Pennsauken's Ranfys Bonilla tallied seven strikeouts and allowed only one run in 6.2 innings pitched as Pennsauken defeated Burlington Township, 4-1, at Rutgers University-Camden in Camden, New Jersey on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Chris Baker/D2 Sports Network
CAMDEN - Pennsauken High School senior Ranfys Bonilla will play college baseball at Rutgers-Camden.
Bonilla had the opportunity to play on the field of his future team and capitalized as the Indians followed up a 10-inning victory over Washington Township with a 4-1 triumph over Burlington Township under the lights last Saturday.
Bonilla hurled 6.2 innings allowing a single run while striking out seven batters and letting up only four hits. At the plate, the senior went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and a run batted in.
"My slider was really on point today," Bonilla said. "Before the game, I showed my coaches a new grip I was working with, and they told me to just let it fly today."
Pennsauken went down 1-0 in the first inning and responded.
Jordan Barclay drove in the lone run for the Falcons. Burlington Township ran itself out of scoring opportunities throughout the course of the game.
The Indians used a pair of walks and a double to load the bases and set up their first run. Adrian Capellan drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning.
Two innings later, Pennsauken seized the lead and never looked back.
A combination of walks, errors and a single from Bonilla added three extra runs for the Indians. Pennsauken used small ball tactics and took advantage of fielding mishaps to push runs across the plate.
With the Falcons on the ropes and Bonilla nearing the pitch count limit in the top of the seventh inning, Pennsauken coach Rolando Gautier made the call to the bullpen. Iverson Vargas took the mound for the last out and completed his job with only five pitches. Vargas induced a routine groundball to second base to seal the victory.
The Indians capped the regular season with back-to-back wins against quality opponents. It was Gautier's idea to give his players a test before the playoffs.
"Today showed that we can hang with a lot of teams," Gautier said. "I wanted to give these guys challenges before the playoffs started and they've responded well whether they win or lose."
Mistakes on the base paths and in the field prevented Burlington Township from grabbing a win. The Falcons dropped their record to 12-6 and are projected to be the No. 10 seed in the Central Jersey Group 3 playoffs.
"There is hardly anything positive to pull out of today's loss," Burlington Township coach Steve Hovart said. "I think it was our sloppiest game of the season. We didn't execute much of anything today with the bats or with our gloves so that will be our focus point before playoffs."
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