Ocean County Tournament - Bracket

Semifinals

(3) Toms River South 1, (7) Brick 0

Matt Shiffer led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Wisnewski to give the Indians (16-6) a walk-off win over the Green Dragons (12-9). Toms River South advances to the OCT final against Toms River North, currently scheduled for Wednesday night at Toms River East.

Shiffer lined a shot to the left-center gap on a 1-1 pitch from Brick starter Mike Soldo and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Indians third baseman Ben Montenegro. Brick opted not to walk Wisnewski - the cleanup hitter - with first base open and the senior catcher lifted a fly ball to deep right-center that was plenty deep enough to allow Shiffer to coast home with the winning run.

Trevor Wagner pitched a two-hit shutout for his fifth win of the season (5-2), striking out four and walking five - including one intentional in the top of the seventh. Wagner also went 2-for-2 at the plate.

Soldo allowed just three hits in taking the hard-luck loss and had faced just one over the minimum heading into the bottom of the seventh. The left-hander struck out two and did not issue a walk. Soldo also reached base three times, finishing 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.

 

Class A North

Manalapan 8, Marlboro 7

Mike Mollica singled down the left field line to chase home Giovanni Ciaccio with the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh and the Braves (10-11, 6-7) pulled out a win over the Mustangs (11-8, 8-6) in a suspended game that was resumed Saturday at the start of the top of the seventh inning.

Ciaccio led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dan Deblasio before Mollica brought him in with two out.

Tyler Stafflinger retired the side in order in the seventh with two strikeouts to record the save. As the last pitcher to pitch in the originally scheduled game, Jake Sadowitz earned the win without throwing a pitch on Saturday.

 

Class A South

Toms River North 1, Southern 0 (10 Innings)

Dave Cordoma drove in the game-winning run with a single to the left-center gap in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Mariners (15-5, 9-4) beat the Rams (6-11, 6-8) to remain alive in their pursuit for a Class A South title share with Toms River South.

Toms River North will travel to Brick Memorial on Monday and can capture a share of A South with a win. Toms River South and Toms River North will meet in the Ocean County Tournament final, which is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at Toms River East.

Brody Sprinkle earned the win in relief for Toms River North.

 

Class B North

Ocean 3, Neptune 1 (9 Innings)

Brian Kochenash singled home Max Winters with the winning run in the top of the ninth and Jack D'Auria scored from first on the hit thanks to an outfield error as the Spartans (17-6, 10-4) pulled out an extra-inning win over the Scarlet Fliers (8-11, 4-10).

D'Auria finished 2-for-4 and Winters was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored for Ocean. Jake Talarico also went 1-for-3 and drove in Ocean's first run in top of the first.

Jake Giblin tied the game in the bottom of the seventh for Neptune with an RBI single. Giblin and Tyler Schembri eached finished 2-for-3.

Alec Keezer pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win for Ocean, striking out three and allowing one hit. Phil DeMarco allowed four hits in five shutout innings for Ocean before Travis Lillie came on an allowed one run on one hit in two innings.

Justin Tucker took the loss despite pithcing five solid innings of relief. He allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out eight in relief of starter Dylan Taliaferro, who allowed one run on three hits in four innings while working around seven walks and striking out four.

 

Class B South

Jackson Liberty 5, Pinelands 0

Sophomore Matt Pickus pitched a six-hit shutout with five strikeouts and one walks and the Lions (10-9, 7-7) blanked the Wildcats (8-12, 5-9) to officially qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament.

Freshman Daniel Sofield went 2-for-3 with two RBI and senior Kenny Pommerencke was 2-for-4. Senior Ryan Van Wickle also went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI and sophomore Billy Hart was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Joey Ventresca and Dave Lunn each went 2-for-3 for Pinelands and Ventresca went the distance in taking the loss. The freshman right-hander allowed three earned runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out five.

 

Non-Division

Brick Memorial 11, Point Beach 0

Senior right-hander D.J. Wilson lost a no-hitter with two out in the bottom of the seventh, but the Mustangs (13-8) still rolled to a win over the Garnet Gulls (11-9). Wilson struck out a career-high 15 and walked one before exiting after Ryan Franzoni broke up the no-hitter in the seventh.

Brian Markoski and Dave Clark each had three hits, including a double each, to lead the Brick Memorial offense. Clark finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Markoski was 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.

Teddy Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and two RBI and Dylan Evans finished 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored and two RBI.

Manchester 9, Keyport 6

Ryan Vanderham went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI and the Hawks (10-10) outlasted the Red Raiders (11-7) for their fourth straight win, which qualifies them for the Shore Conference Tournament.

Matt Bryant cracked a solo home run for Manchester and Tariq Ali doubled and drove in three runs. Steven Rodriguez also finished 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored.

Dillon Barry worked 5 1/3 innings to earn the win and Gavin Pabst closed out the win by recording the final two outs in the seventh. Pabst also went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

Kenny Harrigan went 1-for-3 with two RBI for Keyport while Shane Chandler was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Steven Chandler took the loss on the mound after lasting 3 1/3 innings.

Jackson Memorial 6, Middletown North 4

Kyle Johnson homered in both the first and second innings and the the Jaguars (8-11) topped the Lions (11-9). Johnson led off the game with a home run and crushed a two-run home run in Jackson Memorial's five-run second inning.

Johnson, Alex Iadisernia, Krystian Potok and Chris Hawryluk each went 2-for-4, with Iadiserinia scoring a run as well. Aaron McCulligh also went 1-for-2 with two RBI.

Mike Dimino worked 4 2/3 innings for his first win of the season, allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Collin McCulligh closed out the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Seth Ziegler hit a solo home run for Middletown North and teammate Tyler Ras was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Garrett French allowed one unearned run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings in relief of starter Phil Pecherski.

Middletown South 10, Wall 0 (6 Innings)

Johnny Zega went 2-for-4 with his sixth home run of the season and three RBI to lead the Eagles (17-4) to a win over the Crimson Knights (9-8). Tom Gannon, Zach Schild and John Martin all doubled and drove in a run, with Gannon going 2-for-5, Schild, 2-for-2 and Martin 1-for-2. Martin and Schild each walked twice and Martin also scored two runs.

Ian Scheuer pitched a six-hit, six-inning shutout while walking three and striking out four for Middletown South.

Manalapan 10, Mater Dei Prep 0

Jake Sadowitz earned his second win of the day by striking out 11 over five two-hit, shutout innings and the Braves (11-11) beat the Seraphs (12-8) to clinch a spot in the Shore Conference Tournament after beginning the season 3-7.

Sadowitz also went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Dan DeBlasio and Jake Becker each went 3-for-3 to lead the Manalapan offense. DeBlasio doubled twice, scored two runs and drove in four RBI to highlight the Manalapan lineup.

At FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood

Point Boro vs. Shore, 7 p.m.

 

Non-Conference

Freehold Twp. 7, South Plainfield 2

Ryan Ford went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI and the Patriots (7-15) topped the Tigers. John Carroll finished 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while Joe Romanowski and Ryan Cardone each added an RBI single.

Peter Nielsen scatteded seven hits over five innings to earn the win and he also struck out four while walking none. Ralph Gambino struck out four over the final two innings to close the game out.

Howell 3, Delbarton 1

James Wynne pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking two while striking out four, and the Rebels (10-10) edged the Big Green to secure a Shore Conference Tournament berth.

Christian Gedell, Mark Iacobino and J.P. Traynor each had an RBI single and Grant Hackett doubled and scored a run. Gedell finished 2-for-4 with a run scored as well and Justin Steel also finished 1-for-3 with a double for Howell.

Donovan O'Malley allowed one run on one hit over the first three innings for Howell.

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