Baseball: Lubanski Leads Southern Past Brick in Rain-Shortened Game

By Ian Roth - Shore Sports Network contributor

MANAHAWKIN - In a rain-shortened game that lasted five innings, Southern and Brick managed to put together a full game’s worth of exciting baseball.

By the time the umpires called the contest, the Rams picked up a big 6-2 win in a Class A South game. Jared Lubanski pitched all five innings for the Rams to get the victory after a tough 7-6 loss in their last game.

Four batters into the game, Brick took the lead when Nick Moglia doubled home a run in the top of the first. Green Dragons starter Nic Chirichello then struck out the side in the bottom of the first, limiting the Rams to a walk and a single by Ronnie Velardi.

After a scoreless second for the Green Dragons, Southern Regional came back in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout by Noah Brown. Lubanski settled down and gave up only one more run in the third on an RBI single by Matt Rosace, scoring Carmen Sclafani, who doubled to right center. That would finish the scoring for the Dragons, as Lubanski would strike out six and scatter five hits.

"I felt really confident,'' Lubanski said.

Southern would go on to score four more runs in the third and fourth innings to take control of the game. Sophomore Pat Barrett went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI and a run scored to lead the way. Newcomer Jared Haugland and Lubanski each contributed an RBI.

“We played determined,'' Southern head coach John Natoli said. "When we needed a big hit, we got one.''

Southern Regional will try to keep the momentum going into a tough match-up, as the Rams face Toms River South at home on April 29 in their next game. Brick gets back into action a little sooner when it plays cross-town rival Brick Memorial at First Energy Park in Lakewood on Saturday at 7 p.m.