Baseball Friday Scoreboard, 4/3/15

Tweets by @Matt_Manley

Non-Division

Pinelands 6, Matawan 3 - Photo Gallery by Sports Pix NJ

Senior shortstop Mitch Merrill doubled twice, drove in a run and scored another as part of a 2-for-4 game that helped power the Wildcats (3-0) past the Huskies (0-2), Pinelands' third straight wiin to open the season.

Merrill also made a running, over-the-shoulder catch on a pop-up by Nick Villanueva in shallow left-center field, turned, and fired to second for an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the fourth.

Merrill plated the first run of the game with a double down the left-field line in the first to score senior second baseman Pat Spagnola and scored on an RBI single by senior first baseman Dave DeFeo to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead after the top of the first.

Senior right fielder Austin Hartman finished 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Junior center fielder Ryan Ross went 2-for-3 with a an RBI single in the third to make it 3-0 and Pinelands made it 5-0 with two more in the fourth, highlighted by an RBI double by third baseman Sag Sysol, who stole home on a throw down to second when Merrill stole the bag by sliding around the tag.

Junior Chris Burke added a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the fifth to stretch the Pinelands lead to 6-1.

Junior Damien Martinez lasted four-plus innings, allowing one run on one hit and five walks while striking out two. Martinez did not allow a hit over the first 3 1/3 innings until Matawan second baseman Dylan Dobbin blasted a double to deep center to score Nick Smith from first.

Non-Conference

Vero Beach, Fla.

CBA 12, Chagrin Falls Kenston (Oh.) 0

John Moschella and Matt D'Angelo each went 3-for-3 and Luca Dalatri belted a three-run homer to back up four shutout innings from Mike Garvey in the Colts' win in Fla. Garvey allowed three hits in four shutout innings while striking out four.

CBA scored seven runs in the first innings, highlighted by a two-run double by Moscella and Dalatri's three-run blast.

Manalapan 9, Grand St. Campus (N.Y.) 2

Junior second baseman Carmine Raione went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI and seniors Nick Marotta and Ajay Kawa combined to pitch the Braves (1-1) to a win in their first game in Fla.

Marotta allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out three and Kawa followed him up with three scoreless, one-hit innings that included four strikeouts.

Junior Steve Hansen finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored, while junior Chris Rodriguez added two hits and an RBI. Junior catcher Stephen Carbonara helped get Manalapan started with a two-run single in the first inning.