High School Baseball – Final 2013 Shore Conference Top 10

The Shore Conference baseball season comes to a close with one NJSIAA sectional champion and several teams vying for the No. 1 spot in the top 10 rankings. Jackson Memorial and Red Bank Catholic had been taking turns in the No. 1 spot for almost all of the season since Christian Brothers Academy opened the year as preseason No. 1, but with its late-season surge, Toms River North overtook everyone as the Shore’s top team.

The Shore Conference Tournament is not necessarily a tournament to decide the No. 1 team in the Shore Conference, but with only Monmouth Regional in Central Jersey Group II taking home an NJSIAA sectional championship and the Mariners winning their county tournament as well, the Shore Conference Tournament title became the deciding factor in the ranking. There is plenty more to debate in the final top 10, but for the first time this season, there is no going back. This is the final look at the teams that had the best seasons in the Shore Conference in 2013.

1. Toms River North (20-7, 8-6) Last Week: 3

The Mariner motto has always been “It’s not how your start, it’s how you finish,” and in that regard, Toms River North walked the walk this season. After a respectable regular-season performance that positioned them among the top five teams in the Shore, the Mariners turned it on in the postseason by winning both the Ocean County and Shore Conference Tournaments, the first team in program history to win two postseason tournaments. Toms River North’s only tournament loss came against Eastern in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV quarterfinals and that Eastern team went on to win the Group IV championship. With depth on the pitching staff and in the lineup, Toms River North proved to be the Shore’s most complete team by the end of the season and the two championship trophies prove as much.

2. Jackson Memorial (23-5, 14-0) Last Week: 1

With a record at 19-1 at one point this season, Jackson Memorial was seemingly the dominant team in the Shore Conference, but with many of those wins coming in close games, the Jaguars’ success was more born out of late-game execution and solid all-around play than sheer dominance. Once Jackson Memorial ran into red-hot Toms River North in postseason time, the Mariners had the pitching and hot lineup to take out the Jaguars in both the Ocean County and Shore Conference Tournaments. Still, the Jaguars went 14-0 in Class A South, which has the strongest case to be made as the toughest division in the Shore Conference this season. That is worthy of some consideration for No. 1 and certainly makes Jackson Memorial worthy of No. 2.

3. Jackson Liberty (18-9, 12-2) Last Week: 7

Following a 12-0 loss to No. 12 seed Lawrence in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Tournament, Jackson Liberty was clinging to a top-10 spot. Then the Lions knocked off both Red Bank Catholic and Christian Brothers Academy in the Shore Conference Tournament before losing to Toms River North in the Shore Conference Tournament final. Those victories, coupled with a Class B South championship, give Jackson Liberty an overwhelming case to be the No. 3 team in the top 10. The season started with several tough losses against top opponents, but the Lions were able to get hot at the right time and it nearly gave them the first tournament championship in program history.

4. Red Bank Catholic (23-4, 14-0) Last Week: 2

Just as suddenly as Jackson Liberty jumped into the top three, Red Bank Catholic fell out of it. Coming off a win in the Monmouth County Tournament final, the Caseys appeared to be the best team in the Shore Conference with losses only to Randolph in early April and to Red Bank Regional right before the start of the Shore Conference Tournament. Then Jackson Liberty stunned the Caseys in the quarterfinals of the SCT and Paul VI upset them despite the Caseys throwing ace Mike Rescigno. With a mid-April win over CBA, and unbeaten mark in Class A Central and the first Monmouth County Tournament title in program history, the Caseys are still a clear top-five team.

5. Wall (22-6, 10-2) Last Week: 5

The No. 5 spot is a virtual toss-up between Wall and Christian Brothers Academy, which split a season series that included a Monmouth County Tournament game and Shore Conference Tournament game. Both teams won their respective divisions, but the difference was that Wall had a better run in its NJSIAA Tournament bracket. The South Jersey, Non-Public A bracket that CBA was in is regarded as one of the toughest in the state, but the Colts lost a first-round home game while the Crimson Knights came up a run short of Northern Burlington in the Central Group III final. With the level of accomplishment, plus a roster full of mostly juniors and sophomores, Wall showed once again that they are a year-in, year-out contender in the Shore Conference.

6. Christian Brothers Academy (19-6, 12-2) Last Week: 4

Unlike most of the four of the teams ahead of it on this list, CBA had to navigate its way through the postseason portion of their schedule without its best pitcher, senior John McCarren, who tore ligaments in his ankle on May 7 and missed the remainder of the season. On the flip side, Toms River North lost ace Ron Marinaccio to elbow soreness in the OCT final and powered through to win the SCT, so not every team that faced injury was ultimately done in by poor health. CBA sported a deep pitching staff that still served it well, but ultimately, the Colts could not score enough to be a championship team. A Class A North title and trips to the MCT and SCT semifinals make 2013 a solid year for the Colts, even if they are left to wonder what could have been. One milestone that certainly will be remembered is head coach Marty Kenney becoming only the fourth coach in New Jersey history to pass the 700-win mark for his career.

7. Toms River South (18-9, 9-5) Last Week: 6

The foundation for success at Toms River South has been laid for a few decades now, but the emergence of a strong core of juniors and sophomores makes this season all the more exciting for the returning group of Indians next season. While this season brought with it some questions, some of the answers to those questions make Toms River South a dangerous team going into 2014. Senior pitchers Eric Fricks and Casey Cranmer will be hard to replace, but junior outfielder Russell Messler – hitting better than .500 for his career – returns for one more season as Toms River South looks to take the next step after a surprisingly good 2013 with very little returning talent on the roster.

8. Brick Memorial (15-13, 7-7) Last Week: Not ranked

Many of the Mustangs most notable wins this season came with ace Brian Cottrell on the mound, most notably an NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinal victory over Jackson Memorial in which the senior right-hander tossed a four-hit shutout. It was the rest of the staff, particularly junior right-hander Anthony Assante, that gave Brick Memorial a shot to win the Central Jersey IV title. Assante pitched his team past Brick in the sectional quarterfinals and held down a red-hot Hunterdon Central lineup in a 2-1 loss to the Red Devils in the sectional final. Fellow junior Kyle Cala also helped carry the load with a monster postseason and the two Class of 2014 standouts lead the way into next season.

9. Toms River East (13-10, 8-6) Last Week: 10

The Raiders lost a nine-inning heartbreaker to Cherry Hill West in the South Jersey Group IV first round to end their season, but the success of Class A South and Ocean County as a whole helped the Raiders finish with a very impressive resume. Toms River East split a regular-season series with No. 1 Toms River North, beat Jackson Liberty 6-0 to give coach Bill Frank his 500th career win and split a season series with No. 7 Toms River South. The Raiders also beat Middletown South in a pick-up game following the SCT cutoff and a loss to St. Rose came after the Raiders were eliminated from the state tournament. As far as wins and losses go, this season was an up-and-down one for Toms River East, but considering the quality of opponents on the schedule, the Raiders did pretty well for themselves.

10. Monmouth (17-10, 8-6) Last Week: Not ranked

There are teams that had more impressive schedules and there was even a team (St. John Vianney) that finished ahead in the divisional standings with two head-to-head wins, but as the only NJSIAA sectional champion in the Shore Conference this season, Monmouth earned itself a top 10 nod. The Falcons’ ultimate goal was to be a state champion and they came close thanks to two hot pitchers in Tom Broyles and Brian Quinn. Broyles vaulted himself into the Pitcher of the Year conversation despite not pitching in many of Monmouth’s games against high-profile opponents. While that did not help the Falcons’ resume, it did keep Broyles fresh for tournament time, when he went off on the likes of Monsignor Donovan in the SCT (one-hitter), Point Boro in the CJ II first round (three-hitter) and A.L. Johnson (four-hitter) in the sectional semifinals.