Baseball – 2014 Final Top 10

In the opinion of some, 2014 was supposed to be a “down year” for the Shore Conference. After two months of baseball, that now seems like a head-scratching assessment. Not only did the Shore Conference capture three NJSIAA Group championships for the first time in history, it also featured a host of committed Division I arms and two sophomores who appear on their way to hearing their names called in the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

The regular season and postseason told conflicting stories in the case of several teams and in the end – as is the case with any high school sports – the season comes down to winning postseason championships. That should be the overriding theme of these final rankings, which have plenty of championship flavor.

1. St. John Vianney (20-7, 12-2)

The first two tournaments of the season were unkind to St. John Vianney, but the Lancers won what turned out to be a very deep Shore Conference Class A Central race and finished the year by winning an NJSIAA championship in the state’s most competitive group – Non-Public A - for the first time since 1981. There are some teams that can claim they took down the mighty Lancers in April, but when the calendar turned to May and the games counted, St. John Vianney was the class of the Shore, as well as the state. They are the first Shore Conference team to finish ranked No. 1 in the state since Toms River South in 1994.

2. Christian Brothers Academy (18-8, 8-6)

The Colts won two tournaments this year and were eliminated from the third by the only team ahead of them in the rankings. There was a rough stretch of the regular season between winning the Monmouth County Tournament championship and the Shore Conference Tournament that cost CBA a chance to win the Class A North division title, but at their best, the Colts were as good as anyone.

3. Barnegat (20-10, 7-7)

The anguish of losing in three different tournament championship games and enduring a bad week that cost them a chance at the Class B South championship will probably stay with the Barnegat players through the offseason. With that being said, there is some good news for the Bengals. They return three standout pitchers and the top three most productive hitters in their lineup next season. They also became the first team in program history to reach SCT, OCT and NJSIAA sectional finals as well as winning a school-record 20 games. Considering the youth of the team and of the program, 2014 was an exceedingly impressive year. Many will likely contest that Group IV champion Jackson Memorial should be in this spot, but consider this: Barnegat not only beat Jackson Memorial 8-0 in their lone meeting, but the Bengals also went 6-0 against common opponents between the teams, while the Jaguars were 3-3. There’s even a case for Barnegat to be the No. 1 team based on a head-to-head win over St. John Vianney earlier in the year.

4. Jackson Memorial (20-7, 10-4)

On pure body of work, it’s possible to harp on a few of Jackson Memorial’s losses – namely to Brick, Barnegat, Toms River South and Monmouth in May. When the end of the season was staring them in the face, however, the Jaguars rallied to win six state tournament games and capture their first state championship since 1972. Jackson Memorial also won a share of the Class A South championship and reached the Ocean County Tournament semifinals before running into Barnegat and ace Jason Groome.

5. Red Bank Catholic (20-7, 11-3)

The Caseys are the first team on the list that didn’t do anything astounding over the course of their season, but RBC was a capable team that was good from start-to-finish and grabbed some quality wins along the way. RBC beat St. John Vianney and Freehold Township during its run to the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals, which is enough to boost one of the Shore’s five 20-win team to a top-five spot.

6. Shore (19-9, 8-6)

A Group I championship doesn’t necessarily guarantee a top-10 ranking in the Shore Conference, but Shore beat two legitimate state powers on the way to the title in Middlesex and 28-win Pennsville. Before winning the program’s first state championship since 1993, Shore did some quality work by beating Red Bank Catholic during the regular season and Toms River South in the Shore Conference Tournament opening round. Any team that wins two tournament games at Ken Frank Stadium in one season deserves its share of praise.

7. Freehold Township (17-7, 10-4)

The Patriots were the darlings of the Shore Conference prior to the Shore Conference Tournament, which featured Freehold Township as its No. 1 seed. Then they lost to Red Bank Catholic in the SCT quarterfinals and stumbled against No. 15 seed Marlboro in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoffs. During the season, though, Freehold Township beat the likes of CBA, Red Bank Catholic, Wall and Colts Neck (twice).

8. Central (15-10, 7-7)

Winning the Ocean County Tournament championship not only gave Central its first championship since 1987, but it also gave the Golden Eagles a third win in three tries over No. 3 Barnegat, which included a win over left-handed ace Jason Groome. The only thing that prevented Central from potentially building on that championship was that ace Andrew DiPiazza developed bone spurs in his pitching elbow and was shut down after beating Toms River North in the OCT semifinals.

9. Wall (21-6, 12-0)

A 21-win season and a perfect season within Class B North is enough to propel Wall into the top 10. The Crimson Knights lost as the No. 1 seed to Luca Dalatri and CBA in the Monmouth County Tournament quarterfinals and also fell to Barnegat on a neutral field in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals. Wins over Toms River North, Brick and Ocean in tournament settings were enough to get the Shore Conference leader in team wins into the top 10.

10. Colts Neck (16-6, 11-3)

The Cougars nab the final top-10 spot on the strength of an outright Class A North championship that included a win over No. 2 CBA in the second meeting between the teams. The lone marks against Colts Neck were a loss to Brick at home in the Shore Conference Tournament first round and two regular-season losses to Freehold Township.

The Next Wave

Toms River East (17-8, 10-4) – When was the last time no Toms River team was ranked in the final top 10? The Raiders have a legitimate gripe, but they also don’t have a win over any of the teams in the top 10.

Jackson Liberty (15-12, 10-4) – The Lions won a very competitive Class B South division, but couldn’t get over the hump during the tournament season.

Ocean (19-8, 8-4) – The Spartans quietly won 19 games and sported one of the top pitching staffs in the conference.

Toms River North (15-9, 9-5) – Despite losing returning starting pitcher Steve Slagmolen midseason, the Mariners had a strong campaign with some very good pieces set to return in 2015.

Monmouth (13-13) – It was an up-and-down season for the Falcons, but any team that has wins over three of the six state champions (St. John Vianney, Shore and Jackson Memorial) deserves major recognition.