Frank’s 500th Win Highlights Week in Baseball

It was an upset-filled week in Shore Conference baseball as teams jockeyed for spots in the NJSIAA and Shore Conference Tournaments, and another legendary head coach reached a career milestone.

Toms River East’s Bill Frank picked up his 500^th career victory during his 29^th season in a 6-0 regular-season win over Jackson Liberty on Thursday night behind a complete-game, six-hit shutout by senior Paul Schifilliti. Frank ranks third all-time in Shore Conference history in victories behind the state’s all-time leader, older brother Ken Frank of Toms River South (785) and Christian Brothers Academy’s Marty Kenney (703), who are both still active.  Dave Lewis had a pair of hits, including a two-run triple, and made a pair of sliding catches in right field during the victory.

"When I first got this job, I told my dad 'That's my goal. I want to win 500 games,'" Frank said following the win. "So I achieved one of my goals in life tonight."

While the Ocean County Tournament semifinals were postponed to Monday thanks to Saturday’s rain, half of the Monmouth County Tournament bracket is down to the semifinals. St. John Vianney and Red Bank Catholic will meet for the third time this season as RBC tries to reach its third straight MCT final after beating the Lancers twice in Class A Central during the regular season.

St. John Vianney topped Manalapan 2-0 in the quarterfinals behind another strong performance from sophomore Dan Schirmacher, a Manalapan resident who threw six scoreless innings of two-hit ball, striking out four, and Rutgers recruit Anthony Santoro, another Manalapan resident who smacked a two-run homer for the game’s only runs. Manalapan had reached the quarterfinals as the 13^th seed by upsetting No. 4 St. Rose 1-0 thanks to a three-hit shutout by Manhattan recruit Matt Simonetti.

Red Bank Catholic bounced back strong from after the No. 1 Caseys suffered an upset loss to Red Bank Regional in the regular season with a rain-shortened, 10-2 MCT victory in six innings over a Middletown South team that had not given up more than five runs in a game all season. RBC senior Mike Rescigno had a double, triple, three runs scored and three RBI to help his own cause, as he allowed two runs on three hits in a complete-game win that made him 5-0 on the season.

Only two days earlier, Red Bank had picked up one of the season’s more surprising victories when the sub-.500 Bucs beat RBC 4-1 in a night game at Count Basie Park to end the Caseys’ 14-game winning streak. Senior Joe Jacques allowed three hits over six innings, and Brian Wikoff and Dillon Stambaugh each went 2-for-3 to power the upset. Jacques also threw four scoreless innings of one-hit ball in a 5-0 win over Shore Regional earlier in the week.

Third-seeded Wall, 11^th-seeded Marlboro and seventh-seeded Howell all advanced to the MCT quarterfinals with wins. Much like RBC, Wall was coming off an eye-opening upset loss in the regular season, getting no-hit by a three-win Neptune team, and picked up an impressive win over quality pitching.

The Crimson Knights beat Freehold 5-2 in the MCT for their second win in three meetings this season with the Colonials, registering a total of 11 hits against the talented Freehold tandem of Mike Bolton and Jake Yanez. Sophomore outfielder Nick Martinez went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored, sophomore catcher Dan Wondrack was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk, sophomore third baseman Ryan Orender finished 2-for-3 three RBI, and junior second baseman Brendan Biegert went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Wall will host Marlboro in the quarterfinals on Monday.

Marlboro upset sixth-seeded Monmouth 6-3 thanks to a late-inning surge in which they scored four runs in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of two miscues by the Falcons and getting RBI singles from Dustin Jensen and Matt Nelson to add to a first-inning two-run homer by Jeff Goldrosen.

Howell set up a third meeting of the season against a red-hot CBA team by beating Long Branch 4-2 on Saturday to reach the MCT quarterfinals. Ryan Wares was brilliant in relief, throwing four scoreless innings of two-hit ball and striking out nine to get the win, and Cody Hubbs was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI to lead the offense.

The last remainders of division titles wrapped up last week as Jackson Liberty clinched the outright Class B South crown with an 8-6 win over Point Boro thanks to three hits and two runs scored by junior James Sofield. Monsignor Donovan earned the Class B South non-public crown by guaranteeing a second-place finish in the division.

CBA emphatically clinched the outright Class A North title with a 17-3 rout of Manalapan in which North Carolina recruit Joe Dudek had a career day. The slugging first baseman hit three home runs and finished with 10 RBI in the win thanks to a pair of three-run homers and a grand slam. The Colts take a 10-game winning streak into this week after beating St. Rose 9-2 on Friday in a regular-season game thanks to a three-hitter by freshman Luca Dalatri.

Howell and Middletown South tied for the Class A North public title as the Eagles pulled out a 6-5 win in 10 innings over the Rebels to earn the tie. A sacrifice fly by Frank Servidio scored Mike Diorio with the winning run in the bottom of the 10^th, and Piero Vescio threw five scoreless innings of one-hit relief to get the win.

There were also several great pitching performances in regular-season games last week, including a combined no-hitter by Neptune’s Kevin Welsh and Latrell Jones in a 6-2 upset of Class B North champion Wall. Monmouth Regional’s Tom Broyles continued a brilliant season with a career-high 15 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Manasquan that helped the Falcons to the highest finish of any public school in Class A Central.

Central junior Andrew DiPiazza, the Shore Conference leader in strikeouts, continues to dominate as he threw an eight-inning three-hitter, striking out 14, walking one and not allowing an earned run in a 2-1 regular-season win over Manchester to improve to 6-0. While pitchers like DiPiazza and Broyles have been outstanding as starters, Matawan senior Robbie Marshall has been a dynamo out of the bullpen. He has a 0.41 ERA in 18 innings and a Shore Conference-high seven saves after a scoreless seventh nailed down a 6-5 win over Ocean last week.

Perhaps the pitcher having the best season under the radar is Maine recruit Chris Stark, a senior at Middletown North who has taken numerous hard-luck losses this spring. He did not allow an earned run in a complete-game, 2-0 loss to top-seeded RBC in the MCT last week and boasts an ERA of 0.94 in 44 2/3 innings this season. In that same RBC game, Caseys hurler John Selden, who is tied for the Shore Conference lead in wins at 6-0, continued his own outstanding spring by taking a perfect game into the sixth inning and throwing six scoreless on just 60 pitches before closer Al Molina tossed a scoreless seventh.

Finally, in the age-old baseball superstition department, Raritan was able to win its first game all season on the road thanks to a little help from Rocket Park. The Rockets took a cup of dirt from their field and sprinkled on the field at St. John Vianney before a Class A Central game last week. They went on to a 9-4 upset of the Lancers for their first road victory, as junior Bruce Strickland went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double to lead the way.

Friday marked the cutoff for the NJSIAA playoffs, and the brackets are expected to be released early this week. Manalapan is the defending Group IV champion, while Freehold was the Group III runner-up last season. Jackson Memorial, which has rattled off 14 straight wins, looks like a prime contender in Group IV this season. The top-seeded Jaguars take on fifth-seeded Toms River South in the OCT semifinals on Monday, and second-seeded Toms River North welcomes sixth-seeded Monsignor Donovan.

Monday marks the Shore Conference Tournament cutoff, where teams must have a .500 record through Monday’s games to qualify. Keyport and Brick Memorial each have games on Monday that they have to win to get in. The tournament will be seeded by the committee on Monday night, and the first-games will be held on Wednesday. Here is the full schedule for the SCT.