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Mater Dei Prep kicked off the start of championship pile-on season in baseball in style, while multiple lacrosse programs scored landmark wins to highlight a great first day of Shore Conference Tournament action on Tuesday.

Let's look at the Top 10 performances from Tuesday before getting to a wrap-up of the action.

Ricky Gerena, Sr., M, Barnegat

(Photo by Ray Richardson)
(Photo by Ray Richardson)
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Gerena, also a football standout for the Bengals, led a furious comeback to put 10th-seeded Barnegat into the SCT quarterfinals for the second straight season when he scored with eight seconds left in regulation for a 15-14 upset of seventh-seeded Red Bank Catholic. Gerena finished with four goals and two assists as Barnegat scored five times in the final 2:48 to pull out the victory, which advanced the Bengals to face No. 2 Rumson-Fair Haven, the four-time defending SCT champion, on Thursday in the next round.

Ryan Fanner, Sr., OF, Mater Dei Prep

Fanner was the hero of Mater Dei's 4-3 win over St. Rose that gave the Seraphs their first division title since 2002. He hit a walk-off RBI single to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning and finished 3-for-4 with two RBI in the win, which clinched at least a tie for the Class B Central title. Mater Dei can win the championship outright by beating Ranney on Thursday.

Matt Ferullo, Jr., A, Jackson Liberty

(Photo by Ray Richardson).
(Photo by Ray Richardson).
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Ferullo finished with three goals and an assist, including the game-winning goal in overtime, as the 12th-seeded Lions stunned fifth-seeded Howell 14-13 in the first round of the SCT for the biggest win in program history. It marked the third time this season that Ferullo has scored a game-ending goal in overtime. This is the first season the Lions have qualified for the SCT and now they have their first SCT victory. They will travel to fourth-seeded Manasquan in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Pat Felstedt, So., M, Manasquan

Felstedt scored a career-high six goals to power a 12-6 win over St. John Vianney that put the fourth-seeded Warriors into the SCT quarterfinals, where they will host Jackson Liberty on Thursday.

Owen Sulfrain, Jr., C, Toms River North

Sulfrain went 2-for-3 with three RBI in a 7-5 win over Southern that gave the Mariners no worse than a tie for the Class A South title. They can clinch the crown outright with a win over Lacey on Thursday.

Erik Rant, Jr., M, Ocean

Rant scored a game-high four goals in a 12-5 win over Toms River North that gave the Spartans their first SCT win in program history. They will travel to face undefeated Southern in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Jared Miller, Jr., P, Pinelands

Miller denied Jackson Liberty a chance to clinch a tie for the Class B South title by shutting down the Lions with a complete-game four-hitter, striking out five and walking one, in a 5-1 win.

Billy Sasso, Sr., M, Freehold Township

The senior star helped the Patriots take care of business with five goals and an assist plus seven ground balls in a 9-3 win over Lacey to set up a rematch with third-seeded Christian Brothers Academy in the SCT quarterfinals on Thursday.

Sam Monaco, Jr., SS, Point Boro

Monaco helped keep Point Boro's SCT qualifying hopes alive by going 2-for-4 with a grand slam in a 6-5 win over Donovan Catholic in nine innings that got the Panthers back to the .500 mark at 9-9 with Saturday's SCT cut-off looming.

Frank Rose, Sr., 3B, Central

Rose continues to rake as he went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in a 6-3 win over Manchester. He is now 9-for-13 in his last four games.

LACROSSE

Between Barnegat's incredible comeback to stun RBC and Jackson Liberty's overtime takedown of Howell, it was eventful first round in the SCT.

The most impressive victory belonged to Jackson Liberty, especially given that the Lions were playing in their first SCT game in their history, while Howell boasts a win over CBA this year. Matt Ferullo has developed a knack for the clutch goal, and he did it again for a landmark victory. The Lions also beat rival Jackson Memorial for the first time this season, again on an overtime goal by Ferullo, so they have come a long way in a short time to become a top eight team in the Shore.

Barnegat has now advanced to the SCT quarterfinals for two straight seasons after scoring five times in the final 2:48 for a 15-14 upset of the seventh-seeded Caseys. The Bengals had beaten Wall in the regular season to gain some momentum going into the SCT and then pulled off an eye-opener on the road.

Barnegat celebrated a stunning comeback in an upset of Red Bank Catholic on the road in the SCT on Tuesday. (Photo by Ray Richardson)
Barnegat celebrated a stunning comeback in an upset of Red Bank Catholic on the road in the SCT on Tuesday. (Photo by Ray Richardson)
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The wins by programs like Barnegat and Jackson Liberty over established Monmouth County programs also show how lacrosse in Ocean County continues to flourish. The SCT favorite, undefeated Southern, is bidding to become the first Ocean County team in history to take the SCT title, which has been won the past four years by Rumson-Fair Haven.

As far as Thursday's quarterfinals go, the best match-ups look to be the rematch of Freehold Township and CBA in the 3-6 game, and a red-hot Jackson Liberty team getting a rematch with a Manasquan squad that beat them in Class B South. The other match-ups are eighth-seeded Ocean, coming off its first SCT win in history, taking its crack at Southern, and the underdog Barnegat squad going in with nothing to lose against defending champion Rumson.

BASEBALL

Mater Dei Prep had the first celebratory pile-on of the season as the Seraphs captured their first division title in thrilling fashion on Ryan Fanner's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to beat St. Rose for just the second time in 25 games over the past 10 years. The Seraphs also accomplished the feat with two of their top players, junior pitcher/catcher (torn thumb tendon) Joe Ruth and senior pitcher/first baseman Liam Olausen (hip injury) out for the season. You can see both of them celebrating in the video below, including Olausen crutching his way out there to join the scrum.

Mater Dei's win means three division titles have already been decided in some fashion. The Seraphs can wrap up the outright crown with a win at home over Ranney on Thursday. What a whirlwind spring for the Seraphs, who initially thought the school might be closing in June after 50 years due to financial difficulties before the community rallied to raise $1 million and the Diocese of Trenton approved a plan to allow the school to continue. Then they battle all the injuries and still find a way to cap the year with a title.

In the other races, Toms River North pinned down a share of the Class A South title by beating Southern yesterday and can claim it all for themselves with a win over Lacey on Thursday. Colts Neck has clinched at least a tie for the Class B North title, but to claim it all for themselves the Cougars will have to get a win today over Wall, which has won 10 straight and is coming off a victory over Red Bank Catholic. If Colts Neck loses, that sets up a big game on Friday in which RBC could tie the Cougars for the overall title with a win.

There will be a winner-take-all game for the Class B South title on Thursday between Jackson Liberty and Barnegat. The Lions could've clinched a tie for the title yesterday but may have been caught looking ahead as they lost 5-1 to Pinelands to allow Barnegat to tie them for first thanks to a win over Lakewood. That means Thursday's game is for all the marbles.

Also, Manasquan can clinch at least a tie for the Class A Central title today with a win over Rumson-Fair Haven. There are still a bunch of scenarios that could play out in Class A North, where today's Howell-CBA, Middletown North-Manalapan, and Middletown South-Freehold Boro games are all important.

FOOTBALL

More college commitments to report.

More on Wednesday: 

  • Toms River South/Rutgers grad Todd Frazier is tearing it up for the Reds. His last five hits have all been home runs and he leads the National League in homers.
  • An Augusta GreenJackets team that features former Toms River South standout pitcher Connor Kaden starts a three-game series at the BlueClaws tonight.
  • A college golfer has returned after she had emergency brain surgery after being hit in the head by a golf ball.
  • A high school baseball team from west Baltimore tries to persevere during the turmoil in the city.
  • Pitcher Seth Lugo has gone from a 34th-round pick out of a Division III school to a prospect for the Mets.
  • The story behind the famous photo of people watching a high school football game while a building is on fire right in the background.
  • Isiah Thomas: The man who keeps inexplicably getting jobs despite being utterly incompetent and a terrible human being.

On tap for today: As I broke down in the section above, there are several teams playing games with baseball division title implications today. As for lacrosse, the SCT quarterfinals are coming up tomorrow at the home fields of the higher seeds, with the semifinals following on Saturday on the turf at Toms River East.

I'll end with Todd Frazier hitting his latest bomb and all the highlights from yesterday's Mater Dei Prep-St. Rose thriller, plus Frazier giving a local Cincy radio loudmouth the business on Twitter.

 

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