Haddon Heights senior John DiCostanzo had nine strikeouts in earning the win over Rumson-Fair Haven (Marc Narducci | For NJ Advance Media)

Haddon Heights left-hander John DiCostanzo admitted he was gassed, and for good reason on what became a history-making day for his high school baseball program.

On an extremely humid day, DiCostanzo pitched six highly effective innings to earn the win as host Haddon Heights defeated Rumson-Fair Haven, 4-2, in a South/Central Group 2 state semifinal.

The South champion, Haddon Heights (22-7) earned the first baseball state championship appearance in school history. It will face North champion Ramsey at 7 p.m. Saturday at Veterans Park in Hamilton (Mercer County).

DiCostanzo threw 96 pitches and struck out nine in the six innings.

“I didn’t think I had much left after the sixth inning,” he said.

Fortunately, closer Tim Shell had plenty in the tank.

Leading 4-2 after six, Shell hit the first batter he faced in the top of the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate. The senior right-hander, a Rosemont commit, then got a strikeout, fielder’s choice and a final pop-out to second base for the final out.

State Group 2 semifinal FINAL Rumson 2 Haddon Heights 4 Here is the last out of the game pic.twitter.com/tb7uX4Hqq2

“After (the hit batter) I thought one pitch is one pitch and just forget about it,” Shell said. “I just had to dial in on the next batter.”

He had a lot of success with his slider and it paid off. Being on the mound to record the final out just added to the thrill of reaching the state final.

“I have been looking forward to this since my freshman year,” Shell said. “I love being put in that situation, but our starter pitched an absolute gem.”

He sure did, even though DiCostanzo didn’t pitch in a conventional way.

“I was definitely working backwards a lot, throwing the curveball for strikes,” said DiCostanzo, a College of New Jersey commit. “I got a lot of at-bats where I could go 0-1 with the curveball, so that was really working for me.”

DiCostanzo was his command of all of his pitches. He didn’t walk a single batter.

“I like to attack hitters, not let them get on free, make them earn it,” he said.

Rumson (22-5), No. 13 in the NJ.com Top 20, took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when shortstop Charlie Tallman crushed a two-run home run to center field. Tallman had hit the game-winning two-run single in the bottom of the seventh of Rumson’s 4-3 Central Jersey title clincher over Wall.

Rumson-Fair Haven's Charlie Tallman gets ready to be greeted by his teammates at home after a two-run home run in the third inning. (Marc Narducci | For NJ Advance Media)

“It was a curveball down in the the zone about knee-high and it was a good swing on his part,” DiCostanzo said. “I tip my cap to him because I thought it was a good pitch, but it was even a better swing.”

Haddon Heights answered with four runs in the bottom of the third. The Garnets tied the score on a two-run double to right field by Drew Costello. A right-handed batter, Costello took an outside pitch from hard-throwing right-hander John Goodes the other way and the ball just landed in fair territory.

“He was painting the outside corner, so I waited on the pitch and it was just barely fair,” Costello said.

Haddon Heights’ next batter, Jack Turner, then broke the tie with a two-run single to right field. Like Costello, he is a right-handed batter who took the pitch the other way and it just dropped in for a hit. Right fielder Liam Murphy made a diving attempt, but just missed catching the ball.

“It was an outside fastball at the knees and he (Murphy) made a great attempt at it,” Turner said. “Sometimes you get lucky with stuff, but it did feel good when I hit it and I am happy it dropped in.”

It was great situational hitting by the Garnets, taking two outside pitches the other way.

“It’s something we work on all the time, hitting the ball the other way,” Haddon Heights coach Eric Newell said.

That ended the scoring for the day.

Despite the loss, Goodes, who entered with a 1.18 ERA, pitched a strong game, striking out eight.

“There were a couple of bad-barrel hits that found some holes, the first one was probably three feet away that landed just inside the line to get the first two runs and then the second one, he just short-hops to right field,” Rumson coach Owen Stewart said. “So pitching-wise and defensive-wise, I have no complaints.”

Stewart was hoping to see a more consistent offensive effort.

“We got a little outside of our usual approaches in hitting, but their pitcher did a great job,” Stewart said. “He was a tough pitcher, mixing speeds and he was really deceptive.”

And now DiCostanzo is headed to the state championship. It’s been some spring for Haddon Heights. Last week the softball team won the Tournament of Champions title and now the baseball team is playing for the school’s first state title.

John DiCostanzo pitched 6 innings to get the win in Haddon Heights’ 4-2 Group 2 state semifinal victory over Rumson. The Garnets earned their first baseball state title appearance in school history.@HHGarnets pic.twitter.com/Kd6LFyivIM

“It feels great, I got to see a lot of guys who played in the past,” DiCostanzo said “It is a program win. They have been supporting us, really rooting for us and it feels great to be the first team to do it, but it is really a program win and everybody in the program is going to be happy.”

Of course, as expected, the Garnets aren’t just satisfied go make their first state title appearance.

“It’s pretty cool to be in this position,” Newell said. “Hopefully we can bring it home.”

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