Father and Son

Sferra duo reflects on baseball team's amazing late-season play
By Bill Konigsberg

When the father-and-son combo of Jay and J.J. Sferra found themselves standing together at first base in the ninth inning, it was a prelude to a moment of despair for the family.

Two innings later, the Sferras shared a moment at first base that the entire Sun Devil family will forever remember.

All told, the June 21 8-7 thriller that eliminated No. 3 Nebraska in front of 26,000 screaming Cornhuskers fans will go down as one of the greatest College World Series games in history, and one of the proudest moments in Sun Devils baseball history. The family Sferra were caught up in the maelstrom, nearly as goats, and finally, as heroes.

It began in the ninth inning, with the Sun Devils down 7-5 and facing elimination. With no out and runners on the corners, senior Joe Perischina hit a sinking liner to center field.

It was a tough call for both the runner on first, freshman J.J. Sferra, and his father, Jay Sferra, the first base coach.

"I was caught up in the moment,” the younger Sferra said after the game. The two Sferras had different reactions to a ball that might be caught if the center fielder made a diving play. J.J. scampered halfway and when the umpire didn’t make an immediate call, he decided the ball had been trapped, not caught. He ran toward second.

Then the umpire made his call: A catch.“I was yelling: ‘Back! Back! Back!’” the elder Sferra said. But it was too late; J.J. was doubled off first.

Jeff Larish was the next batter, and with two outs he slammed his third home run of the game more than 400 feet to center. It would have given the Sun Devils the lead, had it not been for Sferra’s running gaffe.

"I honestly didn’t feel disappointed,” his father said when asked how it felt to watch his son’s running mistake from up close. “You gotta let each play go. End of story. I wasn’t thinking ‘Gosh Darn we made a big mistake there,’ which I guess if you think about it, it was a big mistake.”

Two innings later, J.J. had a chance to make up for his blunder. With one out and Joey Hooft on second, Sferra hit a flare to right field that dropped for a single. Hooft hustled around to score, and the Sun Devils had the victory. As the bench erupted, there the father and son were, at first base together, completely atoned.

"I rounded first and looked back to watch Joey score,” J.J. said, recalling the moment. “Then my dad and I threw our hands up and we were just yelling for joy, me and him together. And then the rest of the guys just piled on. It was a good feeling to have the older guys coming up and congratulating me.”

"It was pretty magical for everyone,” Coach Sferra said about the game, which gained the Sun Devils’ incredible College World Series run the attention of the sports world. “We really grabbed hold of something special.”

Though the team was eliminated by Florida after one more win, it capped a spectacular season in which the Sun Devils went from 9-10 at the end of February to one of the final four teams remaining in the College World Series. What is forgotten in the team’s tough start is that they played 11 of those games against teams ranked in the top 20 nationally, and went 3-8 in those games.

"Nobody plays that kind of schedule,” Coach Sferra said.

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Photo: Courtesy of ASU Media Relations

Freshman J. J. Sferra (left) and father Jay (right) were part of a surprising upset over Nebraska during the College World Series.

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