FARMINGDALE – Howell senior left-hander Zach Loroesh watched his defense let him down in one inning while the Rebels offense floundered for the first five innings of its Shore Conference Class A North opener against Freehold Township Wednesday, but insisted his confidence in himself and in his team never wavered.

The Rebels rewarded their senior starter by helping him out of a sixth-inning jam and scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth to rally for a 4-3 win over the Patriots Wednesday on their home field.

“Every time we get the chance we tell our guys to put the last play behind you and go back out ready to make the next play and pick each other up,” Howell coach Eric Johnson said. “You’re going to have innings like the one we had, and either you can let it cost you the game or you can go try to get it back.”

Howell leadoff hitter Ryan Wares makes contact on a deep fly out to left during his team's 4-3 win over Freehold Township. Wares finished 0-for-3 with a walk. (Photo by Matt Manley)
Howell leadoff hitter Ryan Wares makes contact on a deep fly out to left during his team's 4-3 win over Freehold Township. Wares finished 0-for-3 with a walk. (Photo by Matt Manley)
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Freehold Township scored three unearned runs off Loroesh in the top of the second inning and rode the pitching of senior Joe Ellerman to a 3-1 lead heading into the sixth. The Patriots put runners on first and third in the top of the sixth, but Loroesh escaped trouble by inducing a line-drive double play to first baseman Mike Parisi off the bat of Patriots senior left fielder Julius Saporito for the first two outs and a groundout to shortstop Troy Miller by designated hitter Chris Rose to end the threat.

“I have the utmost confidence in the guys behind me, at all times,” Loroesh said. “Everybody’s going to make errors, I’m going to make errors, but we’re a team that picks each other up. I’m the guy on the mound, and no matter what’s going on, I have to be able to stay composed and keep us in the game.”

The Rebels rode the wave of momentum into the bottom of the inning and pulled to within one when junior catcher Rob Napolitano launched a one-out, solo home run to left field to cut the Freehold Township lead to 3-2. Third baseman Dan Mastrisciano and junior left fielder Andrew Larsen followed with consecutive singles, and Miller grounded a single into right field to potentially give Howell a chance to tie the game, but Johnson held Mastrisciano at third base as Saporito made the throw from right field in the air.

“Down two runs, I was just going up looking for a fastball I could put a good swing on,” Napolitano said. “(Ellerman) had thrown me first-pitch fastballs my first two times up and he was pretty consistent throwing strike one, so I went up ready to hit in that situation there. We needed to get something going up there, and I felt like being aggressive early in the count and looking for a pitch to drive was the best way to get us going.”

Pinch-hitter Matt Fletcher hit for starting right fielder Brian Chaballa and dribbled a ground ball back to the mound. Ellerman came home with the throw, but it was too low for Patriots catcher Joe Silvestrone to handle. The ball went the backstop, allowing Mastrisciano and Larsen to score the tying and go-ahead runs.

Freehold Township mounted a threat in the top of the seventh against Loroesh when Ellerman walked with one out and center fielder Steve Derby reached on an infield single that hit off the mound and stayed in the air long enough for him to beat it out. Facing third baseman and No. 3 hitter Chris Talbott, Loroesh jumped ahead in the count, 0-2, and finished Talbott off with a change-up low and away for a strikeout to end the game.

“We just had to keep the ball down, which Zach was able to do for most of the game,” Napolitano said. “His changeup was really working for him, and he threw a really good one with two strikes and got a good hitter to chase.”

The game ended with Patriots senior first baseman Nick Cardace – who was 2-for-3 with two long doubles to right-center field – in the on-deck circle.

“I definitely knew he was on-deck and it was in the back of my mind, but I knew I just had to bear down on the guy in front of me,” Loroesh said. “I knew I had to make my pitches and trust my defense, and if I did, I wouldn’t have to face him.”

The Rebels got a lift with two swings of the bat, the second of which was Napolitano’s first-pitch homer to left with one out in the sixth. The junior backstop finished 1-for-2 with a walk and helped Loroesh navigate through the Patriots' order for seven innings.

“Rob’s homer was awesome,” Miller said. “To be in a situation like that and to put a swing on the ball like he did, it was beautiful. It really took the pressure off the rest of our guys, and it also got out dugout going. I think at that point, we felt like we were going to win.”

Howell began to show life in the bottom of the fourth, when Miller broke up the shutout with an RBI double to the left-center gap to score James Wynnes, courtesy running for Napolitano, who drew a one-out walk to start the rally.

“I hit the ball pretty hard in my first at bat (a line-out to center), and I felt like I had a pretty good look at (Ellerman),” Miller said.

Johnson moved Miller to the No. 8 spot in the lineup after he hit at the top of the order for most of his freshman season. Johnson wanted to take some of the pressure off his sophomore shortstop after he struggled at the plate during the preseason.

“It’s definitely a little easier down in the order,” Miller said. “I’m seeing more fastballs to hit, and I don’t have to worry about working counts and getting on base. I can just go up to the plate and try to hit a good pitch.”

Miller’s double helped atone for an error in Freehold Township’s three-run second which allowed the first Patriots run to cross the plate. The sophomore shortstop made a nice back-handed stop in the hole with two outs on a ball hit by Patriots left fielder Kenny Carrier, but his throw was low and allowed Cardace to score from third.

Ellerman then singled with runners on first and second. After Saporito got the stop sign from head coach Todd Smith, Parisi cut the ball off and threw it away trying to catch the runner off third, allowing Saporito to score.

Carrier later came around on a wild pitch for the third Freehold Township run.

After the third-inning trouble, Loroesh did not allow another hit until Cardace hit his second double of the game to lead off the sixth. While Cardace and Silvestrone combined to go 4-for-6 out of the No. 4 and 5 spots in the order, Freehold Township’s top three hitters – shortstop Mike Alexander, Derby and Talbott – combined to go just 1-for-12 against Loreosh with an infield single and a reached-on-error.

In total, Loroesh allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three in the complete-game victory.

Ellerman allowed only three baserunners through the first three innings – two on singles by Rebels center fielder Mike Levy – but Howell got a read on the senior right-hander during the second and third trips through the order. After going 1-for-9 with a single the first time through the order, the Rebels went 3-for-7 with a double and a walk the second time through, and 4-for-9 with a homer the third time through.

In his complete-game effort, Ellerman allowed eight hits and two walks while striking out five in six innings.

Howell and Freehold Township return the most starting talent of any A North teams this season after the two teams had opposite seasons last year. Freehold Township started 5-12 and won eight in a row to cap the year, while Howell jumped out to a 7-3 mark before going 5-8 over its last 13 games.

“I think we’re going to make a lot of noise in A North last year,” Loroesh said. “We grew a lot as a team last year and over the offseason. We lose a couple of seniors, but we’ve got some young guys ready to step in and a lot of experienced guys who are ready to pick each other up. If we just keep doing what we’ve been doing and play the way we know we can, I think we’ll have a good year.”

 

Box Score

Howell 4, Freehold Twp. 3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

Freehold Twp. (1-1, 0-1)

0

3

0

0

0

0

0

3

6

1

Howell (2-0, 1-0)

0

0

0

1

0

3

x

4

8

2

 

Freehold Twp.

AB

R

H

RBI

BB

SO

Mike Alexander, SS

4

0

0

0

0

0

Steve Derby, CF

4

0

1

0

0

0

Chris Talbott, 3B

4

0

0

0

0

2

Nick Cardace, 1B

3

1

2

0

0

0

Joe Silvestrone, C

3

0

2

0

0

0

Julius Saporito, RF

2

1

0

0

1

0

Chris Rose, DH

3

0

0

0

0

0

-- Rob Ericksen, 2B

0

0

0

0

0

0

Kenny Carrier, LF

3

1

0

0

0

1

Joe Ellerman, P

2

0

1

0

1

0

Totals

28

3

6

0

2

3

2B: Cardace 2
LIDP: Saporito

Howell

AB

R

H

RBI

BB

SO

Ryan Wares, DH

3

0

0

0

1

1

-- Connor Fey, 2B

0

0

0

0

0

0

Mike Levy, CF

4

0

2

0

0

0

Zach Loroesh, P

3

0

0

0

0

0

Mike Parisi, 1B

3

0

0

0

0

2

Rob Napolitano, C

2

1

1

1

1

0

-- James Wynne, CR

0

1

0

0

0

0

Jake Marsh, 3B

2

0

0

0

0

1

-- Dan Mastrisciano, 3B

1

1

1

0

0

0

Andrew Larsen, LF

3

1

2

0

0

0

Troy Miller, SS

3

0

2

1

0

0

Brian Chaballa, RF

2

0

0

0

0

1

-- Matt Fletcher, PH

1

0

0

0

0

0

Totals

27

4

8

2

2

5

2B: Miller
HR: Napolitano (6th inning, none on , one out)
Outfield Assist: Larsen
SB: Chaballa

Freehold Twp.

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

Joe Ellerman (L, 0-1)

6.0

8

4

2

2

5

1

 

Howell

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

Zach Loroesh (W, 1-0)

7.0

6

3

0

2

3

0

 

Pitches-Strikes: Ellerman 93-63, Loroesh 94-62
Groundouts-Flyouts: Ellerman 4-5, Loroesh 6-6

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