Jase Deiter sparks another playoff push, leads Rancocas Valley baseball to quarterfinals

EASTAMPTON TWP. – It was the first drive of the Rancocas Valley High School football team’s first playoff game in four years.

Jase Deiter had sparked the team to three straight victories after taking over at quarterback to get the Red Devils into the postseason, but the magical run came to a disastrous halt when he got rolled up on, spraining his Lisfranc and tearing a ligament in his big toe in his right foot.

“I thought I was done the rest of the year,” said Deiter, who also wrestled and played baseball in Mount Holly.

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Somehow, Deiter got healthy enough to wrestle in the District 26 tournament, where he finished in second place at 157 pounds on one leg.

He had to have another surgery following the event though, denying him a chance at regions and states. He figured the spring was out of the question too.

Then he went to the doctor a month later and was given the green light.

“I just took it and ran,” he said.

Now, Deiter has ignited another Red Devil surge, this time on the diamond. He’s been a catalyst for the offense the past two weeks, and was again Monday, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored as fifth-seeded Rancocas Valley downed 12th-seeded Washington Township 11-1 in six innings in the opening round of the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs.

“He’s a throwback,” head coach Dan Haverstick said. “He’s just going to get his uniform dirty. He’s going to give you everything he’s got. He takes everything personal. … He’s the kid on the field that’s going to hold kids accountable and give you that, ‘Let’s go!’”

Deiter gave the Red Devils the poke they needed in the nick of time.

They’d fallen to 6-8 after their fourth straight loss on May 3, a 2-1 setback to Lenape. Haverstick was searching for answers, and decided to move Deiter, a natural leader, into the leadoff spot after batting him at the bottom of the order all year.

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Rancocas Valley lost its next game as well, 8-6 to Cherry Hill West, but Deiter went 2-for-4 with a run, and he hasn’t stopped hitting since.

Including the West loss, Deiter has gone 19-for-33 with 13 runs and 7 RBIs at leadoff, and the Red Devils have won eight of their past 10 games.

“Jase is our spark plug,” senior Joe Dinneen said. “Every single time Jase is up, I know he’s getting on.”

Deiter’s leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning against Washington Township was the beginning of a six-run frame. Rancocas Valley didn’t look back.

“He’s given me that role of leader and being the guy that always gets on,” Deiter said of Haverstick’s decision to move him into the No. 1 spot. “Rally the troops up, get ’em going.”

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The Red Devils are, right into the quarterfinals, where they’ll host No. 13 Cherry Hill East, who upset Lenape in the opening round, 6-2. The game is set for Thursday.

“I’m so juiced,” Deiter said. “The whole team is juiced to the point where we just want to get out there and keep playing.”

Graham Adams delivers on the mound again

The first time Rancocas Valley and Washington Township squared off, the game went 11 innings before the Red Devils walked away with a 5-3 victory.

What was the difference in the rematch?

“The first time we didn’t have Graham on the mound,” Haverstick said.

Graham Adams, a 5-foot-8 left-hander, came up huge for the Red Devils once again, allowing a run on 5 hits and 2 hit batsmen with 7 strikeouts.

“He plays like he’s 6-foot-8,” Haverstick said. “He just competes.”

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Adams has been magnificent all spring. He’s 6-1 with a 0.98 ERA and 50 K’s.

“Any time we have Graham on the mound, our kids seem to match the competitor that he is,” Haverstick said. “He’s so much fun to watch.”

Game notes

• The first six Red Devil batters reached to start the game. They built a 6-0 lead on RBI singles by Michael Tuterice and Brady Bartletta, a bases loaded hit-by-pitch, a two-run single by Dinneen and an error.

• Dinneen, the squad’s No. 2 arm, isn’t a regular in the lineup, but he’s had some key moments this season and came through against the Minutemen. He finished 2-for-2 with 3 RBIs and a run.

• “I just try to embrace my role whatever it is that day, whether it be in the lineup or on the mound, just to try to help the team win in any given way,” he said.

• Brady Bartletta finished 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs and a run, Trevor Myers had 2 RBIs, including the game-ender in the sixth, and Jake Bartletta was 2-for-2 with 3 runs scored.

The last word

“We’re feeling good, but we also know we can be humbled at any moment. We’ve been saying since the beginning that it’s South Jersey title or bust with this group, but we know with the season we’ve had, we have one bad inning every now and then and it costs us the game. Hammonton, Allentown we were in a slugfest, 21-20, they know if we don’t keep our foot on the gas we’re in trouble, so we better keep it going.”

– Rancocas Valley head coach Dan Haverstick

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: Rancocas Valley baseball bests Washington Township in playoff opener