10 Shore Teams Still Alive in State Playoffs
Eight public school squads are still alive in the NJSIAA sectional semifinals, and the Shore Conference is guaranteed to have a finalist in the Central Jersey Group IV bracket.
The biggest Cinderella in the bunch is Shore Regional, which has won seven straight and is two wins away from a sectional championship despite being 10-14 for the season. With a healthy George Washington University recruit Matt Cosentino back in the lineup, some standout pitching from Mike Blaney, and a lineup that has come alive behind those two plus Chris Vaccaro and T.J. Sempkowski, the Blue Devils have reached the Central Jersey Group I semifinals.
The 11th-seeded Blue Devils went on the road and upset third-seeded Metuchen 8-7 on Sunday thanks to a total team effort that included what proved to be a game-winning, RBI sacrifice fly by Cosentino, a two-run double by Sempkowski, a pair of hits and two runs scored by Vaccaro, two hits and a clutch RBI single by James Kelly and a solid relief performance by Blaney.
On Tuesday, Shore looks to continue its run when it travels to second-seeded New Egypt, which rolled to an 11-1 win in five innings over Keyport in the quarterfinals. The good news for Shore is that New Egypt’s ace, Connor Lindsay (8-0), threw five innings in that game so they may not have to face him unless he comes on in relief.
There is potential for an all-Shore Conference final in this bracket as fifth-seeded Point Beach will try to pull the upset on heavily-favored top seed Middlesex on the road in Tuesday’s semifinals. The Garnet Gulls pulled out a 2-1 win on a two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh by John Van Schoick to beat Burlington City in the quarterfinals. Bobby Parlow threw a six-hitter to keep Burlington City at bay until the final heroics.
Another underdog team on a great run is Monmouth Regional, which is into the semifinals in a wide-open Central Jersey Group II bracket as the No. 8 seed. The Falcons upended second-seeded Bordentown 6-2 in the quarterfinals thanks to Brian Quinn, who threw a four-hitter, striking out six. Catcher Rich Burner belted a three-run homer for all the runs Monmouth would need, and seniors Tom Broyles and Jeff Farrah added a combined three RBI.
Monmouth can now come back with its undefeated ace, Broyles, in the semifinals on Tuesday when it faces A.L. Johnson on the road on Tuesday. The Falcons are looking to reach their second straight sectional final after making it to last season’s Central Jersey Group III championship game before losing to Freehold.
In Central Jersey Group IV, Jackson Memorial welcomes Brick Memorial for the third meeting of the season between the Class A South rivals. The Jaguars, who looked like the favorite to win this bracket before the tournament started, have done nothing to dispel that notion as they outlasted a tough Steinert team, 10-7, in the quarterfinals. Junior pitcher/first baseman Matt Guarino continued a brilliant season with three hits, including a three-run double, on his way to a five-RBI day.
On an impressive run as the 14th seed, Brick Memorial enters with plenty of momentum after dispatching of rival Brick 10-1 in the quarterfinals. Anthony Assante and ace Brian Cottrell combined to stifle the Green Dragons, while the offense has scored 18 runs in two state playoff games after having struggled to generate runs in key county and Shore Conference tournament games. Junior outfielder Kyle Cala has led the way and is coming off a 3-for-4 game against Brick.
With Cottrell on the mound, the Mustangs look like a tough out for Jackson Memorial, which will play Toms River North for the fourth time this season a day later in the SCT semifinals. Cottrell’s 77 strikeouts this season are a school record, passing the 76 of current Mustangs’ assistant Jeff Pierce set in 1996.
There is a chance that there could be an all-Shore Conference CJ Group IV final because Marlboro is on a great run of its own on the other side of the bracket. The 12th-seeded Mustangs edged 13th-seeded Monroe 2-1 in the quarterfinals thanks to sophomore Andrew Nardi and senior ace Adam Ashenfarb, the latter of whom threw 3 2/3 innings of one-hit relief to get the win. Steve Santigate had a double that led to the first run and also scored the winning run on an RBI groundout by Evan Hilla to put the Mustangs into the semifinals, where they will try to cool off a hot Hunterdon Central team on the road on Tuesday.
The last Shore team standing in Central Jersey Group III is second-seeded Wall, which received another brilliant pitching performance from junior Tyler Swiggart to reach the semifinals. Swiggart has been unhittable in his first varsity season as a starter, as he is now 8-0 with a microscopic 0.46 ERA after a four-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over Allentown in the quarterfinals. Nick Martinez and Dan Wondrack each had two hits to lead the offense. Wall will host Hamilton West, which beat Middletown South 7-6 in the quarterfinals, on Tuesday.
In South Jersey Group III, Central has ridden dominating pitcher Andrew DiPiazza to reach the sectional semifinals for the third straight season. DiPiazza improved to 9-0 with a four-hitter in a 3-1 upset of second-seeded Moorestown, and now Central will take on third-seeded Ocean City on the road on Tuesday looking to get over the hump from the past few seasons and reach the final.
The Golden Eagles are the only local public team still alive in a South Jersey bracket, as Toms River North and Toms River South fell in South Jersey Group IV and Manchester was edged 1-0 in a heartbreaker in nine innings against Sterling in South Jersey Group II.
The only non-public programs still alive haven’t played a game yet, as St. Rose and Mater Dei Prep each play their first Non-Public South B games on Tuesday after receiving byes into the quarterfinals. The Shore was wiped out in the loaded Non-Public South A bracket, as Red Bank Catholic was upset 6-5 by Paul VI, Christian Brothers Academy lost 3-0 to Camden Catholic at home, and Monsignor Donovan and St. John Vianney each suffered one-run losses to higher-seeded teams, all of them in the first round.
While Toms River North, Jackson Liberty and CBA all saw their state playoff runs come to an end, they are still in the hunt for the SCT title. Toms River North will take on Jackson Memorial at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Count Basie Park in Red Bank in one semifinal, following the Jackson Liberty-CBA semifinal at 3:30 p.m.
Jackson Memorial is the defending SCT champion and has a 2-1 edge on Toms River North this season, although the Mariners won their last meeting with a 2-0 victory in the Ocean County Tournament championship.
Jackson Liberty has never reached the SCT final and is coming off a 5-4 upset of RBC in the quarterfinals for the Lions’ second trip to the semifinals in four seasons. Senior shortstop Angel Garced went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in the win. CBA avenged an earlier loss to Wall from the Monmouth County Tournament to reach the semifinals with a 5-1 win thanks to a complete game by Pittsburgh recruit Matt Pidich. Senior first baseman Joe Dudek also hit his fourth home run in two days to tie the school record of 11 for the season.
The other notable win of last week was by RBC, which won its first MCT title in program history by beating Wall 7-1 at FirstEnergy Park. Junior Tom Puza threw a complete-game, four-hitter, and senior Ron Robinson was named tournament MVP after belting a three-run double that helped break the game open. Senior Mike Rescigno also won the award for highest batting average in the tournament.
On Tuesday, the Shore Baseball Coaches Association announced its selections for this year's Jersey Shore Carpenter Cup team that will compete in the 16-team tournament in Philadephia from June 18-24. Click here to check out the selections.
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