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Pitching carries Haddonfield, Shawnee to Diamond Classic finals

Dylan Heine and Aidan Barr led the way for eighth-seeded Haddonfield, which beat top-seeded Cherry Hill West and fifth-seeded Eastern.

Haddonfield junior pitcher Aidan Barr, who struck out the side in the last inning, is surrounded by celebrating teammates after Haddonfield beat Eastern in the Diamond Classic semifinals.
Haddonfield junior pitcher Aidan Barr, who struck out the side in the last inning, is surrounded by celebrating teammates after Haddonfield beat Eastern in the Diamond Classic semifinals.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

When Aidan Barr struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure Haddonfield’s 8-5 win over Eastern in the semifinals of the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic, the first teammate to greet him in celebration was Dylan Heine.

That was fitting.

Heine set the tone in the first game and Barr closed the door in the nightcap as Haddonfield, the No. 8 seed, knocked off a pair of higher seeds on Saturday to advance to the tournament’s title game for the first time since 1984.

Haddonfield (16-2) will meet sixth-seeded Shawnee (16-5) in the championship game Wednesday night at Eastern.

Earlier, Haddonfield stunned top-seeded Cherry Hill West 7-0 in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning as Heine, a senior right-hander and Rider recruit, pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts.

“He was unbelievable,” Haddonfield catcher Chris Mariani said of Heine’s performance.

Barr, a junior right-hander, earned the victory over fifth-seeded Eastern by pitching the final three innings, allowing one run on two hits. He retired seven of the final eight batters and finished with a flourish with three strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh.

“Both guys (Barr and Game 2 starter Jakob Slimbock, who went four innings) just battled,” Haddonfield coach Bob Bickel said.

Of Heine, Bickel said, “I told him, ‘If you’re not all-state, somebody’s robbing you.’”

Mariani, Heine, Steve DiTomaso and Alex Kadar rapped RBI hits in a five-run second inning for Haddonfield against Cherry Hill West.

DiTomaso generated a pair of triples, drove in two runs and scored two runs and Mariani broke a 5-5 tie with an RBI single in the top of the seventh of the victory over Eastern.

In the quarterfinals, Eastern beat fourth-seeded Gloucester Catholic 4-1 behind junior right-hander Sam Portnoy, who threw a three-hitter.

Portnoy struck out four and retired 13 of the final 14.

Shawnee beat third-seeded St. Augustine 4-3 in eight innings in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Bishop Eustace 3-1 in the semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, Connor Coolahan drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth inning to force home the eventual winning run. Dylan Parker struck out five in two innings of hitless, scoreless relief to earn the victory.

In the semifinals, Jake Carvin earned the victory and Parker picked up the save for the Renegades.

Joey Moore delivered an RBI double for Shawnee.

Diamond Classic

Semifinals

Haddonfield 101 300 3 – 8 12 1

Eastern 020 021 0 – 5 6 0

WP: Aidan Barr. LP:Ryne Kremer.

2B: H-Alex Kadar. E-Cole Regn, Dylan Stezzi.

3B: H-Steve DiTomaso, 2.

Shawnee 010 100 1 – 3 5 1

Bishop Eustace 000 100 0 – 1 4 1

WP: Jake Carvin. LP: Tyler Griswold.

2B: S-Joey Moore.

Quarterfinals

Eastern 030 000 1 – 4 3 2

Gloucester Catholic 001 000 0 – 1 3 2

WP: Sam Portnoy. LP: Luke Lesch.

Haddonfield 151 000 0 – 7 7 2

Cherry Hill West 000 000 0 – 0 3 3

WP: Dylan Heine. LP: Brian Robertson.

2B: H-Steve DiTomasso.

Triton 000 000 0 – 0 4 0

Bishop Eustace 402 13 – 10 13 0

WP: Matt Orlando. LP: Colin Taylor.

2B: BE-Joe Mascio.

3B: BE-Charlie Sanzio.

HR: BE-Johnny Piacentino.

Shawnee 000 110 11 – 4 7 0

St. Augustine 010 002 00 – 3 7 1

WP: Dylan Parker. LP: Kenny Levari.

2B: SH-Dom Frigiola, Nate Liedtka, Joe Dalsey. SA-Cole Vanderslice, Kenny Levani.