Baseball Saturday SCT Scoreboard, 5/26/18

Shore Conference Tournament - Bracket

Quarterfinals

(11) Central 3, (14) Toms River East 2 (10 Innings)

Mike Masino made a leaping snare on a line drive with the bases loaded for the final out of the top of the 10th inning and then delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of the frame give the Golden Eagles a win over the Raiders and send them to the SCT semifinals Wednesday against No. 2 Wall.

Central jumped on top thanks to a pair of two-out RBI hits in the first inning. Vance Pelino singled home Tom Ruscitti with the game's first run and Tyler Aires followed with an RBI double to score Pelino.

Jared Mizrachi started the game-tying rally in the top of the sixth with a leadoff double and scored when Danny Clemente reached on an error. Clemente later scored on a sacrifice fly by Ahmir Cournier that tied the game at 2-2.

Ryan Goodall had two hits in extra innings, including a double in the eighth was not enough to score a runner from first and single to start a two-out rally in the 10th that preceded Masino's catch.

Pitching

Top Hitters

(2) Wall 7, (10) Freehold Twp. 4

Doug Wetzel and John Volpe hit back-to-back two-run doubles in the bottom of the sixth inning to erase a brief one-run deficit and the Crimson Knights battled past the Patriots to reach the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals Wednesday against No. 11 Central at Count Basie Park in Red Bank.

Freehold Township tied the game on a two-out, three-run triple by Ryan Kurczeski in the top of the fourth inning and took a 4-3 lead in the sixth on another two-out hit - this time an RBI single to right field by leadoff man Chris Goodman to score Kevin Goodman from second.

Wall responded in the bottom of the sixth and started its rally thanks to a fortunate break. Goodman appeared to catch a line drive by Tanner Powers on the first pitch of the inning but as he was attempting to transfer the ball from his glove to his throwing hand, he dropped it to the ground. The home plate umpire ruled that he did not control the ball long enough to constitute a catch and Powers was on board at first.

David Howarth followed with a sharp single that shortstop Brandon Smith could not quite get to, then pinch-hitter Mike Vita dropped a perfectly-placed bunt along the third-base line for a single to load the bases.

Wetzel then worked the count in his favor at 2-1 and crushed a fastball from starter Ryan Ford to the warning track in left to score two runs. After a pitching change brought Kurczeski to the mound, Volpe lined a shot to the right-center gap to chase home Vita and Wetzel.

Wetzel now has six RBI in Wall's last four tournament games - one in a 1-0 win over Lawrence in the Central Jersey Group III first round, a walk-off single in a 1-0 win over Steinert in the CJ III quarterfinals, and two RBI in each of two SCT wins over Howell and Wall over the past two days. He now has 16 RBI on the season out of the No. 9 spot in the order, good for third on the team.

Pitching

Top Hitters

(8) Toms River North 7, (16) Point Boro 6

Starting pitcher Jared Bellissimo hit a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the sixth and catcher Justin Schaff followed with a squeeze bunt to push across the winning run as the defending SCT champion Mariners (20-8) outlasted the Panthers (17-8) in a see-saw affair to advance to the SCT semifinals.

Bellissimo pitched into the fifth inning and left the game after an RBI double by Point Boro sophomore Nick Guzzi cut Toms River North's lead to 5-4 with one out. Craig Larsen took over on the mound and the Panthers immediately tied the game on a wild pitch and took the lead on an RBI single by Paul Franceschini through the middle of a drawn-in infield.

Guzzi came in looking to close out the game with a six-out save, but two errors opened up the door for Toms River North to tie the game and the Mariners delivered. Alex Klalo dropped a sacrifice bunt to push runners to second and third and Point Boro elected to pitch to Bellissimo, who flipped the first pitch he saw from Guzzi into shallow right field.

Larsen retired the first three hitters in the Point Boro lineup in order in the top of the seventh to shut the door. The senior shortstop also went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI on a two-run single in Toms River North's four-run fourth that made the score 5-3.

Toms River North will play the winner of Sunday's scheduled quarterfinal game between No. 5 Jackson Memorial and No. 13 Monmouth Regional on Wednesday at Count Basie Park in Red Bank.

Round of 16

(5) Jackson Memorial 8, (21) Toms River South 2

Five Jackson Memorial players delivered an RBI single during a six-run fifth inning and the Jaguars won a rubber match against the divisional rival Indians to advance to the SCT quarterfinals. Jackson Memorial will host No. 13 Monmouth on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Alex Iadisernia broke the 2-2 tie with his RBI single in the fifth and Troy Bathmann picked up his second RBI of the game with a single that made it 4-2. Andrew Sefick, Mike Dimino and Jake Wendell each added an RBI single during the rally and Ryan Lasko capped the scoring with an RBI ground out.

Colin Mackle staked Toms River South to a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the top of the third. Jackson Memorial answered with two in the bottom of the inning when Alex Iadisernia doubled, went to third on a sacrifice fly by Bathmann and scored on a wild pitch.

Pitching

Top Hitters