EDISON NJ– On Friday, May 22nd, Piscataway Chiefs Baseball closed out a long season with a Championship title. It is the program’s first title in 23 years with the last one being in 2003. The tournament they had won was the Ray Cipperly’s GMC Invitational.
The Chiefs triumphed over the Dunellen Destroyers with a 3-0 win on Edison High School’s field. The Chiefs were able to win the game with the helping hands of Patrick Novak, Sumedh Shingala, and Jared Butler. But the true MVP of this game was in PIscataway’s senior shortstop, Dominick Summonte.
Summonte led the way and went 2/3 hitting with an RBI triple and a stolen base. Here’s what he had to say about winning the championship:
“I feel amazing. Last night, I was dreaming about this,” Summonte said. “I was preparing myself all day. Went home [from school] early, took a two hour nap, I knew it had to be done. And honestly, I had probably the best game of my life. I was a leader today. I took care of all my teammates in and out through the innings, and we just got it done.”
This is Piscataway head coach Rob Stoddard’s first title in his 6 years with the program. Here is how he felt about winning the championship:
“It feels great,” Stoddard said. “Born and raised in Piscataway, playing for this team and have been trying to bring a championship for my whole career. It’s nice to finally bring one home, especially as a coach, but it takes a group of players to bring it home. So it really is amazing to see it come full circle.”
On the field, Summonte was excellent in the infield with three clutch diving catches that led to outs. Here’s what he had to say about what was going through his mind on those plays:
“It was back to back to back so I already had adrenaline running,” Summonte said “I had to put my body on the line for this championship… I put my body out and it turned out in my favor.”
Summonte had a performance that everyone can be proud of. Piscataway head coach Rob Stoddard was very proud of Summonte on what was arguably the best game of his high school career.
“Dom hitting that [triple], he’s got a little spark in him especially as a senior. He knows these numbers are counted so he’s putting everything into it.”
Coach Stoddard was very proud of the team overall, saying “this is the most complete game I’ve ever seen them play mentally, physically… The errors were zero, and we just kept hitting the ball.”
Piscataway Baseball fans were very ecstatic about the victory. Here are some notable quotes from some students:
When Sean Love was asked about how he felt watching: “Honestly, just dumbfounded. I was just like man, these are the greatest players I’ve ever seen,” Love said. “The way Dominick Summonte was playing, he’s like prime Babe Ruth out there.”
“Best game he’s ever played,” his brother, Talon Summonte said.
Piscataway Baseball ended a season with something that they will be able to celebrate for a while. As they move on to next year, they will be reigning champions.
