Baseball – SCT Final Postponed Again, CBA Reshuffles Pitching

LAKEWOOD - The Shore Conference Tournament final between Red Bank Catholic and Christian Brothers Academy was postponed for the second straight night Tuesday, leaving CBA coach Marty Kenney to shake up his pitching rotation once again as the Colts pursue both a Shore Conference Tournament and NJSIAA Non-Public A title.

CBA junior ace Luca Dalatri was ready to start Tuesday's SCT final on the mound after the CBA staff originally planned for him to start the South Jersey Non-Public A final against Bishop Eustace - which was postponed until Wednesday after originally being scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Monmouth University.

Despite Tuesday's postponement, Dalatri will not start Wednesday against Bishop Eustace, according to Kenney, but will be available in relief. Senior right-hander Mike Garvey will start against the Crusaders - the No. 2 team in the state, according to the Star Ledger.

"One of the things we talked about was that this was the only scenario where we would maybe, possibly get two starts out of (Dalatri)," Kenney said of his decision to start Dalatri in the Shore Conference Tournament final. "If you're talking about splitting the game (on Wednesday), you don't know the score of the game, you don't know how many pitches he's thrown, so there are too may variables to think about it that way."

The Shore Conference Tournament final is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, 7:30 p.m., at Toms River North, according to tournament director Joe Montano. The teams took the field on Tuesday, but were pulled off when the rain intensified before the game was eventually called. The game never officially started.

Kenney said if CBA plays Wednesday and loses, then Dalatri will start the SCT final, as long as he has not pitched more than four complete innings - which would make him ineligible by NJSIAA rule. A pitcher can only throw 10 innings in a four-game stretch, so the number of innings for which he'd be available would depend on how many he threw on Wednesday.

Dalatri is looking to complete his second straight unbeaten season after going 11-0 as a sophomore last year. He is currently 8-0 and could finish his last two seasons 20-0, which was last done at CBA by current Red Sox farmhand Pat Light. Dalatri threw on three days rest once last season, pitching a shutout in the SCT final in a 2-0 CBA win over Barnegat.

Garvey last pitched on Friday in a 14-4 win over Immaculata, a game in which he lasted 5 1/3 innings. Red Bank Catholic still has junior right-hander John Poccia lined up to pitch the Shore Conference Tournament final.