Baseball – St. Rose Beats Point Beach for 10th Straight Win

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Prior to Monday’s meeting between Shore Conference Class B Central division rivals, the last time the St. Rose baseball team played Point Pleasant Beach, the Garnet Gulls steamrolled the Purple Roses 11-1 to drop the perennial B Central power to 0-3 on the season.

That humbling defeat at the hands of the only team to break up St. Rose’s divisional dominance of the last two decades was the last time St. Rose lost a game. Despite an impressive nine-game winning streak heading into Monday, the Purple Roses still felt like they had something to prove – specifically against Point Beach.

Thanks to a 12-hit attack, an error-free game in the field, some strong relief work on the mound, and several Point Beach miscues, St. Rose paid back the Garnet Gulls in the form of an 8-3 win – the 10th straight win for the Purple Roses, which catapults them ahead of Point Beach in the Class B Central standings and into a first-place tie with Mater Dei Prep.

“Even though the high school season is short and goes by quickly, I didn’t want them to think that,” first-year coach Chris LeMore said. “I just wanted them to focus on what they were doing and stick to the plan, and I can’t be any prouder of them than I am."

Five St. Rose players recorded two hits, one of whom was sophomore shortstop and No. 9 hitter J.P. Traynor. He finished 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI single in the second and an RBI ground-rule double to deep right-center in the seventh.

“I felt incredible today,” Traynor said. “To hit the ball hard was really good. I’ve been struggling for a lot of games now. From the beginning of the season, I came out a little slow. It felt good to hit the ball hard, get a couple RBIs and help the team win.”

Traynor also made a key play on a ball hit up the middle by Garnet Gulls third baseman John VanSchoick in the fourth inning that ended a Point Beach threat with the potential go-ahead run on second base.

“He really needed that,” LeMore said. “J.P. has kind of been struggling a little bit this year, offensively and defensively. You can’t say anything bad about the way he played shortstop today. The play he made to get us out of the (fourth) inning and put us in position to come in and score three runs in the (fifth), then to be able to come up and give us a little pick-me-up to go up by five runs was huge for us.”

“I played really deep (at shortstop) in the beginning of the year and that got me kind of slow going to the ball, so I moved up a little bit and it’s been good for me,” Traynor said. “It gives me less time to think and just go out there and do what I do."

St. Rose took the lead in the top of the fifth inning, right after Traynor’s play ended the fourth. Sophomore left fielder Brendan Hueth led the inning off with a double to left-center and scored on an RBI single by sophomore third baseman Joe Volpe that skipped under the glove of diving Point Beach first baseman Joe Delgrippo and inside the first-base line.

Volpe was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double, but senior right fielder John Kussmaul started another rally with a single. He moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt and went to third on a wild pitch before sophomore catcher Nick DelRusso worked a two-out walk to put runners on the corners.

After courtesy runner Tanner Long stole second base, freshman second baseman Brandon Mology hit a ground ball toward the middle, where Point Beach shortstop Andrew Allegretta stopped the ball. Allegretta tried to gather himself and make the throw to first in time to get Mology, but his throw was low and got away from Delgrippo, allowing both runs to score and putting St. Rose ahead, 6-3.

Point Beach had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the third after Delgrippo drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it up and knock St. Rose starter Patric Fullman out of the game. Senior right-hander Jason Criscuolo came on with the bases loaded and one out and struck out the first two batters he faced to end the threat and preserve the tie.

“We’ve got two seniors at the top of our rotation and what we’ve been talking about all year is to pick each other up, and Jason did exactly that,” LeMore said. “I can’t ask for anything more from that kid.”

Criscuolo worked 3 2/3 shutout innings while allowing two hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts. The senior handed the ball off to Kussmaul for the bottom of the seventh inning, and Kussmaul worked around a hit and a walk to nail down the victory for the Purple Roses. Kussmaul also finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored at the plate.

“I knew I had to pound the zone, throw strikes and have them put the ball in play because the strike zone was a little inconsistent,” Criscuolo said. “I just had to throw strikes and hope the defense would make the plays behind me.”

Along with Fullman, Criscuolo is a returnee to the pitching staff after a breakout season as a junior in 2014. He has been used as both a starter and a reliever this year, often as a long man in relief to come in and stabilize a tight game like he did on Monday.

“My role has been all over the place so far,” Criscuolo said. “I personally see myself as a reliever right now, but I am going to get some opportunities to start coming up as well.

“Our schedule this year is a lot different than in years past, and it has been great how much it has challenged us. We’ve had some success since those first three games, and I’m glad that I could be a part of that.”

Senior center fielder Travis Cloney again ignited St. Rose from the leadoff spot, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and two intentional walks. Cloney missed out on an RBI when his ringing double down the right-field line with a runner on first bounded out of play for a ground-rule double with two out in the top of the fourth and the score still tied at 3.

In the top of the first, Cloney singled to lead off the game and forced a throwing error when he advanced from first to third on a sacrifice bunt by junior Mike Gowen. The throw from first got past VanSchoick at third and allowed Cloney to score the game’s first run just five pitches into the action.

“Our team is generated off of Travis Cloney,” LeMore said. “He does everything for us. He plays center field, he pitches, he is leading the team in leadership categories. We basically run off of him. He’s our ignition and that’s why he hits first for us. It gives us an opportunity to get the game going the way we want it to.”

Traynor drove in the first of his two RBI in the second with a hard-hit ground ball that skipped over the head of Allegretta at shortstop, allowing Kussmaul to score from second with two out. Mike Gowen pushed across another run in the second with a two-out RBI single through the right side that plated Long, who took over on first base after DelRusso singled.

St. Rose also benefited from an unearned run in the seventh to go with two in the fifth as Point Beach committed six errors in the game.

Hueth and Volpe were the other two St. Rose players with two hits, with Volpe finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI and Hueth going 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored.

Allegretta went 2-for-2 with two RBI to lead the Garnet Gulls' offense, singling home a run in both the first and third innings. VanSchoick also doubled and scored a run, while Geno Antognoli walked twice and scored two runs in the loss.

Freshman right-hander John Nista went the distance for Point Beach, allowing five earned runs on 12 hits.

St. Rose will now try to run the B Central table, which would guarantee them an outright division title in a year that started off on the wrong foot with five new starters in the lineup around Cloney, Kussmaul, Missry and Traynor, who played as a freshman last year.

“I thought I was walking into a team that had experience,” LeMore said. “We didn’t. It’s a credit to them. It’s not about me, it’s about them. They did everything they needed to do.”

“From the start to now, we’ve progressed a lot,” Traynor said. “The first few games were rough for us, and I just feel like we came together as a bunch of different guys from (the team we had last year). I don’t want to say it was difficult, but it was different. I think we’ve bonded really well, and I think we’re coming together as a good team.”

Box Score

St. Rose 8, Point Beach 3

2B: Cloney, Hueth, Traynor
IBB: Cloney 2
SAC: Gowen
SB: Long, Crowley

2B: Garcia, VanSchoick
Outfield Assist: Antognoli
SB: Antognoli, Garcia

Pitches-Strikes: Fullman 71-33, Criscuolo 43-31, Kussmaul 16-10, Nista 114-70
Groundouts-Flyouts: Fullman 3-1, Criscuolo 6-2, Kussmaul 0-1, Nista 10-7