Baseball – 2014 All-Shore Teams

Shore Sports Network All-Shore Baseball Team

All-Shore teams are selected by Staff Writer Matt Manley based on statistics, input from various coaches and first-hand observation of the teams and players. Contact Matt via twitter @Matt_Manley.

First Team

Catcher

Anthony Santoro, Sr., St. John Vianney

A four-year starter for the Lancers, Santoro capped his varsity career with a senior season full of highlights, both individual and for his St. John Vianney team. Santoro reached the 100-hit mark for his career in a Monmouth County Tournament win over Long Branch in April, becoming the first of three players on his own team to notch 100 hits in a career. He hit 10 doubles and two home runs, with one of the homers coming in that tournament win over Long Branch and the other coming off of second-team pitcher Shane McCarthy of Rumson. Santoro went 2-for-3 with two RBI against Gloucester Catholic junior ace and University of Maryland recruit John Murphy in the South Jersey Non-Public A Final, including a walk-off single with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the Lancers to the Group IV championship game. The backstop of the first St. John Vianney state championship team in 33 years, Santoro will continue his career at Rutgers University.

Anthony Santoro walk-off single to beat Gloucester Cath. from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Anthony Santoro blasts a 2-run HR from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

First Base

Joe Rotelli, Sr., St. John Vianney

Rotelli mashed Shore Conference pitching from the beginning of the season to the end, but it was his work outside the conference – specifically in the state tournament – that defined the best offensive season of any player in the Shore Conference this year. During St. John Vianney’s state championship run, Rotelli went 10-for-18 with five doubles, a home run and nine RBI over five Lancers wins and had at least one extra-base hit in each game. He hit his lone postseason home run in a 10-0 route of Bishop Eustace and had a five-RBI game in a 13-9 win over CBA.

Prior to the postseason, Rotelli also delivered one of the biggest regular-season hits for the Lancers when he belted a go-ahead two-run double in the ninth inning of a 3-1 extra-inning win over Red Bank Catholic, which helped SJV win its first division championship since 2008. Rotelli was the last of three St. John Vianney teammates to reach 100 career hits this season, but Rotelli was also working at a disadvantage having missed 30 days of action during his sophomore year while waiting out the transfer process. After beginning his career as a varsity letter-winner at Holmdel, Rotelli was the key cog in a state championship lineup and will continue his playing career at Carson-Newman University.

Joe Rotelli bangs a double from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Infield

Al Molina, Sr., Red Bank Catholic

Not only was Molina the top all-around infielder in the Shore Conference, but the senior right-hander also emerged as the Caseys ace on the mound and one of the most dominant strikeout pitchers in the conference. Molina caught fire in mid-April and saw very little to hit the rest of the season. During a six-game stretch in the first month of the season, the Coastal Carolina recruit went 13-for-19 with two doubles, two homers and nine RBI. In the second game of that stretch, Molina went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double in a game started by Shore Regional All-Shore first-team utility man Matt Cosentino. In the final game of that stretch, Molina had, perhaps, the Shore’s best two-way game of the season in his first ever career start on the mound, when he went 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI at the plate and struck out 12 in six three-hit innings in a 9-5 win over Monmouth.

Molina struck out a career-high 13 while pitching into the eighth inning with 130-plus pitches in a tough-luck, 2-1 loss to Christian Brothers Academy in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals. Molina was the lone Shore Conference high school senior to be selected in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, with the Philadelphia Phillies taking him in the 29th round. He remains unsigned and is currently committed to Coastal Carolina.

Al Molina long two-run double from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Molina big K to end the 7th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Brandon Janofsky, Jr., Jackson Memorial

Not only did Janofsky build on his solid 2013 sophomore season by adding power and patience at the plate while taking his glove from second base to shortstop, but he also established himself as one of the top pitchers in the Shore Conference in his first season as a high school starter. As a sophomore last year, Janofsky had a batting average and slugging percentage under .300 and an on-base percentage below .350 while playing a quality second base. He proceeded to blow those numbers out of the water this year thanks to a late-season power surge that netted him six doubles, a triple and four home runs after his only extra-base hits last year were two doubles.

All four of Janofsky’s 2014 home runs came in tournament games, including home runs in three straight NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV games. He hit an inside-the-park home run in a quarterfinal win over Howell, a lead-off home run in a 16-4 drubbing of East Brunswick in the sectional semifinal, and hit a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth inning of a 6-2 win over Monroe in the sectional final. His game against Howell in a 2-1 Jaguars win gives Molina a run for his money in “best two-way game in the Shore Conference,” as Janofsky struck out 13 in a complete-game effort while also scoring both Jackson runs. Janofsky’s final masterpiece on the mound came in the Group IV final, when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hitter and seven strikeouts in a 2-0 win over Roxbury that gave Jackson Memorial its first state title since 1972. Janofsky will return for his senior year as one of the Shore’s top two-way talents.

Janofsky 2-run single in the fourth from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Brandon Janofsky K ends the 6th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Joey Rose, So., Toms River North

After entering the season as one of the more highly-regarded players in a talented sophomore class at the Shore, Rose lived up to any and all expectations by producing the best statistical season of any hitter in Class A South while also moving from his natural third base position to play a solid shortstop for the Mariners. He led all A South hitters in on-base and slugging percentage, was third in batting average, and second in both doubles and RBI. He ranked in the top 10 in the Shore conference in both on-base percentage and doubles and was 12th in slugging percentage. His first home run of his varsity career came in a 10-2 win over Brick on May 5 and hit two more homers to close out his season. Rose ripped two doubles in a big 8-5 win against Class A South co-champion and crosstown rival Toms River East on April 25. Rose will return as top junior hitter in the conference and among the best in the state.

Joey Rose lines a curve into LCF from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Outfield

Brendan Madigan, Sr., Red Bank Catholic

It’s hard to ignore the story that Madigan’s offensive numbers tell, but Madigan’s defensive exploits this season were also All-Shore worthy. Prior to the season, Madigan agreed to move from second base to center field in order to open up a spot for his younger brother, sophomore Evan Madigan. All Madigan did was play a lockdown center field while making a serious run at 50 hits, ending up 47 hits to match Jackson Memorial 2011 graduate Matt Meleo, who reached the mark as a junior for Jackson Memorial’s Group IV finalist squad in 2010. Prior to this season, Madigan had not hit a home run in his varsity career, but he hit three home runs during a five-game stretch in May, including a key long ball in an 8-4 win over St. John Vianney in the Shore Conference Tournament round of 16. Madigan also reached the 100-hit milestone in May as he made his push toward leading the Shore Conference in hits while finishing fourth in triples, third in runs scored, fifth in RBI, sixth in batting average, 10th in slugging percentage and 16th in stolen bases.

Brendan Madigan RBI single from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Evan Pietronico, Sr., St. John Vianney

The third of the 100-hit seniors for St. John Vianney, Pietronico picked up where he left off last season, when he was one of the steadiest left-handed bats in the conference and earned a first-team spot for his effort. Pietronico is one of three players to make the All-Shore first team for a second straight year and while he did it with a little less power this season, he exhibited one of the best eyes in the Shore Conference and added some defensive gems to his highlight reel. Despite racking up 36 hits, eight extra-base hits and the fourth-best on-base percentage in the Shore Conference, Pietronico’s seminal play of his senior season was a catch he made while leaning over the right field wall to help St. John Vianney preserve a three-run lead in the Non-Public A final against St. Joseph Montvale. During the Lancers’ first three games of the state tournament – in which they scored 36 runs against Notre Dame, Bishop Eustace and CBA – Pietronico was 6-for-10 with two doubles and six runs scored. Pietronico will continue his career at New Jersey Institute of Technology next season.

Evan Pietronico 2-run HR in the 1st from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Russell Messler, Sr., Toms River South

The prevailing opinion among coaches and close observers of Class A South was that Messler had a bad year, and based on the standards he set over his first two varsity seasons, he did have a bad year. As it turns out, we learned that Messler’s “bad year” is still an All-Shore year. For the third straight season, the slugging center fielder of the Indians is an All-Shore first teamer, despite failing to hit .400 after he hit .500 or better in each of his first two varsity campaigns and registering career-lows in doubles, runs scored, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and stolen bases. Fortunately for him, he is not graded against himself, but rather against the field and among Shore Conference outfielders, he still belongs in the discussion with the Shore’s best to patrol the vast grass.

Messler finished third in the Shore Conference in home runs and was third among everyday outfielders in slugging percentage, all while playing almost the entire season with an ailing hamstring that limited him in the field and made it difficult to turn on pitches. Despite the struggles, Messler muscled up for a triple and a run scored in a 2-1 loss to Central in the Ocean County Tournament, which was significant because it was the lone hit of the game off of Alabama recruit Andrew DiPiazza and the ball one-hopped the wall in left-center, the deepest park of the field at Ken Frank Stadium. Living up to his standards set during his sophomore and junior seasons would have been difficult in a healthy season, so the output that Messler managed was plenty impressive given the circumstances. He’ll head to Howard College in Texas next year having racked up eye-popping three-year numbers at Toms River South: a .461 average with 113 hits, 14 home runs, 22 doubles, 10 triples, 83 runs scored, 62 RBI and a .804 slugging percentage.

Russell Messler triple to deep CF off DiPiazza from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Designated Hitter

Morgan Maguire, Jr., Rumson-Fair Haven

Maguire entered the season as one half of a two-headed monster at the top of the Rumson pitching rotation and while he lived up to his end on that front, his pitching was overshadowed by one of the best offensive seasons in the conference. The junior Old Dominion recruit was an on-base machine for the Bulldogs, leading the Shore Conference with an average of .600 and an on-base percentage better than .700. Only St. John Vianney slugger Joe Rotelli eclipsed Maguire’s .883 slugging percentage, which was aided by his nine doubles, one triple and two home runs. Maguire had his best game of the season when he went 3-for-3 with a home run, triple and four RBI in a win over Manasquan in April and also went 4-for-5 with two RBI in two games vs. St. John Vianney, both started by first-team left-hander Justin Chin.

Morgan Maguire single vs. Chin from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Utility

Matt Cosentino, Sr., Shore

After missing the beginning of his junior season with a shoulder injury, Cosentino entered his senior season with a clean bill of health and although there was some initial rust, the end result was more of what the Shore Conference has come to expect from the four-year varsity starter. Cosentino has been part of the dog days in Shore Regional baseball and his career ended with a Group I championship and a 19-win season. While he pitched fairly well during the regular season, Cosentino turned it up a notch in the Group I tournament. He went 4-0 in the state playoffs, including complete-game wins over defending Group I champion Middlesex, a shutout of a 28-win Pennsville team that entered with a cumulative team batting average of .400, and a Group I championship victory against Ridgefield.

Cosentino’s playoff bat was not quite as potent as his regular-season stroke, but he capped his dream state tournament and senior season with a two-run home run to put the Group I final out of reach for Ridgefield. In addition to steamrolling through Group I, Cosentino also threw a complete game in a 3-1 win at Toms River South in the Shore Conference Tournament first round and earned a win a high-scoring game against Red Bank Catholic earlier in the season. Throw in top-10 Shore rankings in on-base-percentage (fifth), home runs (tied for third), runs scored (sixth), stolen bases (tied for second), pitching wins (tied for third) and total strikeouts (seventh) and 2014 was an all-around dominant season for the George Washington University recruit.

Cosentino 2-run home run onto the roof gives Shore a 6-1 lead in the 7th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Cosentino diving catch to start double play from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Pitchers

Luca Dalatri, So., Christian Brothers Academy

The Shore Sports Network Pitcher of the Year opened his season with a one-hit, one-walk masterpiece against Middletown South and continued to spin gem after gem the rest of the way. It all added up to a perfect 11-0 record in 11 appearances, which included nine complete games and five shutouts in 10 starts. He shut down every Class A North opponent except Manalapan and Marlboro, who were fortunate enough to miss his turn in the rotation. Against Freehold Township – the Shore Conference Tournament’s No. 1 seed – he pitched two complete games, allowing eight hits and no walks over 14 innings while striking out 19.

After going 5-0 to start the season in Class A North, Dalatri went 6-0 in the Monmouth County and Shore Conference Tournaments, leading CBA to titles in each. He shutout Wall on two hits over six innings in the MCT quarterfinals and fired a five-hitter to beat Freehold Township in the semifinals. In the Shore Conference Tournament, he earned a win in relief against Shore Regional in his shakiest outing of the season (three hits, two walks allowed in 3 1/3 scoreless innings), then bounced back with a two-hitter against Central, an eight-inning five-hitter vs. Red Bank Catholic and a seven-hit shutout against Barnegat in the championship. Dalatri is on pace to shatter almost every major pitching record at CBA after two stellar years to begin his career and with a good run of health, could even challenge Casey Gaynor’s Shore Conference wins record, which stands at 34. With a fastball that has been clocked in the low-90-miles-per-hour range, three playable secondary pitches and advanced command of the strike zone, Dalatri should return in 2014 with or on the cusp of a high-level Division I verbal commitment.

Dalatri K seals SCT championship from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Jason Groome, So., Barnegat

Not many people would step out on a limb and make the case for anyone other than Dalatri and his 11-0 record for Shore Conference Pitcher of the Year. On the whole, however, Groome has a pretty legitimate case to be the Pitcher of the Year and by the end of this past week’s Carpenter Cup, he had coaches raving about his potential as a possible high draft pick in 2016. Armed with a fastball that sat at 91-to-93 miles-per-hour by the end of the year, a hammer curveball and a fast-developing changeup to go with an 6-foot-5 frame, Groome is the kind of left-handed prospect that scouts could be drooling over in May of 2016.

Enough about the future, though. Groome was brilliant in the here-and-now as he nearly led Barnegat to its first ever tournament championship after he did help get them to the 20-win mark for the first time in the eight-year history of the program. He led the Shore Conference in strikeouts, strikeouts-per-seven innings (12.21) and WHIP, while finishing tied for second in ERA and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.64) among qualified starters. Groome struck out at least 13 batters in four different games, including a 16-strikeout onslaught in a 1-0 loss to Buena in the South Jersey Group II final, a loss Groome took despite not allowing an earned run. Two more of the 13-strikeout games came in tournament games, the first of which came in 5 2/3 innings of one-hit relief against Monmouth in the Shore Conference Tournament round-of-16. Of his eight starts, two of them were two-hit complete games – including a two-hitter with no walks and six strikeouts against Group IV champion Jackson Memorial – and two were one-hit complete games. As long as he remains healthy, Groome will return as one of the state’s top pitchers next season.

Groome strikeout to end fifth from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Jason Groome strikeout on a nasty change from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Andrew DiPiazza, Sr., Central

If DiPiazza or any of his coaches were offered the information that the Central ace and University of Alabama recruit would throw only 44 2/3 innings and be shut down before the NJSIAA Tournament, the ensuing assumption might have been that the Golden Eagles would be going at it without their best weapon. While that is true to some extent, even if DiPiazza – shut down after a May 11 start with bone spurs in his pitching elbow – couldn’t dominate on the mound, he still dominated in the batter’s box. After hitting below .300 over his first three varsity seasons with two home runs, DiPiazza broke out with a .423 average, an on-base percentage above .500 and a school single-season record .732 slugging percentage. He blasted five home runs and seven doubles to put him among the league leaders and went 5-for-10 with a homer and three RBI in four Ocean County Tournament games.

Ah yes, and then there’s the pitching. DiPiazza did not have a chance to rack up the kind of numbers that he did when he was the All Shore Media/Shore Sports Network Pitcher of the Year last season, but in many ways, he was able to raise his game. While his strikeouts-per-seven-innings dropped to below 10 after coming in at just under 12 last year, DiPiazza also cut down on his walks this season by issuing only 1.88 per seven innings after allowing 2.97 last year. He also finished the job against two Class A South powers, pitching a one-hit, 11-strikeout gem in a 2-1 win over Toms River South in the OCT quarterfinals and a complete game against a high-powered Toms River North offense to advance to the OCT final. For his two complete games and his .500 hitting over four games, DiPiazza earned OCT MVP honors, as Central won its first county title since 1986. DiPiazza said he expects to resume throwing in mid-August and to eventually compete for a starting rotation position at Alabama as a freshman.

Andrew DiPiazza RBI double from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Andrew DiPiazza strikeout with the fastball from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Justin Chin, Sr., St. John Vianney

While the other four pitchers on the All-Shore first team can ratchet their fastballs up to 90 miles-per-hour and can flash stuff that would catch any scouts eye, Chin looks far less imposing that your average first-team All-Shore pitcher. That’s probably what Bishop Eustace, Gloucester Catholic and St. Joseph of Montvale hitters were all thinking before Chin confounded each of them on the way to a 3-0 mark during St. John Vianney’s NJSIAA Non-Public A championship run, which also capped a 10-0 season for the left-hander. By taking velocity off his fastball in exchange for location and movement, Chin shut out offensive factory Bishop Eustace on seven hits, took a shutout to the sixth in a 3-2 win over four-time defending state champion Gloucester Catholic, and gave the Lancers 6 1/3 stellar innings on three-day’s rest against St. Joseph in the Non-Public A Final. In the three state tournament starts against three state powers, Chin allowed four runs on 18 hits and just one walk with 10 strikeouts over 20 1/3 innings. He also threw an perfect inning of relief in a 13-3 first-round win over Notre Dame. Chin will pitch at New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he will play with fellow SJV alumni and All-Shore First-teamer Evan Pietronico.

Justin Chin K ends the 6th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Dan Serreino, Sr., Jackson Liberty

Serreino's season started off with quite the challenge, as he opposed DiPiazza on Central's opening day with Jackson Liberty already sitting at 0-1. Both starters took the no-decision, but Jackson Liberty would go on to lose the second of four games to open the season. Eventually, the Lions found their groove, which also happened to coincide with Serreino hitting his stride on the mound. The Seton Hall recruit got his season - and his team's season - on track when he tossed six strong innings and struck out eight in an 8-3 win over Jackson Memorial on April 19.

From there, Serreino began to rack up the strikeouts and the wins, starting with an 11 strikeout game against Point Boro. While that was a boon to the strikeout column on his baseball card, it paled in comparison to his performance against Rumson in the first round of the Shore Conference Tournament. Serreino pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out 17 Bulldogs, the highest single-game strikeout total in the Shore Conference this year. Serreino also showed his bulldog side when he went the distance - the maximum allowed by rule in one game - in the Lions' 10-inning loss to Hamilton West in the Central Jeresy Group III quarterfinals. Combine that loss with two losses to Groome and Barnegat and Sofield's record could look much better than it is at 5-4. Even if the individual record doesn't look the part, the stuff and the numbers are more than enough to secure Serreino a spot in the Shore Conference's all-star rotation.

Dan Serreino strikes out Drumright from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Second Team

Catcher

Dan Wondrack, Jr., Wall

Fast Fact: Over the last two years, Wall has hit four home runs as a team. Wondrack has all of them.

Dan Wondrack 2-run HR from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Brandon Martorano, So., Christian Brothers Academy

Fast Fact: Martorano – a University of North Carolina recruit – matched a single-season CBA record with his five triples this year.

First Base

Anthony Ferlise, Sr., Toms River North

Fast Fact: Ferlise led all Class A South hitters with a .451 batting average and was third behind only Rose and Messler in slugging percentage.

Infield

Jon Meola, Jr., Toms River East

Fast Fact: Of Meola’s four career home runs, two have come against rival Toms River North, including one this year.

Jon Meola 2-run HR in the 7th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Carmen Sclafani, Jr., Brick

Fast Fact: A Toms River North transfer, Sclafani took a liking to the Brick-Brick Memorial rivalry. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and drove in three in a Green Dragons win over the Mustangs in the Ocean County Tournament first round.

Andrew Schulz, Sr., Shore

Fast Fact: After going homerless in his varsity career prior to the Central Jersey Group I final, Schulz hit his first career home run and drove in all three Shore runs in a 3-2 championship win over New Egypt.

Andrew Schulz RBI triple in 1st from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Nick Zbranak, Sr., Brick

Fast Fact: Zbranak’s 29 RBI ranked second in the Shore Conference this season and no other non-catcher had a larger separation between their runs scored and RBI totals.

Nick Zbranak RBI 2B from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Outfield

Will Morgan, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy

Fast Fact: Morgan was one of only two Shore Conference players with at least 15 extra-base hits (Joe Rotelli) and the only player with at least 10 doubles and 10 stolen bases.

Will Morgan RBI double in the 1st from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Matt Vincenti, Jr., Monmouth

Fast Fact: Vincenti stepped up against the best of Class A Central and the state. He hit his lone homer to lead off a Falcons win over Group I champion Shore and went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI in a win over St. John Vianney.

Christian Bearden, Sr., Central

Fast Fact: Bearden’s 12 doubles were second in the Shore Conference behind only Joe Rotelli and two of those doubles came against Luca Dalatri and Dan Serreino. Along with DiPiazza, Bearden is one of only two players to reach base against all three of All-Shore first-teamers Jason Groome, Serreino and Dalatri.

Christian Bearden 2B to deep CF from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Designated Hitter

Joe Sadler, Sr., Holmdel

Fast Fact: Sadler set Holmdel career records for hits, doubles, RBI and home runs in his four illustrious years as a varsity starter.

Utility

Ryan Orender, Jr., Wall

Fast Fact: The starting third baseman since last season, Ordender was pushed into starting pitching duty and ended up one of only three Shore players (Al Molina, Andrew DiPiazza) to finish the top 25 in the conference in batting average, on-base percentage, ERA and WHIP.

Ryan Orender walk-off single from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Pitchers

Matt Guarino, Sr., Jackson Memorial

Fast Fact: ERA can be a stat equally as cruel as won-loss record. Guarino increased his strikeout-to-walk ratio from 13-to-9 last year to 55-to-11 this year and allowed 46 hits in 60 innings after giving up 29 in 27 3/2 last year. Despite the improved control, increased strikeout rate and decreased hit rate, his ERA improved by merely 0.06.

Guarino strikes out Flacco to end the game from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Tyler Swiggart, Sr., Wall

Fast Fact(s): Wall scored a total of zero runs in Swiggart’s three losses, which came against CBA, Old Bridge and Barnegat. Swiggart’s 1.07 walks-per-seven innings ranked third in the Shore among pitchers with at least 30 innings, but only second on the team behind classmate Bobby Patterson.

Tyler Swiggart K to end the 1st from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Ryan Wares, Sr., Howell

Fast Fact: Another example of a pitcher's won-loss record being pointless: Wares had a 1.33 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP, nine walks and 16 strikeouts over 21 innings in his three wins. In all of the other games? A 1.05 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, eight walks and 34 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings.

Shane McCarthy, Sr., Rumson-Fair Haven

Fast Fact: McCarthy led all qualified Shore Conference pitchers (21 innings or more) in strikeout-to-walk ratio, posting a mark better than 11-to-1.

Shane McCarthy strikeout from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

John Corbett, Jr., Barnegat

Fast Fact: Corbett beat Toms River North, Toms River East and Wall this season and held all three of those teams – plus CBA in an SCT final loss – to two runs or fewer in each start.

John Corbett strikeout in the 1st from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Third Team

Catcher

Mike Alescio, Sr., Red Bank Catholic

Fast Fact: Alescio – a Seton Hall recruit – went 2-for-3 against Luca Dalatri and went 1-for-2 with a double off the wall against Justin Chin in the first meeting with St. John Vianney.

Mike Alescio single in the 4th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Nick Blaney, Sr., Shore

Fast Fact: Blaney led all catchers with 25 RBI and was the only catcher with multiple home runs to also hit triple.

First Base

Nick Cardace, Sr., Freehold Township

Fast Fact: Cardace is one of five players to pick up two hits against Luca Dalatri in one game, but the Arcadia University recruit is the only player to drive in two runs against him in one game.

8 - Nick Cardace 2B to deep RCF from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Infield

Dan Valerio, Sr., Monmouth

Fast Fact: Valerio led all regular second baseman in slugging percentage, triples, homers and RBI.

Chris Morris, Sr., St. John Vianney

Fast Fact: In addition to his production in the lineup, Morris gave the Lancers flawless defense up the middle at shortstop during the state tournament. Morris handled all 18 of his chances over four games for a Vianney infield that did not commit an error.

Chris Morris RBI single scores Rotelli from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

James Sofield, Sr., Jackson Liberty

Fast Fact: Shortstop is usually home to a crop of speedsters, but Sofield led all regular shortstops with 14 stolen bases, which was tied for 11th in the conference. That athleticism shouldn’t be a surprise considering Sofield is the only 1,000-point scorer in Jackson Liberty basketball history, and the only one on this list (for now).

James Sofield great diving play from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Tyler Kapuscinski, Jr., Colts Neck

Fast Fact: On a team that performed in the clutch, Kapuscinski - a Marist commit - was the player the Cougars wanted up in the clutch. His lone triple of the season ignited the winning rally with two out in the bottom of the 11th inning of the Monmouth County Tournament quarterfinal, and he also delivered a two-out, game-tying single in the bottom of the seventh inning against Brick in the Shore Conference Tournament.

Tyler Kapuscinski game-tying RBI 1B in the 7th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Outfield

Joe Piscopo, Jr., Matawan

Fast Fact: A second-team All-Shore basketball selection this past winter, Piscopo apparently found time to fine-tune his swing. Of all All-Shore position players, Piscopo saw the biggest jump in his batting average from last year, better than .200 points.

Miles Moody, Sr., Ocean

Fast Fact: Of the top 10 stolen base leaders in the Shore Conference, Moody leads the group in doubles and RBI.

Miles Moody great diving catch to rob Willey from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Johnny Kussmaul, Jr., St. Rose

Fast Fact: Kussmaul answered the bell outside of B Central, collecting multiple hits in games vs. CBA, St. John Vianney and Toms River North. He went 3-for-3 a run scored in the SCT loss to Toms River North.

Designated Hitter

Anthony LaVigne, Sr., St. John Vianney

Fast Fact: An oft-overlooked cog in the Lancers offense, LaVigne is one of only seven Shore Conference players to post a slugging percentage of .600 or better in each of the last two seasons. Coincidentally, two of the other six are his teammates – Anthony Santoro and Joe Rotelli.

Anthony LaVigne RBI double from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Utility

C.J. Hirschy, Sr., Toms River East

Fast Fact: Hirschy did not start a game on the mound prior to this year and he ended up a go-to starter and middle-of-the order bat on a Class A South co-championship team. After winning his first two starts of the season, he fell victim to low run support and won just one the rest of the way.

CJ Hirschy strikeout to end the 2nd from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Pitchers

Devin Tomei, Sr., Manchester

Fast Fact: Although run support was a problem for Tomei, he had enough to pick up a win each in games started by Andrew DiPiazza and Jason Groome. In the win over Barnegat and Groome, Tomei pitched an eight-inning shutout for a 1-0 win.

Devin Tomei K ends the 7th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Anthony Arneth, Jr., Central

Fat Fact: Arneth set a trend for two other very good pitchers – Luca Dalatri and Buena’s Denny Brady – by pitching a shutout against Barnegat in a tournament championship game. His six-hit shutout in the OCT final preceded a less-heralded start against Burlington Township in which Arneth allowed only one infield hit in an eight-inning, one-hit loss.

Devin Tomei K ends the 7th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Andrew Nardi, Jr., Marlboro

Fast Fact: Nardi will likely be looking to improve is stamina this offseason after he lost potential wins in the last two innings of four games this season, including in the Central Jersey IV semifinals against Monroe. Despite than, among Class A North pitchers, Nardi finished second in innings, third in ERA and third in strikeouts.

Ryan Lillie, Sr., Ocean

Fast Fact: Two of Lillie’s three losses were extra-inning defeats against Class B North division rival Wall. Other than those two hiccups, he was strong in complete-game, tournament outings against Manalapan in the SCT and Middletown South in Central Jersey Group III.

Ryan Lillie K to end the 4th from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Austin Markmann, So., Middletown South

Fast Fact: Markmann threw consecutive shutouts in 1-0 games, including a shutout of Non-Public A St. John Vianney in the Monmouth County Tournament. His only rough outing was against Colts Neck in the MCT semifinals.

Austin Markmann strikeout ends 2nd straight shutout from All Shore Media on Vimeo.

Evan Lobato, Sr., Brick

Fast Fact: Lobato’s best outing actually came in relief, although the line resembled that of a start. The right-hander allowed five hits and struck out 11 in 6 2/3 shutout innings to help the Green Dragons beat Toms River North in 13 innings.