Baseball – Shore Tosses Combined One-Hitter in Carpenter Cup Opener

PHILADELPHIA - Joe Escandon and Pat Reilly took turns pitching quality starts during their season as teammates on the Christian Brothers Academy baseball team. On Tuesday at FDR Park in Philadelphia, the two regular-season teammates combined forces for six dominant innings as five Jersey Shore Carpenter Cup Team pitchers performed to near perfection.

Escandon and Reilly accounted for the first six innings of a one-hit shutout in the Shore's 3-0 win over Chester County in the Carpenter Cup opening round. St. John Vianney junior Ryan Sekman, Jackson Memorial junior Nick Beetel and Red Bank Catholic sophomore Shane Panzini cleaned up with a scoreless, hitless inning each to close out the victory.

Escandon started the game off with three perfect innings that included two strikeouts before turning it over to his CBA teammate. Reilly gave up the lone Chester hit to lead off the top of the fourth but retired the next nine batters he faced, striking out five of them.

Sekman pitched a clean seventh inning with two strikeouts, Beetel worked around a walk and struck out two in the eighth, and Panzini - who announced his commitment to the University of Virginia on Sunday night - closed out the win with a one-two-three ninth and the Shore's 12th strikeout of the game.

The first string of Jersey Shore hitters plated the only three runs of the game. Middletown South junior right fielder Danny Minze singled home the game's first run in the second inning and Jackson Memorial senior shortstop Ahmir Cournier drew a bases loaded walk later in the frame.

Cournier capped the scoring with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to put the finishing touches on a two-RBI day. Tuesday's action in Philadelphia was Cournier's first since injuring his wrist on May 15, which caused him to miss the Jaguars' final four games.

Jackson Memorial junior center fielder Ryan Lasko and Freehold Township senior second baseman Cristian Corcione each went 2-for-2 with a run scored in the first unit, with Lasko adding a double. The starters combined for eight of the 10 Jersey Shore hits, with Wall senior Grant Shulman going 2-for-2 in the second unit.

The Jersey Shore squad will next play on Friday, 9 a.m. on the Urban Youth Academy Showcase Field at FDR Park against Olympic-Colonial from South Jersey, with a trip to the semifinals at Citizens Bank Ballpark on the line.

Box Score

Jersey Shore 3, Chester County 0

Pitching

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