Postseason atmosphere greets Nazareth's Justin Pacchioli in showdown with old friends

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

t looked like a district baseball championship game, for the parking lot overflowed at Nazareth Boro Park, and fans, close to a thousand of them, stuffed into the tiniest recesses along the fence to watch, spread up and down both foul lines, lining the outfield fence, piled up next to the dugouts, their cars parked deep along every side street within walking distance.

It felt like a district baseball championship game with passion and intensity flowing high on the field and off it.

It looked like a district baseball championship game from the neutral fans on hand -- Northampton, Bangor, Pen Argyl, Liberty.

But in reality, when Easton and Nazareth met Friday afternoon, there was nothing much at stake in the standings at all.

So why the championship-style atmosphere?

Two words: Justin Pacchioli.

Pacchioli is a marvelously talented baseball player, one whose every movement shows off confidence and athleticism, has wide range and soft hands in the field and a sweet, smooth swing that produces line drives in bunches.

In the Blue Eagles' 9-3 win Friday, Pacchioli went 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored, three RBIs and a stolen base while adding baserunning and defensive gems, making anybody's journey to watch him play quite worthwhile.

Probably, though, over 90 percent of the rambunctious and noisy crowd didn't come to see Pacchioli play in the sense of wanting to see his swing, or his arm, or his defensive skills.

Probably most came for what Easton coach Carm LaDuca somewhat glumly called "the spectacle."

And what a spectacle it was. Scholastic baseball, even at its best, generally gets played before smallish crowds of a placid, pleasant bent, nothing like the enraged near-mobs that can stuff wrestling gyms or football fields.

There was nothing smallish or remotely placid about Friday's gathering. It may well have been the largest crowd for a regular-season baseball game in Pennsylvania this season. It surely was the loudest.

Most came to praise or bury Pacchioli, he of the midseason transfer from Rover Red to Eagle Blue. Nazareth fans seemed to be cheering Pacchioli's mere existence -- as well they might, as he's a huge part of the Blue Eagles having won 18 of 20 games -- while the Red Rover faithful mocked and booed and chanted at the same boy they cheered and supported during football season.

"He said he was a Rover, he pledged to his teammates, he played for our football team and then goes and comes to another school like this, comes over here, to Nazareth," said 18-year-old Easton senior Ryan Garvey of Forks Township, pronouncing "Nazareth" like a Yankee fan might say "Red Sox".

Garvey, accompanied by many of his friends, had been beating a drum in the sardine-can-like-stands during the game. "I don't go to all the baseball games but I came to this one because of Justin Pacchioli," he said.

A reporter asked the crowd of Rover fans gathered around Garvey if Pacchioli could have picked a worse school to transfer to from their point of view. Answer: no, other than Phillipsburg (and maybe not even then).

"Nazareth's definitely No. 2," said one Easton student.

The Rover fans expressed displeasure at their despised Benedict Arnold with chant after chant: "summer school", "cheater" and loudest of all "traitor." When Pacchioli was thrown out at the plate in the sixth inning, Easton's fans reveled in the moment and celebrated like they'd won, well, a district championship.

The suspicion is the language might have gotten coarser and more direct had not security been tight, a terrific and smart call by Nazareth officials.

"They were pretty strict with us and a lot of Easton kids got thrown out," Garvey said.

Another great call was made by Blue Eagle coach John Lock in starting Pacchioli in left field and not at his usual spot at catcher, where he'd have been 20 feet in front on the stands, a (literally) sitting-duck target for the Easton fury.

"Justin had caught three games in a row and he has a little injury and we need to keep him healthy," Lock said. "And it didn't hurt to keep him away from all of the fuss."

Such a sensible decision helped keep matters at a low simmer most of the time and made it easier for Pacchioli to focus on the game.

"Honestly, it wasn't hard to focus on just playing today," Pacchioli said. "Easton-Nazareth is a rivalry game. My teammates pick me up when I make a mistake and we're like one big family."

The Blue Eagles delight in having Pacchioli in their family. Nazareth 15-year-old freshman John Nemeth showed his appreciation for Pacchioli and Blue Eagle pitching ace Karl Keglovits by having their names painted in bold blue and white on his chest by his friend, 16-year-old sophomore Christian Campanelli.

"I'm friends with Justin, everybody at Nazareth is already friends with Justin," he said. "Everybody here is happy he's here. Of course, Easton is mad."

Of course -- and Friday's game made the Rovers even angrier as Pacchioli popped up everywhere to continually deny Easton. In the fourth, he singled, forced two balks from flustered Rover pitcher Nick Beinlich with aggressive moves and scored on a sacrifice fly.

When playing third base later in the game, Pacchioli made a fine play to snare a line drive, showboated/celebrated (depending on whether you wore red or blue) just a tiny bit on the catch, and was greeted by an Easton adult fan bellowing "Hot dog! Put some mustard on that hot dog!"

And who made the last putout of the game? Yep, third base unassisted.

Pacchioli loudly cheered his teammates on, was the first in line to congratulate Blue Eagles who'd scored and played all afternoon with delight and joy evident in every step. He did not exactly make himself invisible -- quite the opposite -- which enraged the Rover fans more. If, at the very end there was a short but sharp exchange during the post-game handshake, it was a) nothing major, b) almost unavoidable and c) could have been a lot worse.

"They're still 17, 18-year-old kids," Lock said. "They all get caught up in the same things but Justin is a level-headed kid and was smart enough today to stay away from negative behaviors."

LaDuca wistfully said after the game he wished fans would come out in such numbers to watch high school baseball even without a sideshow but outside of Boyertown, that seems unlikely, unfortunately.

But if Easton and Nazareth were to meet again in the District 11 playoffs or, somehow, the D-11 final, it wouldn't look like a district championship at all.

It'd be a heck of a lot bigger. Coca-Cola Park, anyone?

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/brad-wilson/index.ssf/2011/05/post_5.html