1 seed Delbarton advanced.

His reply? "I'm ready to go."

Dill allowed just two hits and one walk, striking out nine, and was named the MCT Most Valuable Player. Delbarton coach Bruce Shatel dubbed him "a rock star," throwing his changeup at any point in the count.

"I slow my heart rate down, breathe, take my time out there," Dill said. "I think positive thoughts between each pitch, and block out the crowd. ... I was visualizing this, the best time ever. This is all I wanted to do."

The Green Wave has now won eight championships since the tournament was launched in 1968, and four of the last five. They are one of three teams – with Morristown (1975-77) and Roxbury (1996-98) – to three-peat.

Randolph fell to Delbarton, 6-5, in the 2017 MCT final. The Rams have not won since 2013.

Baseball:2022 Morris County Tournament scores, schedule

"We knew it was going to be tough," Rams coach Mark Rizzi said. "I thought we had to get ahead early in the game. We knew who we were facing. We knew we didn't have a chance late."

First baseman Matia Clement's second-inning fly to centerfield, and left fielder Jonah Tullman's fielder's choice in the seventh were 11th-seeded Randolph's two hits.

Right fielder Marco Maselli got Delbarton going with a first-pitch home run to left with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Green Wave scored three runs in that inning on two hits, two walks and a Rams error. They added two more on a fielding error with two out in the fifth.

This was Delbarton's second victory over the NJAC-American rival this year. The Green Wave had also won, 9-1, on April 21. These teams are slated to play another regular-season game Tuesday.

With only three seniors, this was an extremely young Delbarton squad. A half-dozen players had been part of the MCT title last fall, a 1-0 defeat of Roxbury. None were on the field when Delbarton held off West Morris, 2-1, in the 2019 MCT final.

"When you come here, you know it's going to be a good game. You know it's going to be tight," said shortstop Connor Dreyer of Chatham, who had two walks and an RBI. 

"We're a really young team, but we have a lot of talent. We rely on the younger guys. The older guys try and do our best. It's awesome."

Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.

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