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9th-seeded Spartans claim sectional title
By Dennis Wilson
Sparta Independent
Sparta entered the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
North Jersey, Section 1, Group III post-season playoffs as the No. 9 seed. On Friday, the Spartans posted a 10-8
victory over SCIL rival High Point, the No. 2 seed, to capture the school's first-ever state sectional crown.
Sparta advanced to the Group III semifinals against North Jersey, Section 2 champion Cranford that was originally
set for the campus of New Jersey City University in Hudson County on Tuesday before rains forced a postponement.
The winner will move on to the Group III final that will be played on Saturday at East Brunswick Tech with the
first pitch set to be thrown at 11:00 AM against the survivor of the game pitting Central Jersey champion Hamilton
West against South Jersey's Toms River South.
Junior Rob Fioretti stole the individual spotlight in sparking the Spartans to the sectional crown. He started
in the outfield and was 3 for 4 at the plate, delivering an RBI single in the second and a two-run triple in the
fourth. A southpaw, Fioretti relieved starter Adam Huron with one out in the fifth and picked up the win to up
his mound mark to 3-2 as he worked 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.
Huron, a righty, started and went 4 1/3 innings, scattering seven hits and allowing all eight runs, only one of
which was earned.
High Point got on the board with three runs in the top of first before the Spartans tallied a pair of runs in the
home half of the inning and pushed four more across the plate in the second to open up a 6-3 lead. The Wildcats
retaliated with two in the third to cut the margin to 6-5 before Sparta moved out to a 8-5 lead in the fourth.
The Wildcats came back with two in the fifth and one in the sixth to knot the score before James Surowiec came
through with the game-winning RBI single in the sixth.
Todd Ryngala had a productive day for the Sparts as he singled and doubled in three official at bats while also
walking and reaching base on an error in the fourth as he scored four times. Chris Lotosky chipped in with a two-bagger
as the Spartan batting order collected 10 hits off Wildcat hurler Herb Hendershot who suffered his first loss of
the season after recording nine straight victories.
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