Baseball – The Shore’s Two Best Teams Look to Add Another Title in Saturday’s NJSIAA Non-Public Sectional Finals
NJSIAA Baseball Sectional Championships
South Jersey Non-Public A
No. 2 St. Joseph Metuchen (21-9) at No. 1 Red Bank Catholic (23-5), 11 a.m. at Count Basie Park
St. Joseph at a Glance
Head Coach: Mike Murray
Last Sectional Championship: 2010
Probable Starting Pitcher
Jimmy Mulvaney, Sr., RHP (8-3, 57.2 IP, 1.70 ERA, 48 H, 9 BB, 63 K; 82 available pitches)
Notable Available Pitchers (With available pitch count)
Bryan Rios, Sr., RHP (110)
Matthew Friedman, So., RHP (110)
Joe Barca, So., RHP (110)
Benny Fonseca, Sr., LHP (110)
Ineligible Pitchers
None
Key Hitters
Mark Gialluisi, Sr., C (.500, 16 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 35 R, 19 RBI, 25 SB)
Tyler Delvecchio, Sr., 1B (.319, 7 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 24 R, 17 RBI)
Robbie Carvelli, Sr., CF (.363, 7 2B, 3 HR, 26 R, 30 RBI, 12 SB)
Matt Kusoda, Jr., OF (.310, 3 2B, 5 HR, 16 R, 21 RBI, 6 SB)
Josiah Brown, Fifth-Year Sr., SS (.295, 7 2B, 1 HR, 22 R, 19 RBI, 9 SB)
Bobby Christensen, So., 2B (.333, 4 2B, 1 HR, 16 R, 7 RBI)
Joe Zammitti, Jr., 3B (.355, 3 2B, 12 R, 25 RBI)
William Ramsay, Sr., RF (.274, 7 2B, 1 HR, 9 R, 8 RBI)
Road to the Final
First Round: Bye
Quarterfinal: Tyler Delvecchio cracked a two-run homer and the Falcons used a fast start to race past No. 7 Paul VI, 8-4. Will Ramsay doubled twice and he, Delvecchio and Bobby Christensen each had two hits, while Josiah Brown drove in two and stole two bases. Fairfield commit Jimmy Mulvaney lasted 4 1/3 innings and struck out six to pick up the win.
Semifinal: Robbie Carvelli went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI and Mulvaney returned to the mound for 4 2/3 more innings and seven strikeouts to help spark St. Joe’s to a resounding, 11-3 win over No. 6 Notre Dame.
Red Bank Catholic at a Glance
Head Coach: Buddy Hausmann
Last Sectional Championship: 1997 (Non-Public B)
Probable Starting Pitcher
Alex Stanyek, Sr., RHP (2-0, 23.2 IP, 0.89 ERA, 9 H, 8 BB, 37 K)
Notable Available Pitchers (With available pitch count)
Declan Leary, Jr., RHP (110)
Ethan Marzo, Sr., RHP (110)
Dom Mallamaci, Sr., RHP (110)
Ryan Prior, So., RHP (110)
Anthony Nannini, Sr., LHP (110)
Brandon Hendrickson, Jr., RHP (110)
Ineligible Pitchers
Steve Svenson, Jr., RHP
Key Hitters
Alex Stanyek, Sr., P/DH (.337, 11 2B, 4 HR, 32 R, 16 RBI)
Sean Griggs, Jr., 3B (.404, 4 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 24 R, 14 RBI)
Frank Scrivanic, Sr., 1B (.333, 10 2B, 1 3B, 25 R, 24 RBI)
Shane Andrus, Sr., C (.434, 8 2B, 5 HR, 22 R, 28 RBI)
Dylan Passo, So., RF (.342, 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 20 R, 21 RBI)
Matt Brunner, Jr., CF (.318, 4 2B, 1 3B, 10 R, 27 RBI)
Brendan Kopec, Jr., LF (.200, 2 2B, 2 3B, 9 R, 7 RBI)
Christian Condon, Sr., 2B (.177, 2 2B, 1 3B, 16 R, 5 RBI, 7 SB)
Max Dantoni, So., SS (.300, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 19 R, 14 RBI, 21 SB)
Road to the Final
First Round: Bye
Quarterfinal: RBC managed only two hits against pitchers Jake Francis and Alex Payne, but Declan Leary was solid enough through five-plus innings and Steve Svenson fired two dominant relief innings to guide the Caseys past No. 8 Pingry, 4-2. None of RBC’s four runs scored on hits, with two scoring on walks, another on a groundout by Christian Condon and the fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Shane Andrus.
Semifinal: The Caseys bats woke up in time to pummel six-time defending sectional champion St. Augustine, as RBC avenged a sectional-final loss from two years ago by conquering the Hermits, 8-1. Alabama commit Sean Griggs jumpstarted the day with a pair of defensive plays and a line-drive double, Shane Andrus blasted a first-inning homer and both Frank Scrivanic (3-for-3, two RBI) and Matt Brunner (3-for-4, RBI) collected three hits to lead the offense. Svenson, meanwhile, continued to shine on the mound by punching out a career-high 11 in a three-hit complete game.
The Verdict
For the first time since CBA won the Non-Public A championship in 2015, a team other than St. Augustine will be the South Jersey representative in the overall Non-Public A championship game. That alone means that the two teams vying for the sectional championship Saturday in Red Bank will be beyond hungry to finish the job – not just with a win on Saturday, but with one more in Thursday’s state final. In Non-Public A, these opportunities seldom come around and only one of RBC and St. Joe’s can capitalize on this one.
From RBC’s perspective, the Caseys have waited long enough. They made it to the South Non-Public A final in 2021, jumped out to a 5-0 lead on St. Augustine and were one strike away from ending their championship drought when all hell broke loose. Two years later, that loss in Richland still sits with the Caseys, although defeating St. Augustin on Wednesday went a long way toward burying that loss – at least for the players on this year’s team who also played in that 2021 championship game.
Beyond the motivation, RBC has a major edge on the mound in Alex Stanyek. There have been opponents capable of matching him and teams have sometimes been able to drive up his pitch count enough that he has to come out before the 21st out, but no pitcher has been able to straight-up outperform him over the past two seasons. He doesn’t pitch often – Saturday will be only his fifth start this season – but he has been the Daniel Day Lewis of Shore Conference pitchers: he doesn’t accept a lot of work, but the roles he takes are challenging and he always nails it.
St. Joe’s has its top arm available as well, although Jimmy Mulvaney will be eligible to throw no more than 82 pitches. That creates a decision for Falcons coach Mike Murray: is it best to let Mulvaney start and pitch as long as he can take it or hold him back for a shorter stint, with the possibility of closing the game?
Whoever starts the game for the Falcons will have his hands full with a Caseys lineup that responded to a two-hit outing in a 4-2 win over Pingry with 12 hits and eight runs Wednesday against the defending champs. Sean Griggs and Shane Andrus are swinging the bat far better now than they were at this time last year, while Frank Scrivanic and Dylan Passo remain left-handed bats who love the big moment. Throw in Matt Brunner’s knack for driving in runs out of the No. 6 spot and shortstop Max Dantoni’s production from the No. 9 slot and the Caseys have enough depth and impact to handle any challenge.
On the St. Joe’s side, it starts with Virginia commit and senior catcher Mark Gialluisi, who not only hits .500 with extra-base power, but has also stolen 25 bases. St. Joe’s has some thunder beyond its leadoff-hitting catcher, but Stanyek’s focus will be limiting Gialluisi’s ability to start rallies and keeping runners off base ahead of him later in the game. With Stanyek’s ability to dominate the bottom of the order, it will be a challenge for St. Joe’s to bring its leadoff hitter to the plate with anyone on, although Will Ramsay has been a dangerous hitter in the No. 9 spot during the tournament.
Two x-factors for RBC: Stanyek’s bat and the Caseys’ defense. The latter has been as good as any that RBC has produced in the last 20 years and as long as they don’t lose focus, the Casey defense should be a major plus. As for Stanyek, he has been just off for most of the postseason, but he has been making loud outs and timed up on a lot of the pitches he is just missing. He has the most powerful bat in either lineup and, like Gialluisi, is capable of making it 1-0 on the first batter of the first inning.
With Stanyek ready to finish off the RBC redemption story on the mound and at the plate, St. Joseph will have a lot to overcome in order to bring the trophy back to Metuchen for the first time in 13 years.
Prediction: Red Bank Catholic, 5-1
South Jersey Non-Public B
No. 2 Ranney (27-2) at No. 1 Gloucester Catholic (22-7), 1 p.m. at Joe Barth Field
Ranney at a Glance
Head Coach: Pat Geroni
Last Sectional Championship: 2022
Probable Starting Pitcher
Marcello Mastroianni, Sr., LHP (9-0, 43 IP, 1.30 ERA, 24 H, 11 BB, 64 K)
Notable Available Pitchers (With available pitch counts)
A.J. Gracia, Sr., LHP (110)
Nick Coniglio, Fifth-Year Sr., RHP (89)
James Hare, Jr., RHP (110)
Ineligible Pitchers
None
Key Hitters
A.J. Gracia, Sr., CF (.486, 7 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 46 R, 32 RBI, 12 SB)
Ryan Costello, Jr., 1B (.383, 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 16 R, 18 RBI)
Diego Tavarez, Sr., 3B (.432, 4 2B, 2 HR, 39 R, 25 RBI, 10 SB)
Jack Tallent, Sr., 2B (.432, 11 2B, 5 HR, 36 R, 32 RBI, 6 SB)
Brett Wehringer, Fifth-Year Sr., SS (.359, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 23 R, 22 RBI, 6 SB)
Lou Spadafora, Fifth-Year Sr., C (.321, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 R, 34 RBI)
Curt Chropuvka, So., LF (.337, 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 23 R, 28 RBI, 7 SB)
Enrique Beltra, Sr., DH (.250, 2 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 11 R, 11 RBI, 5 SB)
Glen Cantalupo, Sr., RF (.412, 8 2B, 2 3B, 33 R, 23 RBI, 7 SB)
Road to the Final
First Round: Bye
Quarterfinal: Nick Coniglio pitched a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts over five innings and Ranney hammered No. 8 St. Joseph of Hammonton, 11-0. Diego Tavarez doubled and drove in a game-high four RBI, Glen Cantalupo was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI, Jack Tallent went 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI, Ryan Costello doubled and drove in two and A.J. Gracia reached base in all four plate appearances while stealing three bases.
Semifinal: Gracia homered twice and Tavarez hit a go-ahead two run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Panthers erased a 3-1 deficit to beat No. 3 Bishop Eustace, 4-3. Gracia led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer and his second solo shot cut the deficit to 3-2 two batters before Tavarez gave Ranney the lead in the fifth. Marcello Mastroianni earned the win with three shutout innings of relief.
Gloucester Catholic at a Glance
Head Coach: Dennis Barth
Last Sectional Championship: 2019
Probable Starting Pitcher
Tanner Nolan, Sr., LHP (7-0, 46.1 IP, 0.45 ERA, 23 H, 15 BB, 75 K)
Notable Available Pitchers (With pitch count available)
Joe Vaccarella, So., RHP (84)
Jack Sambogna, Sr., LHP (110)
Ineligible Pitchers
None
Key Hitters
Damon Suriani, Sr., C (.449, 15 2B, 2 HR, 12 R, 35 RBI)
R.J. Mustardo, Sr., OF (.407, 7 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 34 R, 31 RBI, 17 SB)
Sal Serici, Fifth-Year Sr., OF (.458, 7 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 23 R, 24 RBI, 17 SB)
Matt Leahy, Fifth-Year Sr., SS (.384, 10 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 33 R, 28 RBI, 20 SB)
Guy Lynam, Fr., 3B (.377, 8 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 15 R, 17 RBI)
Tate DeRias, Jr., DH (.323, 9 2B, 1 HR, 22 R, 22 RBI, 7 SB)
Tyler Bunting, Sr., 1B (.302, 3 2B, 2 HR, 11 R, 13 RBI)
Jason Bogart, Fr., 2B (.397, 1 2B, 1 HR, 19 R, 15 RBI, 10 SB)
Jake Terranova, Jr., OF (.350, 1 2B, 1 3B, 19 R, 9 RBI, 13 SB)
Road to the Final
First Round: Bye
Quarterfinal: Sal Serici, Tate DeRias and R.J. Mustardo each went 3-for-3, with Serici also doubling and driving in three to lead the Rams to a 12-0 rout of No. 8 Holy Cross Prep in five innings. Sophomore Joe Vaccarella and senior Joe Sambogna combined on the two-hit shutout, with Vaccarella handling the first four innings.
Semifinal: Tyler Bunting and freshman Guy Lynam each hit a solo homer and both Mustardo Jake Terranova tripled and drove in three as Gloucester Catholic routed No. 5 Holy Spirit, 16-3, in a rematch of the 2021 sectional final that Holy Spirit won. Vaccarella again took the ball and pitched four innings, with ace Tanner Nola striking out the side in an inning of work to prepare for the championship game.
The Verdict
Ranney has not been a baseball powerhouse all that long and yet, the Panthers have managed to cultivate a rivalry with the state’s most decorated program. That, alone, says a lot about how far Ranney has come in a short amount of time, but the Panthers are also building their own reputation as one of the state’s premier programs. Ranney has spent time at No. 1 in the state this season, could still finish in that spot and is faced with a chance to win a second straight Non-Public B championship.
Ranney and Gloucester Catholic have clashed in the NJSIAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons and both games ended on walk-off hits. In 2021, it was Gloucester Catholic winning, 9-8, in eight innings after scoring the tying run in the bottom of the seventh after Ranney could not compete the out of a dropped third strike with two out.
A year later, Ranney got the sectional final on its field and paid the Rams back with a game-winning, three-run homer by Charlie Chropuvka to give the Panthers their first sectional championship with a stunning 8-7 win.
After two back-and-forth games that landed on two different outcomes, this year’s rubber match should be as intense as any game in New Jersey this season. Nearly every player who lost to Gloucester Catholic in 2021 is still on the roster and while beating the Rams last year was sweet revenge, it won’t feel complete to the Ranney seniors until they win at Joe Barth Field and prove themselves the preeminent Non-Public B team in the post-COVID age.
As for the pitching matchup, there is no doubt who Gloucester Catholic will send to the mound. Senior left-hander Tanner Nolan has turned in a dominant season and he will also be pitching with a chip on his shoulder after getting knocked around at Ranney in last year’s sectional final.
Ranney’s choice is more a mystery, but all signs point to senior left-hander Marcello Mastroianni getting the ball to start. The Georgetown commit threw 39 pitches in a very effective, three-inning relief outing against Bishop Eustace and has been a big-game starter all season. The same can be said of right-hander Nick Coniglio, but he threw 61 pitches on Wednesday and would not be as free to go deep into the game as Mastroianni will be.
Even with the possibility of throwing up to 111 pitches (that number is a hard cap, meaning he won’t be allowed to finish a batter with a 112th pitch), Mastroianni isn’t likely to push that limit, because that is not how coach Pat Geroni has operated in games like this. Coniglio could get a stint on the mound, but more likely, A.J. Gracia will be first out of the bullpen – or in his case, first out of centerfield. Gracia could also be a starting options given he is fully rested, but the Duke commit has not started a game on the mound since April 20 – a outing that lasted only one inning.
Starting Mastroianni also gives Ranney its best defensive alignment, which includes Gracia in centerfield. The offense remains unchanged either way and Gracia will be stepping to the plate in the top of the first inning in the middle of a historic pursuit. On top of leading his team toward another state title, Gracia is two home runs away from tying the Shore Conference career record of 30. He hit two solo bombs in Wednesday’s win over Bishop Eustace, so if he is just catching a hot streak now, he will have a chance to leave Ranney as the most prolific power-hitter career the Shore has seen.
Ranney has pieces that line up well behind Gracia, with Ryan Costello, Diego Tavarez and Jack Tallent all putting up big numbers. Brett Wehringer is dangerous at No. 5 as well, while catcher Lou Spadafora leads the team with 34 RBI.
Playing on Gloucester Catholic’s home field against a pitcher the caliber of Nolan while its top two guys would be on short rest makes Saturday a real challenge for Ranney. Not much has thrown off Ranney this season and the Panthers have shown an ability to tune out the noise, play with poise and figure out a way to win.
Prediction: Ranney, 5-4
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