Saturday

Monmouth County Tournament - Bracket

Quarterfinals

(11) Manalapan 8, (3) Red Bank Catholic 6 (8 Innings)

Chris Rodriguez sped home with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth and the Braves (16-6) added one more run on an error in the inning to beat the Caseys (15-5) and advance to the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals. Manalapan will travel to play No. 2 CBA on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Red Bank Catholic sent the game to extra innings with four runs in the bottom of the seventh, with Mike Spinelli and Dom Caraballo each drawing a base-loaded walk to tie the game at six. Mike Ianelli had an RBI single earlier in the inning to trim the Manalapan lead to 6-3 and the Caseys nearly won it on a long fly ball by Evan Madigan that turned out to be a fly out to the warning track.

Nick Surhoff gave Manalapan a 6-2 lead with a three-run double in the fifth and Matt Klepper was 2-for-4 to lead the Braves offense. Klepper also earned the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief.

Junior starter Tyler Stafflinger allowed two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning with one out. Nick Marotta retired the side in order in the sixth before running into trouble in the seventh, beginning with singles by Tom Merlo and Doug Facendo.

Semifinals

(13) Wall 11, (16) Middletown South 1 (5 Innings)

Dan Wondrack went 2-for-2 with a two-run double during an eight-run second inning that lifted the Crimson Knights (15-5) to a win over the Eagles (16-6), ending Middletown South's 14-game winning streak and pushing Wall into the MCT final for the second time in three years.

Sean Larkin also went 2-for-2 with a two-run single in the second after starting the inning with a drag bunt single to lead off the rally.

Ryan Orender pitched a five-inning four-hitter to earn the win and also capped the scoring with an RBI single. Orender walked one and struck out six.

Wall will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 11 Manalapan and No. 2 CBA, which CBA will host on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

 

Ocean County Tournament - Bracket

Semifinals

(8) Barnegat 1, (12) Brick Memorial 0 (8 Innings)

Nik Fraim lifted a game-winning sacrifice fly to center field with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning to make a winner out of starter Seamus Brazill and send the Bengals (14-6) past the Mustangs (11-12) and into the OCT final for the second straight year. Barnegat will play No. 2 Jackson Memorial Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Toms River East.

Brazill went the distance for the shutout victory, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out 12 in his eight innings of work. Brazill stranded at least one Brick Memorial baserunner in scoring position in five of the eight innings, including jams in the sixth and seventh in which the Mustangs had a runner on third base with less than two out.

Barnegat did not push a runner past first base against Brick Memorial starter Ian Ambrose until the eighth inning. Designated hitter John Corbett led the inning off with a single through the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Anthony Lani.

Sophomore Justin Diefenbach drew a one-out walk and sophomore Aaron McLaughlin followed with a single through the left side to load the bases for Fraim. After falling behind 1-2 in the count, Fraim connected on a 1-2 offering from Ambrose that carried out to medium center field and allowed Corbett to score without a play at the plate.

Ambrose matched zeroes with Brazill for seven innings and did not face a scoring threat until the eight inning. The senior right-hander allowed only four hits, walked two and struck out five in taking the hard-luck, complete-game loss.

(2) Jackson Memorial 2, (3) Toms River South 0

Senior right-hander Brandon Janofsky threw his third straight shutout, allowing four hits and a walk while punching out 12 to help the Jaguars (15-5) beat the Indians (13-6) and advance to the Ocean County Tournament final Tuesday against No. 8 Barnegat at Toms River East High School.

Janofsky did not make his first start of the season until April 23 because of right shoulder tightness and since returning, he has not allowed a run and surrendered only eight hits and three walks run over his 19 innings of work while striking out 27.

Janofsky also helped his cause by driving in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. Junior Kyle Johnson ignited the rally with a single and a stolen base before scoring on the sac fly.

Matt Castrouova later added an RBI single in the fourth to extend the Jackson Memorial lead to 2-0. Chris Hawryluk also went 2-for-2 for the Jaguars.

Indians starter Ray Liguori allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks over six innings while striking out six.

 

Regular Season

Non-Division

Shore 6, Point Boro 5

The Blue Devils (10-9) scored three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to grab the lead and Chas Breithoff pitched two scoreless innings to close out a win for the Blue Devils over the Panthers (9-11), which propels Shore into the Shore Conference Tournament and eliminates Point Boro from the field.

Matt McCarthy and Devin McLaughlin both singled and scored in the three-run sixth and Michael O'Halloran tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Mango that gave Shore a 6-5 lead.

O'Halloran finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, McCarthy went 2-for-4 and Mango was 1-for-2 with two RBI. Dhillon Barbetti also doubled home a run in the win.

Neptune 10, Monmouth 9

Tyler Schembri and Hunter Daly each went 3-for-4 and the Scarlet Fliers (3-15) beat the Falcons (8-10), denying Monmouth a Shore Conference Tournament berth. Schembri had three doubles and 2 RBI, while Daly doubled and drove in a run. Matt Vincenti went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the loss.

Middletown North 3, Matawan 2

Cole Fluta hit a go-ahead two-run single in the top of the fifth and Mike Mercier pitched into the seventh inning to earn his first varsity victory to highlight a win for the Lions (6-13) over the Huskies (7-12). Mercier struck out three, walked one and pitched out of a first-and-third jam with none out in the sixth to preserve the one-run lead.

Alex Cella went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three stolen bases for Matawan.

Toms River East 4, Central 1

Jon Meola hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the top of the third inning and John Lobello went the distance on the mound to help the Raiders (7-9) beat the Golden Eagles (8-11). Freshman Tom Ruscitti doubled home a run in the bottom of the first to give Cental a brief 1-0 lead.

 

Non-Conference

East Brunswick 11, Southern 2

Manasquan 13, St. Joseph Metuchen 5

Four Manasquan players had at least three hits and the Warriors (9-7) scored 11 runs over the final three innings to beat the Falcons. Tanner Cowley was 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI, and Tyler Bradley was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Mark Edwards also went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, and Jack Sheehan finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI.

Spotswood 11, Point Beach 8

Mike Frauenheim and John Daly each went 2-for-4 with a double, but the offensive surge was not enough to carry the Garnet Gulls (12-5) past the Chargers. Frauenheim scored a run and drove one in, while Daly scored two and drove in two.

Freehold 6, Immaculata 4

The Colonials (11-11) outlasted the Spartans to get to a .500 winning percetage and qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament.

At Trenton

Long Branch vs. New Brunswick, 10 a.m.

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