Baseball – Pitchers Justin Fall of TR South and Nick Stephan of Brick Memorial Announce D1 Commitments

Toms River South Class of 2017 left-hand pitcher Justin Fall announced Tuesday his non-binding verbal commitment to continue his baseball career at St. John's University in the fall of 2017.

Fall's choice comes on the heels of another Division I verbal commitment by an Ocean County pitcher, as Brick Memorial Class of 2018 right-hander Nick Stephan announced Monday his commitment to George Washington.

Last season, Fall built upon his strong debut as a sophomore in 2015 by pitching his way onto the Shore Sports Network All-Shore Second Team. As a junior in 2016, the left-hander went 6-1 with a 0.99 ERA and 60 strikeouts against 16 walks over 56 2/3 innings. Fall also exhibited his versatility by making six of his 14 appearances in relief.

Among Fall's six wins were victories against Brick and Freehold in the Shore Conference Tournament and the lone loss of his career - a defeat at the hands of Highland Regional in the South Jersey Group III semifinals - Fall fell victim to three earned runs.

As a sophomore, Fall went 3-0 with 25 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings.

A member of the Frazier Baseball travel club based out of Toms River, Fall picked St. John's over a list of schools that included Monmouth, Rutgers, James Madison and George Washington.

As for Stephan, the junior-to-be burst onto the varsity scene with the Mustangs this season by posting a 1.71 ERA in 16 1/3 - primarily in relief. He converted all four of his save opportunities and struck out nine while walking only four during the course of his sophomore campaign.

Stephan joins Freehold Township infielder Ryan Ford (Penn State) and Middletown North pitcher Tyler Ras (Alabama) as Shore Conference players from the Class of 2018 to make Division I commitments this summer.