Baseball – CBA Explodes for Nine Runs in the Sixth, Routs Marlboro

MARLBORO - The Marlboro and Christian Brothers Academy baseball teams were about as even as two teams could be over the first 13 head-to-head innings this season. The Mustangs even seemed to have figured out how to score against Colts junior ace and North Carolina recruit Luca Dalatri after seeing him for a second time Friday.

Then, with two out in the sixth inning, the floodgates opened and hit after CBA hit came pouring through to turn the meeting from a grudge match into a statement by the Colts.

The Colts - No. 2 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 - scored nine runs in the sixth inning to break open a tie game and pound Marlboro 15-2 to secure a regular-season sweep of the No. 3 Mustangs while also stretching their lead in the Class A North division race to a full two games.

"We realized this was a pretty big game for the both of us," CBA coach Marty Kenney said. "They might have played it down somewhat, but they threw everything but the kitchen sink at us, so it was important to them. No question about that."

Shane Turk plated the winning run in the sixth with a ground out to shortstop and Cid Porter made it 5-2 with a two-run single to center. Porter finished 4-for-5 with hits in each of his last four plate appearances to go with two runs scored and three RBI. His first hit was a double in the top of the third, his sixth double of the season.

"Porter is the guy that surprised us on day one," Kenney said. "He was a more complete player than we thought, and he was ready to be an impact player."

"Things were tight early on, especially when we saw them getting some good swings on Luca early," Porter said. "Once we started to put the pressure on and loaded the bases, things started to get a little sketchy for them, and once we got that one run, we just kept going and going."

Brandon Martorano began the sixth inning with a double to the wall in left field and later belted a two-run double to nearly the same spot in left to put CBA ahead, 9-2.

Andrew Buccellatto was 2-for-4 with two doubles, three runs scored and two RBI, while Matt D'Angelo went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Martorano finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored to go with his two doubles and two RBI. Will Morgan was also 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI.

The late-game outburst was plenty of support for Dalatri, who allowed two earned runs on five hits while walking none and striking out 11. Marlboro took two separate one-run leads against Dalatri, once on an RBI single by Gene Napolitano to open the scoring in the second inning and again on an RBI single by Steve Santigate to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead in the fourth. The Mustangs rapped five hits against Dalatri over the first four innings, including doubles by Brian Reilly and Phil Saglietto, both of whom scored a run after their double.

"They are a good hitting team and they've faced me before so I knew it wasn't going to be easy facing them again," said Dalatri, who also went 2-for-5 with three RBI at the plate. "You're going to give up hits sometimes, that's just the way this game is. Fortunately, the team had my back today and when they were able to score against me, our lineup came right back and eventually we opened things up."

Dalatri needed 69 pitches to get through those first four innings, but after CBA tied the game in the top of the fifth on Porter's RBI single, Dalatri set the side down in order in the fifth on just 11 pitches. The next time he would take the mound, Dalatri would have a commanding seven-run lead.

When in tight situations Friday, Dalatri relied on his offspeed arsenal to retire the Mustangs rather than his velocity. At one point, Dalatri threw four first-pitch curveballs and used an offspeed pitch to get six of his 11 strikeouts.

"Pitching is about adjustments, and I had to adjust today," Dalatri said. "You don't have to throw hard on every single pitch, and I really couldn't because my arm was feeling a little tight today. I did feel like they were jumping a little bit so I had to make the adjustment and try to get them off balance."

"This wasn't his best day, but I think he shows people that he can pitch," Kenney said. "He's not just looking to throw the ball by people, and that's pretty much how he did it today. He worked a lot off the curveball and the changeup."

CBA's offense woke up after waiting out Marlboro starter Andrew Nardi, who lasted 4 2/3 innings. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in taking the no-decision for Marlboro.

"He is not one of the faster pitchers we face, but he throws three pitches for strikes and you have to respect all of them," Porter said. "We were able to make contact against him and make him work a little bit and once we got him out of the game, we saw an opportunity."

Junior Jeremy Dyzenhaus replaced Nardi in the fifth and pitched out of a jam to get the game to the bottom of the fifth tied at two. Dyzenhaus threw seven shutout innings in a 1-0 loss to CBA before giving up a run in the eighth in the first meeting.

"He (Dyzenhaus) pitched a good game against us the first time we played and we knew if we saw him again, we couldn't let him off the hook," Porter said.

That CBA lineup rolled up 15 runs on 16 hits despite missing top hitter and first baseman John Moschella, who injured his knee sliding into second base in an 11-5 win over Freehold Township on Thursday. According to Kenney, the injury is to the meniscus and the team is expecting to be without Moschella from anywhere between five more days and for the rest of the season depending on the diagnosis they receive over the weekend.

"Realistically, we're hoping it's only a partial tear and he'll be out for only two to three weeks," Kenney said. "At this point, though, it's up in the air. He's probably been our most consistent hitter this year. He's gone from a .300 hitter to close to .500 with power in the middle of the lineup, so losing him would be significant."