TINTON FALLS – St. John Vianney right-hander Dan Schirmacher has already been the ace of the Lancers staff, although his first run as the team’s top pitcher was as much out of necessity as it was as a result of Schirmacher’s breakout sophomore season in 2013.

Now a senior, Schirmacher is the unquestioned leader of the pitching staff, and he finds himself surrounded by players who are just like he was when he was a hungry, talented, unproven player two years earlier. It might not come as a surprise then to find out that Schirmacher happens to really like this year’s Lancers team.

Dan Schirmacher fired seven innings Thursday against Monmouth, allowing just one unearned run on five hits and two walks while striking out 10. (Photo by Matt Manley)
Dan Schirmacher fired seven innings Thursday against Monmouth, allowing just one unearned run on five hits and two walks while striking out 10. (Photo by Matt Manley)
loading...

Schirmacher delivered a complete-game, five-hit gem Thursday in a 9-1 Lancers win over Monmouth Regional, which handed the host Falcons their first divisional loss of the season and lifted St. John Vianney into a first-place tie with Monmouth in the Shore Conference Class A Central standings.

“We have everything to prove,” said Schirmacher, who ended up leading the Lancers in innings as a sophomore because of a litany of injuries to the pitching staff.. “We have a group of guys who have never won a championship and really wants to win one, and you can see that motivation so far.”

St. John Vianney is off to a 5-1 start despite graduating seven position players and its top starting pitcher from its NJSIAA Non-Public A championship team. Since being no-hit by Manasquan in a 2-0, extra-inning loss on April 8 – a game in which Schirmacher took a shutout into the eighth inning – the Lancers have won three in a row and have shown signs of a lineup that will score enough runs, especially with Schirmacher on the mound.

“Things were pretty rough in the preseason and early in the year, especially on offense, but I think guys are learning how to have good at-bats,” Schirmacher said. “We don’t have the power hitters that we had last year, so guys are starting to spray the ball around and run the bases, and we did a great job of that today.”

That lineup was on full display Thursday, as St. John Vianney hammered out 16 hits against Monmouth pitching. Two holdovers from last season – seniors Nick Gugliara and Nick DeLuise – played a major role in the hit parade, with Gugliara going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and DeLuise finishing 3-for-4 with three RBI.

St. John Vianney’s top six hitters in the batting order combined to go 14-for-28 with seven runs scored and eight RBI. Leadoff hitter and shortstop Chris Cerniglia was 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while left fielder Dan Gesior was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI.

Cerniglia, Gugliara and DeLuise also combined to steal eight bases for St. John Vianney, with Gugliara and DeLuise swiping three each and Cerniglia stealing two.

The Lancers also benefited from seven Monmouth errors, which led to six unearned runs. St. John Vianney opened the scoring with two earned runs against Monmouth starter Christian DeFazio in the third inning, although the second of the two scored thanks to a wicked hop that turned a hard ground ball into a missile through the infield by DeLuise. Victor Jamandron knocked in the first of the two runs with an RBI single and DeLuise followed with his hard-hit ground ball that took a high hop over Monmouth shortstop James Green.

After Monmouth scored an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Bill Herman in the third, St. John Vianney scored four unearned runs off DeFazio in the fourth, all of which came after DeFazio retired the first two batters of the inning. Monmouth committed four errors in the inning and Gesior had the big hit with an RBI double into the left-center gap.

Monmouth right fielder Christian Hoplock kept St. John Vianney from scoring in the first inning with a strike to the plate to throw out Cerniglia attempting to score on a sacrifice fly with one out.

The run support was plenty for Schirmacher, who struck out 10 batters, including the 100th of his career on his 10th punchout that ended the sixth inning.

“It’s just a milestone, which is pretty cool I guess, but it’s not something that’s a goal or anything like that,” Schirmacher said. “More than anything, I think it just means I’ve been playing long enough to reach a number like that.”

 

Box Score

St. John Vianney 9, Monmouth 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

R

H

E

St. John Vianney (5-1, 4-1)

0

0

2

0

4

1

2

9

16

1

Monmouth (4-2, 4-1)

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

1

5

7

 

St. John Vianney

AB

R

H

RBI

BB

SO

Chris Cerniglia, SS

5

1

3

1

0

0

Nick Gugliara, CF

5

2

4

0

0

0

Victor Jamandron, 2B

5

1

1

1

0

1

Ciaran Devenney, C

4

0

1

1

1

0

--Stephen Adami, CR

0

1

0

0

0

0

Nick DeLuise, 3B

4

1

3

3

0

0

--Nick Ficsor, 3B

0

0

0

0

0

0

Dan Gesior, LF

5

1

2

2

0

1

Zach Richards, RF

5

1

1

0

0

1

Jeff McPeek, DH

3

1

1

0

1

0

Sebi Bellone, 1B

4

0

0

0

0

0

Totals

40

9

16

8

2

3

2B: Gesior
SF: DeLuise
FIDP: Jamandron
SB: Cerniglia 2, Gugliara 3, DeLuise 3
CS: Adami

 

Monmouth

AB

R

H

RBI

BB

SO

Matt Vincenti, 1B

4

0

1

0

0

2

Andrew Slinger, 2B-3B

3

0

0

0

1

1

Marc Marcinek, CF

3

0

1

0

0

1

Christian Hoplock, RF

3

1

0

0

0

0

Jimmy Green, SS

3

0

1

0

0

0

--Corey Shevlin, PR

0

0

0

0

0

0

Bill Herman, DH

2

0

0

1

0

2

Josh Jackson, 3B-C

2

0

0

0

1

2

Garrhet Reedy, C

2

0

2

0

0

0

--Matt Doucette, 3B

1

0

0

0

0

0

P.J. Mallaci, LF

2

0

0

0

0

2

--Skylar Marvin, PH

1

0

0

0

0

0

Totals

26

1

5

1

2

10

2B: Reedy
SF: Herman
Outfield Assist: Hoplock

 

St. John Vianney

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

Dan Schirmacher (W, 1-1)

7

5

1

0

2

10

0

 

Monmouth

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

Christian DeFazio (L, 1-1)

4.2

9

6

2

2

1

0

Bill Herman

2.1

7

3

3

0

2

0

 

Pitches-Strikes: Schirmacher 102-68, DeFazio 105-66, Herman 48-31
Groundouts-Flyouts: Schirmacher 4-5, DeFazio 8-3, Herman 3-3

More From Shore Sports Network