Baseball – Barnegat Tops Jackson Liberty for 1st Outright Division Title

JACKSON – The 2014 season was one that included a number of firsts for the Barnegat baseball program, but for as much as the Bengals accomplished last season, it was what they did not accomplish that helped them add another first to the rapidly-growing program résumé.

A year after falling short in the Class B South division race and losing in three different postseason tournament championship games during their first 20-win season, the Bengals captured their first outright Shore Conference division championship Thursday by beating two-time defending champion Jackson Liberty, 8-5, to win the B South crown.

Barnegat won a share of the Class B South championship in 2008, and although last year’s team surpassed the 2008 team in win total and postseason success, it finished only 7-7 within the division. Barnegat’s only three non-division losses last year were its three championship losses – the Ocean County Tournament final to Central, the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II final to Buena and the Shore Conference Tournament final to Christian Brothers Academy.

“I knew we weren’t going to be rattled by this type of game and this type of atmosphere,” Barnegat coach Dan McCoy said. “We pretty much saw four teams dogpile right in front of our faces last year and I don’t think we forgot that.”

The Bengals scored four runs with two out in the top of the fourth inning to open the scoring and never looked back. Senior right-hander John Corbett went the distance on the mound and benefited from the mid-game offensive outburst, one that built the lead as wide as 8-1.

If Thursday’s game could be considered a championship game like the three Barnegat lost last year, the difference this time around was that the Bengals' offense delivered. Barnegat was shut out in all three championship games last year.

“We’ve been hitting the ball as a team lately, so the biggest difference coming into this game for me was I knew we were going to score a run,” Corbett quipped. “Last year, it just felt like as soon as we gave up a run, the game was probably over, and it’s hard to pitch like that. We’ve had much better at-bats this year and a lot of guys have stepped up and contributed.”

Corbett allowed three earned runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out nine. His curveball was his best two-strike weapon Thursday, as he finished off eight of his nine punchouts with the curveball.

“When I got ahead, no one really hit my curveball today,” Corbett said. “There was one dribbler that got past me and that was the only time they put it in play. I’m more confident with it this year.”

“This year, he tried a little bit of a different grip and now it’s just all 12-6,” Barnegat senior catcher Nik Fraim said. “It just has a nasty drop to it and nobody can hit it right now. If they do, they’ve been lucky.”

During Barnegat’s SCT run last year, Corbett won three games and also started the championship against CBA. He relied heavily on a sinking fastball to generate groundballs, and his best performance of the season was a five-hit shutout against Wall in the SCT semifinal in which he cruised through seven innings on 83 pitches without recording a strikeout. Thursday was an example of Corbett’s effort to put hitters away, even if it means throwing a few more pitches.

“Last year, I was fortunate,” Corbett said. “I’d get through a lot of games throwing very few pitches with hitters swinging at my first-pitch fastball. Now, I got a little stronger, so now my first-pitch fastball gets by them and I have to pitch to them 0-1 instead of getting an out on the first pitch.”

Senior Seamus Brazill broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a two-out, RBI infield single between the third base line and the pitcher's mound. Corbett followed with a single and sophomore Anthony Lani then singled home pinch-runner Evan Albanese to make it 2-0. Sophomore Justin Diefenbach capped the inning with a two-run double to left-center, the highlight of his 2-for-3 day at the plate with a run scored.

“If you look around the field, we started four sophomores today,” McCoy said. “Having that core of experienced players is key, but to be a good program year after year, you need to be able to bring up those young guys and plug them into key roles, and these guys have been important contributors to us. 'Deef' has even given us some innings on the mound, so it’s to the point where we expect him and those other young guys to come through.”

Junior Jared Kacso stole home on a first-and-third play with one out in the fifth to give Barnegat a 5-1 lead, and the Bengals gave Corbett an 8-1 lead with three more runs in the top of the sixth. Sophomore shortstop Aaron McLaughlin and Fraim each had an RBI single in the sixth and Kacso capped Barnegat's scoring with a sacrifice fly. Kacso finished 1-for-2 with two runs scored.

Mike Zak hit an RBI double in the sixth and starting pitcher Brandon Pallante drove in two with a double in the seventh for Jackson Liberty. Ryan Van Wickle was 2-for-4 with a run scored and also threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Pallante.

Barnegat will now focus its attention on the Ocean County Tournament, which continues for the Bengals on Saturday when they host Brick Memorial in the tournament semifinals. The Bengals now have Brazill – the team leader in innings, strikeouts and ERA among pitchers with more than three innings – and Corbett lined up to finish the tournament.

The tandem at the top of the rotation has helped Barnegat overcome the loss of left-hander and Vanderbilt commit Jason Groome, who transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, for the second semester of the current school year. Groome struck out more than 100 batters in 61 innings last year and is now being touted as a first-round talent and a potential top-10 pick in the 2016 MLB Draft. While neither Barnegat nor any other team has the ability to replace the dominance of a pitcher like Groome, the Bengals have done it with an all-hands-on-deck approach.

“If I told you that the kids don’t have a chip on their shoulder, I’d be lying,” McCoy said. “I told the guys before the year that everyone is going to look at us as a one-man team, and we are not a one-man team. Yes, Jay won six games last year, he’s going to be great and he made a decision that he felt was best for him and his family.

“But our guys are good. If he was still here, one of those guys (Corbett and Brazill) doesn’t get a lot of innings, and who do you pick? Last year, it was Seamus who lost those innings, and he’s thrown the ball great this year. Last year, it was John who stepped up for us, this year it’s been Seamus. Did we lose a great pitcher? Absolutely. But we still have two guys who give us a chance against anybody, and if we hit the ball like we have lately and we catch it behind those guys, that’s enough to get us where we want to go.”

Box Score

Barnegat 8, Jackson Liberty 5

2B: Diefenbach
SAC: Diefenbach
SF: Kacso
SB: Rogan, Padilla, Lani, Kacso
CS: Rogan

2B: Zak, Pallante
SAC: Millemann

Hit by Pitch: Rogan (by Pallante), Lani (by Pallante), Ritner (by Pallante), Taylor (by Corbett)
Pitches-Strikes: Corbett 117-75, Pallante 102-63, Van Wickle 22-15
Groundouts-Flyouts: Corbett 6-3, Pallante 6-2, Van Wickle 2-1