GSB Baseball Ends Season with Resilience and a Championship Title 

The Gill St. Bernard's Baseball team (11-13-1) displayed great resilience in 2024, rebounding from a slow start and managing significant missed time due to injuries of key players, to win a Prep B Championship and to advance to the state sectional semi-finals.  

After losing their first four games, the Knights faced a bit of a crossroads in mid-April at Rutgers Prep. Fortunately, GSB earned a hard-fought 8-7 victory over the defending Somerset County champions that inspired a three-game winning streak and redirected the trajectory of the season.  

"That Rutgers Prep win was important, because at the time we weren't playing well," reflected Head Coach Dave Pasquale. “But we knew we had much better baseball in us.” 

In early May, the team won five-out-of-six games, including a dramatic run to the Prep B Championship. Entering the tournament as the #5-seed, GSB defeated #4 Morristown Beard and top-seeded Newark Academy to set up a title game matchup with Montclair-Kimberley.  

The Knights defeated the Cougars, 7-3, to capture their first Prep B title since 2015. The regular season concluded with a challenging slate of opponents that included some of the best teams in Morris, Somerset, and Sussex Counties. As a result, the overall record of 11-13-1 does not reflect the talent and achievement of this year's team. As a better reflection of the talent found on the team, GSB went 7 and 2 against independent school rivals MKA, Mo-Beard, Rutgers Prep, Newark Academy, and Pingry. 

The 2024 season ended with a loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the Non-Public B North sectional semi-finals. Down 6-1 early, the boys clawed back to make the score 7-5 with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, but they ultimately fell short of a sectional crown. 

Senior and Purdue-commit Johnny DiGregorio led the team in most offensive categories, reaching the prolific 100-hit milestone mid-season and finishing with 127 hits for his career. He also established a school record for home runs with 14.  

Fellow senior and Babson-commit Colin Chou also had a fantastic season, earning a spot in the NJSIAA Senior All-Star Game, which honors the best 100 players in the class of 2024.  

Sophomore Jack Markovich represented GSB at the Garden State Games, which showcases the 100 best underclassmen in New Jersey. 

The program graduated eight seniors, including Quinnipiac-commit Matt Park, Washington College-commit Dylan Sempervive, Danny Sasse, Michael Ricciardulli, Robert Kirsh, and Jack Meenan.  

Juniors Tim Park, Joey Dwek, and Bobby Niesmertelny also played critical roles on the field this season. Sophomores Joey Fava, Jude Waters, and Luc Jansson all received varsity letters and made key contributions as well. Rounding out the roster were three freshmen who shined as starters in their first year of high school baseball: Drew Aromando (P/OF), Gavin Bucceri (2B/3B), and Niko West (1B). 

"We will certainly miss this group of seniors," said Coach Pasquale. "But with several high-level players returning in 2025, we're very much looking forward to the future of Gill St. Bernard’s Baseball."