Delbarton Baseball punched its ticket back to the Morris County Tournament final with a gritty 3-2 win over Mount Olive in Saturday's semifinal showdown.
Finnian O'Loughlin got the start on the mound, battling through four innings while allowing four hits and two runs, striking out three. All of Mount Olive's damage came in the first inning on an RBI groundout and a wild pitch that gave the Marauders to a quick 2-0 lead.
The Green Wave responded immediately in the bottom half of the first. Matt Tafuri got things started with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a passed ball to cut the deficit in half. Sal Garcia walked, moved to third on a groundout by O'Loughlin, and came home on a Miles Handy single to center to tie the game at 2-2.
Delbarton took the lead for good in the third. Brandon Kim singled, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and was driven in by a line-drive RBI single to left from Tafuri.
Steve Pannullo took the ball in the fifth and was dominant over three no-hit innings to earn the save. Despite issuing five walks, the powerful right-hander struck out six and worked out of a tense seventh-inning jam with two outs and runners on first and second. Lorenzo Maselli sealed the win with a diving tag to end the game in dramatic fashion.
Delbarton will face West Morris in the MCT final on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Montville.
