Xavier Aguilar brings the juice, rallies Lenape baseball past Cherokee

MEDFORD – The Lenape High School baseball team has a saying this season – “If you’re juiceful, you’re useful.”

Senior third baseman Xavier Aguilar didn’t feel very useful last season after tearing his labrum, which limited to just a handful of at-bats as a DH.

“Seeing all the players out there taking (infield/outfield) and I was on the bench, it (stunk),” he said. “It was really hard. In the summer, when I was doing physical therapy, I got back to it. I wanted this season. I really wanted to make my name known.”

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He did Saturday morning as he broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run triple to right-center field in the bottom of the sixth inning as Lenape rallied for a 5-1 triumph over rival Cherokee.

“It really was one of the best moments of my career so far,” Aguilar said. “There was so much energy I didn’t know how to express it. I was straight-faced, but my heart was just beating out of my body. I was so excited.”

Aguilar bats out of the No. 8 hole for Lenape, but only because head coach Mike Wasienko likes his power at the bottom.

He sees a lot of fastballs and knows how to take advantage.

“To have that confidence in our No. 8 guy to put the ball out there like that, that’s a great feeling for a coach,” Wasienko said.

It also helps to know who you’re facing.

Aguilar, a TCNJ recruit, stepped to the plate against reliever Ryan Furman, who he’d seen multiple times as they trained together with the South Jersey Storm.

“I was looking for something middle-away, I got my pitch and took it dead center,” Aguilar said.

It was the big knock in a five-run inning that looked like it would fall apart after Grant Hunter was called out at home on a bang-bang play on a sacrifice bunt.

Some teams would’ve been dejected. Not Lenape.

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“They go game speed every single day at practice,” Wasienko said. “No moment is ever too big for them. It just showed how great this group is. It didn’t let it faze them.”

Aguilar is just happy to be part of the celebration.

“It really puts things into perspective how great this game is when you can’t play it,” he said. “It really gets you thinking wow, I’m missing this game and this season. I was ready to go. I wanted to bring the juice.”

He did.

The rally

Cherokee’s Jeremy Cheeseman tossed five shutout innings as his team took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth, and the Marlton program went to lefty Blake Weinstein to try and close the deal.

However, Lenape opened the frame with a walk and a single, and after Hunter’s out at the plate, another walk loaded the bases for Andrew Shank.

Furman entered at that point and got a grounder to second base, but it was bobbled, allowing the tying run to score. Aguilar then hit the first pitch he saw for a 4-1 advantage, and Zach Barbash roped his second double of the game two batters later for the game’s final run.

For coach

While Aguilar got the team’s coveted MVP chain for his crucial knock, Wasienko was given a game ball after losing his grandmother earlier in the week.

“We know she’s watching and we know by any means she wants to see us win,” senior Chase Topolski said. “He wants to see us win. We won for them.”

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Wasienko was emotional after the contest, noting how big of a baseball fan his grandmother was.

“The boys have been so great,” Wasienko said. “When it happened, they just rallied around. It’s not about me, but it just goes to show how great of a group this is. They just play for each other. It’s awesome. Pitch by pitch, they don’t get too high or too low and their support all week has been awesome.”

Topolski delivers

It wasn’t Topolski’s best outing, but the senior right-hander came up clutch on multiple occasions to earn the victory.

He went 6 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits, 2 walks and a hit-batter and fanned 9.

“Against Cherokee it’s always a battle,” he said. “It’s never not a battle. I know my teammates are by my side no matter what the outcome is. I battle, we all battle.”

Topolski stranded five Cherokee runners on base, four of which were left in scoring position.

“Never. Never. Never once,” Topolski said when asked if he ever felt the nerves kick in. “… If a batter gets on, I’m just like whatever. Let it roll off your shoulder. If the ball gets hit in play, I know my guys are right behind me to back me up. There’s never really a worry.”

What it means

Lenape (6-0) is the only unbeaten team in the Olympic Conference and is tied atop the American Division with Washington Township.

They said it

“I think a lot of people were saying we haven’t faced real teams, but that’s a real good team, Cherokee. We beat them and we’re just trying to go to 7-0.”

– Aguilar on what the victory means to the program.

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“You bring the juice, you bring the electricity, you bring the chirps. You get everything here. Bring all the energy. We like that. We need that.”

– Barbash on what, ‘If you’re juiceful, you’re useful’ means

What’s next

Lenape hosts Paul VI on Tuesday while Cherokee travels to Washington Township on Monday.

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Lenape baseball rallies late past Cherokee thanks to Xavier Aguilar