Adrenaline Shore Conference Baseball Tuesday NJSIAA Scoreboard, 6/7/22

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NJSIAA Tournament

Sectional Semifinals

Central Jersey Group IV

(2) Howell 3, (3) Jackson Memorial 2

Senior centerfielder Devon Smith made a diving catch on a fly ball to left-centerfield by senior Zach Crotchfelt to end the game and the Rebels edged the Jaguars to advance to the sectional final for the first time since 1994.

Howell senior right-hander Dan Furlong posted zeroes for the first six innings and took a 3-0 lead into the top of the seventh. Jackson Memorial loaded the bases with no outs on a hit-by-pitch, a single and an error, then broke up the shutout on a sacrifice fly by senior Chris Cartnick that also advanced junior Matt Koblos to third base.

Junior Charlie Meglio smoked a single into centerfield to cut the Howell lead to 3-2 and senior J.R. Osmond hit a fly ball to right for the second out, but also advanced senior Tom Kendrick to third base in the process.

Furlong fell behind, 2-1, to Crotchfelt but coaxed the Auburn commit into a flyball that hung up into a steady wind blowing in from center. Smith tracked it to the gap, curled as it got knocked down by the wind and made a diving catch coming in to end the game.

Howell picked up a key insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a bases-loaded balk called on Jackson Memorial junior starter Anthony Mehmet with two out and a 2-2 count on the batter.

The Rebels took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second, aided by back-to-back walks by Mehmet to leadoff the inning, followed by two Jaguars errors. Smith drove in the second of the two runs with an RBI single.

Howell will host No. 9 East Brunswick Friday in the sectional championship game.

Pitching

Top Hitters

Central Jersey Group III

(5) Colts Neck 4, (1) Steinert 1

Senior left-hander Anthony Gubitosi set a new single-season program record with his ninth win of the year and the Cougars (17-7-1) topped the Spartans (21-9) on the road to earn another trip to the sectional final, which they will host for a second consecutive season.

Gubitosi pitched a four-hitter and overcame six walks while striking out six. He allowed an earned run in the bottom of the first and did not crack the rest of the way.

Steinert's run in the bottom of the first was a respond to Colts Neck's two runs in the top of the inning. Senior Dave Cohen, who finished 2-for-3, singled home senior Brad Salamone with the first run and junior Ryan Tan came around to scored for a 2-0 Cougars lead.

Senior catcher Joe Cilea added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a two-out, two-run double and also threw out a would-be base-stealer in the game.

Salamone, Tan and senior Christian Rice each finished 1-for-3 for Colts Neck, which will take on No. 10 Middletown North in Friday's championship game.

(10) Middletown North 8, (6) Somerville 4

Colin Dowlen pitched a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts and also drove in three runs to help lead the Lions (18-10) past the Pioneers (15-14) and into the sectional final round for the first time since 2002.

Dowlen walked three and all four runs he allowed were unearned. He finished 1-for-4 at the plate and his three RBI came on an RBI groundout that opened the scoring and on a two-run single to stretch Middletown North's lead to 8-3 in the top of the eighth.

Senior Matt Adamson led the offense by going 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs and three RBI. Sophomore Dylan Briggs was 2-for-3 with a double a two runs scored, junior Colin McMahon went 1-for-3 with two RBI and junior Ryan Frontera finished 1-for-3 with a triple, run and an RBI for Middletown North.

The Lions will hit the road again Tuesday for the sectional final at No. 5 Colts Neck -- the team that ended Middletown North's 2021 season in the Central Jersey Group III quarterfinal round.

Central Jersey Group II

(1) Rumson-Fair Haven 12, (4) Voorhees 4

The Bulldogs scored the tying and go-ahead runs on two different Voorhees errors in the bottom of the third, then blew the game open with a seven-run sixth to pay back Vikings and advance to the sectional final for the first time since 2014.

Voorhees defeated Rumson, 10-7, in extra innings in the 2021 sectional quarterfinals at Rumson-Fair Haven in a game that took two days to play due to rain and lightning that suspended the game on the initial day. Voorhees went on to win the overall Group II championship.

Junior catcher Owen Kenney gave Rumson a 2-1 lead with an opposite-field, two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning and after Voorhees reclaimed a 4-2 lead in the top of the third, the Bulldogs went up 5-4 with three error-aided runs in the bottom of the third.

After a bases-loaded walk by Matt Rigby plated the first run of the sixth, senior Johnny Bruno lined a two-run single to left to stretch the lead to 8-4. Juniors Spencer Hobson and Griffin Shenman then followed with back-to-back two-run doubles to cap the scoring.

Junior right-hander John Goodes pitched 4 1/3 two-hit innings to earn the win in and Rumson coach Owen Stewart pulled the Rutgers commit after 68 pitches, leaving him eligible to throw as many as 82 in Friday's championship game against No. 2 Wall.

Pitching

Top Hitters

(2) Wall 3, (3) Governor Livingston 2

Junior Gabe Cavazzoni hit a go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning and senior Andrew Fischer fired three scoreless innings to nail down the save as the Crimson Knights (23-6) held off the Highlanders (23-7) to advance to a sectional final for the third time in four seasons.

Fischer also drove in classmate Nick Lovarco with the first run of the game after Lovarco singled to open the game, then came on in relief of junior Zach Szatkowski after the right-hander allowed two runs over the first four innings.

Senior leftfielder Jackson Coan closed out the win in style with a diving catch to secure the game's final out.

Wall will travel to play top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven Friday in the sectional final. The two teams met on May 19, with Rumson rallying for an 8-7 win in a game played between rounds of the Shore Conference Tournament and one day after Wall lost the Monmouth County Tournament final to Middletown South.

Central Jersey Group I

(2) Point Beach 9, (3) New Egypt 1

Seniors Hunter Roselli, Connor DeLorenzo and Phil Trebour each delivered an RBI single in a four-run second inning and the Garnet Gulls ran away with a win over the Warriors to reach the sectional final for the third consecutive season.

Junior Colin Reinhard added an RBI single in the third and Trebour capped his three-RBI day with a two-run single in the fifth that stretched Point Beach's lead to 9-1.

Junior Kyle Kolans recorded the first two outs of the fifth inning and exited with 66 pitches throw, leaving him eligible to throw up to 84 in Friday's sectional championship game.

Just as it did for the 2019 and 2021 sectional finals, Point Beach will travel to take on top-seeded Middlesex -- the four-time defending champion in the section -- on Friday in the sectional final. Middlesex defeated Point Beach, 2-1, in the 2021 final with the winning run scoring in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Pitching

Top Hitters

(1) Middlesex 11, (5) Shore 1

Junior John Dunleavy went 2-for-3 with two of Shore's four hits, but the Blue Devils (12-12) could not keep pace with the four-time defending sectional champions. Middlesex (23-5) will host No. 2 Point Beach in Friday's sectional final.

South Jersey Group IV

(1) Kingsway 8, (4) Central 6

Senior right-hander Cam Leiter crushed a opposite-field, two-run home run as part of a three-run, top-of-the-first inning for Central, but the top-seeded Dragons chipped away and fought past the Golden Eagles in a back-and-forth semifinals showdown.

Kingsway scored five runs in the bottom of the third -- highlighted by a two-run single by Carter Williams -- to erase the 3-0 deficit, but Central came right back in the top of the fourth with back-to-back RBI singles from junior Elijah Kiernan and senior Alex Heinrich to tie the game, 5-5.

Heinrich was thrown out advancing to third base, but the Golden Eagles still managed to take the lead in the fourth when Leiter singled and scored on a throwing error with two out.

John Rorick singled and scored on an error to pull Kingsway even in the bottom of the fourth and the Dragons took the lead on an RBI groundout after that same error allowed another runner to get to third base.

A one-out error brought senior Shane Sajewicz to the plate as the potential tying run but Kingsway put the game away with a double-play.

Pitching

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South Jersey Group II

(3) Haddon Heights 13, (10) Manchester 3 (6 Innings)

Senior Mike Damato cracked a two-run home run in the top of the sixth to pull Manchester within 8-3, but the Garnets (20-7) escaped further damage in the sixth and racked up five more runs in the bottom of the inning to end a spirited sectional title defense by the Hawks (10-15-1).

Haddon Heights will travel to play top-seeded Cedar Creek Friday in the South Jersey Group II championship game.

South Jersey Non-Public A

(1) St. Augustine 10, (4) St. John Vianney 3

Senior Matteo Pasculli went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, but the Hermits (26-1) went off for seven runs in the first two innings and never looked back in a win over the Lancers (18-7-1), reaching the sectional final for the sixth straight season.

Pasculli doubled home two runs to cut the St. Augustine lead to 7-2 in the top of the third and junior Andrew Zottar made it 9-3 with an RBI single in the top of the fifth.

St. Augustine will host No. 6 Christian Brothers Academy in Friday's sectional final in search of a sixth straight sectional championship. CBA is the last team other than St. Augustine to win a South Jersey Non-Public A championship, which came in 2015.

(6) CBA 11, (2) St. Joseph Metuchen 0 (6 Innings)

CBA's senior trio of Gavin Kus, Jack Frankovic and Colin Reilly turned in performances to remember and the Colts rode a 17-hit attack along with shutdown performance on the mound by its senior ace to a convincing win over the Falcons.

Kus clocked a two-run home run as part of a three-RBI game, while Frankovic went a perfect 5-for-5 and also swiped two bases.

CBA's big day at the plate turned out to be overkill with Reilly on the mound. The Tulane commit pitched a three-hit shutout on an ultra-economic 60 pitches, which makes him eligible to throw up to 90 pitches in Friday's sectional final at top-seeded St. Augustine. The host Hermits will enter that game as the No. 1 ranked team in the state.

Friday's championship appearance will be CBA's first in an NJSIAA sectional final since the Colts beat Bishop Eustace in the 2015 South Jersey Non-Public A final on the way to finishing No. 1 in the state to finish the year.

Pitching

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