| (Stats and write-up by James Abbott) Summit's season came to a close with an 8-5 loss at Cranford in the Quarterfinal of the State Tournament when another 7th inning Summit rally was thwarted by an outstanding defensive play. Cranford (21-1 on the season) showed why it is the top seed (and ranked #2 in the state) in the bottom of the first inning. It scored five runs on two home runs off Summit starter Eric Kaufman. Sean Guida came in to pitch and quieted Cranford bats, giving up only two unearned runs over the 5 innings he worked.
Summit started its comeback in the 4th inning when singles by Cam Fuoti, Andrew Aguilera, and Kyle Brown loaded the bases and Andrew George delivered a 2 run single. Summit tacked on another run in the 5th when Tanner Fulton doubled over the center fielder's head, advanced to third on a single by Fuoti and scored on a single by Brown.
Entered the 7th trailing 8-3, Summit mounted a rally seeking to extend its season. Guida led off and reached base when he was hit by a blazing fastball. After a strike out recorded Summit's first out of the inning, Aguilera singled to score Guida (who had advanced to 2nd base on a passed ball). A walk to Brown followed by an RBI single by Mike Bredahl made the score 8-5 and brought the tying run to the plate, forcing Cranford to bring in their ace pitcher Ryan Williamson. Summit's 2nd out was recorded when George Georgeadis made a nice play on a hard ground ball hit by George. Leadoff hitter Nick Abbott worked out a walk to load the bases. It appeared that Summit's heroics would continue when Justin Vitti laced a line drive to the right side but Geordeadis made a perfectly time leaping catch to end the game.
The never-say-die Hilltoppers came up just short of a major upset, finishing season with a 21-6 record and a Union County Conference - Valley Division Championship for the program's best season since 1998.
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