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Written by Matt Franco

Linden, NJ — Both the Ocean Giants and DiMaggio Bombers used timely hitting and solid pitching to split their doubleheader on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The Giants took the first game 5-0, before the Bombers rebounded and won the second game 6-4.

In Game 1, the Giants pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout, with Mark Duffy (Catholic University, DC/Allentown, NJ) leading the way, throwing five scoreless innings with no walks. Jerome Cevetello (Neumann University, PA/Ocean Township, NJ) and Nick Marotta (Alvernia University, PA/Manalapan, NJ) contributed one hitless inning each. At the plate, Dan Pineda (University of the Sciences, PA/Wall, NJ) was the main source of offense, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.  Ryan Scholey (University of the Sciences, PA/Hamilton, NJ) also had two RBI.

The Giants came out of the gate strong in the top of the first. After a walk and a groundout put a runner in scoring position, Scholey hit a single to shallow center to score the run and give the Giants an early 1-0 lead.

Both teams then went scoreless until the top of the fourth, when the Giants struck again in almost the same exact fashion. After a runner got put on second, Pineda came through with two outs, hitting a line drive into right to score Matt Tancredi (Washington College, MD/Wall, NJ) to make the score 2-0.

The Giants added some insurance in the top of the sixth and the seventh. In the sixth, Tancredi led off with a single and a stolen base. Immediately after, Matt D’Angelo (St. Peters University, NJ/Sea Girt, NJ) doubled into left to score him and make it 3-0. In the seventh, the Giants loaded the bases for Deven Delpriore (St. Thomas Aquinas College, NY/Point Pleasant, NJ) who then delivered with a RBI single to stretch the lead. A few batters later, Scholey hit a sacrifice fly to score another run and make the score 5-0, which is how it would stay for a solid win for the Giants.

Game 2 of the doubleheader saw a very different Bombers team, who exploded for 12 hits and six runs. The offense was led by Ryan MacNaughton (Ramapo College, NJ/River Vale, NJ, who went 3-for-3 with a RBI. Kyle Tamburri (Raritan Valley Community College, NJ/Martinsville, NJ) also delivered for the Bombers, going 1-for-2 with two RBI.  Dan Corvo (Rowan University, NJ/River Vale, NJ) had a solid start for the Bombers, throwing four innings with one hit and one run, as well as four strikeouts.

Conor Gammond (Monmouth University, NJ/Spring Lake, NJ) played well in the loss for the Giants, going 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI. Tancredi and D’Angelo also brought in runs for the Giants.

Half an hour after being shut out, the Bombers started game 2 with an early lead. After two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, Tamburri delivered, doubling into left field to score 2 and give the Bombers a 2-0 lead.

The Bombers added another run in the third, thanks to solid base running from Frank McHugh (County College of Morris, NJ/Pittstown, NJ). After singling to start the inning, he was brought to second on MacNaughton’s single and stole third. Shortly after, on an errant pickoff attempt, he sprinted home to stretch the Bombers lead to 3-0.

The Giants answered back with a run of their own in the bottom frame. Gammond led off the inning with a long double to left field, then shortly after advanced to third on a groundout. A few pitches later, he was crossing home plate, as a wild pitch allowed him to score and close the gap to 3-1.

The Bombers immediately answered, scoring two more in the top of the fourth. With runners on second and third and two outs, Jay Sanford (Towson University, MD/Sparta, NJ) squeezed a single through the gap, scoring a run and making the score 4-2. Two pitches later, the Bombers pulled off a successful double steal, allowing Joe Bonnocorso (FDU-Madison, NJ/Belle Meads, NJ) to score and give the Bombers a 5-1 lead.

Not satisfied, the Bombers added another insurance run in the top of the fifth. With a runner on, MacNaughton launched a deep double into center field to score another run and push the lead to 6-1 in favor of DiMaggio.

Fighting back, the Giants added another run in the bottom of the sixth. After Scholey doubled into right to put runners on second and third, D’Angelo delivered with a sacrifice fly, making the score 6-2.

Down to their last 3 outs, the Giants gave their all to tie up the game. With runners on second and third Gammond delivered again, singling into center to make the score 6-3. Two batters later, Tancredi doubled into right to make it 6-4, and put the winning run at the plate and the tying run at second. However, Dillon Mendel (Rowan University, MD/Sparta, NJ) came in and closed out the game for the Bombers, striking out the last batter of the game to seal the win.

The Bombers and Giants both play games on Tuesday night. The Bombers return to Memorial Park in Linden to play the New Jersey Nationals at 5:45, while the Giants travel to Point Pleasant High School to host the Monmouth Monarchs in a 5:30 game.

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