Two New Jersey high school baseball teams faced off again Thursday, four weeks after a game between them ended with a lopsided 49-run blowout.
Buena, a defending state champion, defeated Pleasantville 20-2 on Thursday in Atlantic City. Buena had won their last game 52-3.
Buena coach Harry Grose told NJ.com that he was worried about the rematch Thursday.
"I don't want to play the damn game. But it's on the schedule," Grose said. "I'm a little worried, because I don't want what happened last time."
He said he had loaded the roster the last game with a lot of junior varsity players, but his JV players scored 20 runs in the third inning of the first game.
Buena used more than 20 players in the game, but Pleasantville's pitchers gave up about 30 walks.
A 10-run mercy rule for New Jersey high school baseball games doesn't kick in until the fifth inning.
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Pleasantville's coach, Erick McAllister, told the Press of Atlantic City after the first loss that his team never quit and that the Buena players were gracious winners.
"Throughout each inning and run, they never quit," McAllister told the newspaper. "They had the strength of character to continue to fight and do their best regardless of the score.
"I am proud of my boys' reaction to the loss. They were supportive of one another and chalked it up to a learning experience that they all share. They were gentlemen in the loss — as were the players from Buena gentlemen in the win."
