C.C. Kozak delivers pitch during his complete-game for Whitehouse Post 284 in Fall League semis.
By Sean Reilly
C.C. Kozak has pitched in plenty of big games throughout his young career, whether on the travel level, in American Legion or as a co-ace for the Middlesex High School team which earlier this year won the NJSIAA Group 1 state championship.
Many of those efforts have come at Diamond Nation, and he was on the mound on Field 3 on Wednesday night wearing the red jersey of Whitehouse Post 284, which was facing the OOTP 15U Prospects in the semifinals of the High School Fall League.
The right-hander was stellar as usual by going the distance as Whitehouse, the sixth-seed, beat second-seeded OOTP, 5-2, in eight innings in Flemington.
Kozak allowed seven hits while striking out eight and walking one. He threw 91 pitches, 63 for strikes, in his final outing of a memorable year.
“I was just trying to get ahead of batters and let my defense do the work,” he said. “I was throwing a two-seam, a cutter and a splitter. I love doing that. I don’t get tired, so I can just throw strikes and stay in games.”
With his team backing him with errorless defense, Kozak got a huge boost from his offense in the top of the eighth inning.
Whitehouse Post 284 took full advantage of the extra-inning tiebreaker, in which the frame begins with the bases loaded and one out. By scoring three times in its half, the pitching task became much easier for Kozak in the bottom of the inning.
“We already scored three runs, so I was trying to get a ground ball to get out of the inning,” he said. “It was so much better, because if we didn’t score there, I’d have to pitch for strikeouts in that situation. I could pitch totally differently.”
Not only that, the lead allowed Whitehouse to play its infield at normal depth by having the luxury of being able to concede a run for an out.
Nevertheless, Kozak needed only two pitches to end the game. After the first batter fouled off the first pitch, the next pitch was a grounder to shortstop Matty Dalfonzo, who threw to second baseman Joey Tedesco for a force, followed by Tedesco firing to first baseman Graham Berry for a game-ending double play.
The OOTP Prospects almost pulled off a one-pitch top of the eighth.
Julian Liu was the leadoff batter for Whitehouse and hit a grounder to short. A force at second resulted in one out, but the throw to first pulled the fielder off the base just as Liu arrived.
The outcome allowed Tedesco to score the go-ahead run, and sustain the inning for leadoff man Dalfonzo, who almost cleared the fence in left-center but instead settled for a two-run double on a 1-2 pitch.
The game had been scoreless until Whitehouse took a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
Trey Garutti began the rally with one out by hustling down the line and legging out an infield single to second. With Navio Delgado at the plate, an immediate wild pitch and a passed ball on the next offering sent Garutti to third. Delgado ultimately walked, and Tedesco also drew a base on balls to load the bases.
Luke Schenkel followed with a ground ball that resulted in a force at second base but scored Garutti, and a wild pitch with Dylan Vernick at-bat scored Delgado with the other run.
OOTP Prospects first baseman Nick Yacykewych reaches high to handle throw for an out.
The OOTP Cyclones scored a run in the fifth. Vincent Donofrio led off with a triple to center, and after two strikeouts, Lucas Bolton hit an RBI single to center.
The Cyclones forced extra innings by scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh.
Joe Larosa hit a single to left with one out, and Donofrio walked.
Cody Alicea, who had supplied the walk-off single when OOTP won its quarterfinal contest earlier in the night, had a 1-1 count before hitting a single to right that scored Larosa with the tying run.
Whitehouse Post 284, which gained a 6-1 quarterfinal victory over the OOTP 18U Prospects in the quarterfinals earlier on Wednesday, will face another Cyclones team, the 17U Prospects, for the championship on Thursday night.
Coach Steve Farsiou’s Whitehouse team has dominated the Fall League over the years, but was eliminated prior to the final in 2024.
Kozak was only a sophomore and a Whitehouse newcomer when the team won its most recent Fall League championship in 2023.
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “My sophomore year I was here when we won it, and last year we got kicked out early, so it’s a good feeling to be back.”