Kolkebeck Shuts Out Brick Memorial to Snap 18-Year Drought

The last time Old Tappan won a Group 3 state championship was 2008. Selden Kolkebeck was born that year. On Sunday morning at Rutgers University, he made sure the wait was over.

Kolkebeck threw a complete game shutout, striking out 10 and allowing just four hits as Old Tappan defeated Brick Memorial 5–0 to claim the program's first state title in 18 years. He also hit a two-RBI single in the seventh to add the final insurance runs. For a senior going out in his last game, it was about as complete a performance as you can put together on a championship Sunday.

Old Tappan got on the board in the first when Kolkebeck came home on a wild pitch to make it 1–0. That was all he needed for a long time. He struck out the side in the bottom of the first and kept rolling from there, punching out six batters through three innings while the lead held at one. His third-inning strikeout was his 200th of his career, a milestone that passed with very little fanfare because there was a state title still to be won.

The lead grew in the fourth when Mateo Skific put one in play and a Brick Memorial error allowed two runs to score, pushing it to 3–0. Brick threatened in the sixth with runners on first and second, but Kolkebeck got out of the jam without allowing a run, and the Knights never seriously threatened again. By the end of six, Kolkebeck had reached 10 strikeouts, the tenth time in 12 starts this season he had hit double digits. With those 10 punchouts he also eclipsed the state strikeout lead, putting an exclamation point on a senior campaign that was already historic.

He wasn't done with the bat either. Leading off the seventh with a 3–0 cushion, Kolkebeck singled to left and drove in two more to seal the win at 5–0. Two RBIs on the day to go along with the shutout. Old Tappan's ace delivered in every possible way.

After the final out, Kolkebeck spoke on what the moment meant. "This means the absolute world to me," he said. "The last time Old Tappan won a group championship was the year I was born. I just couldn't be more proud of the guys behind me and Coach Byron. I'm at a loss for words right now. I'm just so happy." On the mound, he leaned on his slider all afternoon. "My fastball wasn't really locating in the beginning, so I was just sticking with my slider," he said. "The leadoff hitter was a hell of a player. The first two at-bats I don't think I threw him a single pitch other than a slider. Once we got through the third of the lineup I mixed in some changeups, but otherwise it was just slider and fastball."

For a senior closing out a run that will be remembered in Bergen County baseball for a long time, Kolkebeck kept his sign-off simple. "I wish Old Tappan becomes the very best," he said. "I'm excited to see what they can do next year, and I hope I inspired the younger kids to want to be like me."

Ten strikeouts. A two-RBI single. A complete game shutout. A state title in the year he was born to win one. Selden Kolkebeck's high school career is over, and he could not have written a better ending.