DePaul baseball tops rival Passaic Tech to end county-title drought

LITTLE FALLS – The winning run scored, and at last, DePaul could say, "Check".

The top-seeded Spartans walked off with their first Passaic County baseball championship since 2018 thanks to a five-inning, 11-1 victory over No. 2 Passaic Tech in the May 19 final at Yogi Berra Stadium.

Senior J.C. Pacheco (nickname: "Check") scored the run that invoked the mercy rule on Erick Pinales' RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Fellow senior Jason Amalbert was named tournament MVP after collecting a triple, a double, two runs scored and two driven in.

DePaul (18-5) had lost to the Bulldogs in the county final twice in the past three years, so the four-year varsity players on the roster could finally check off the Passaic title from their "to-do" list.

Another four-year starter, Christopher Marano, pitched a complete-game five-hitter with eight strikeouts to improve to 6-0.

Playing in his third consecutive county title game, Rutgers-bound senior Mickey Gilligan scored the lone Passaic Tech (23-2) run on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth. The Bulldogs had won 23 in a row since an opening-day setback to DePaul.

Check back soon for more details and photos.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: DePaul NJ baseball tops rival Passaic Tech to end county-title drought