Baseball – SSN Player and Pitcher of the Week Winners, Week 5

SSN Player of the Week

T.J. Scuderi, Toms River South

Scuderi began last week with a strong performance in a high-scoring attack for Toms River South, but his hitting in tight games helped the Indians finish off the A South season and also advance to the OCT semifinals. He started the week by going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in an 11-1 win over Central, then homered in back-to-back wins over Brick Memorial and Central. He hit a solo shot in a 5-1 win over the Mustangs, then belted a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth in the Indians’ 6-3 win over Central in the OCT quarterfinals.

Scuderi also went 1-for-2 in a loss to Jackson Liberty on Saturday, making Scuderi 5-for-10 with five runs and five RBI for the week. The Indians junior won with 44 percent of the vote, beating out three players who drew between 17 and 20 percent of the 12,648 votes cast. Southern's Pat Barrett finished second with 19.7 percent, Point Beach senior Kevin Donnelly came in second at 18 percent and CBA sophomore Tommy DiTullio checked in at 17 percent.

SSN Pitcher of the Week

Nick Simone, Southern

Thanks to his offense, Simone only needed to throw five innings to pick up a shutout win over a Jackson Liberty team that has been on fire. Simone allowed just two singles, did not walk a batter and struck out four during a 52-pitch complete game in the Rams’ 11-0 win. Jackson Liberty entered the game on a five-game winning streak and since losing to Southern has beaten both Toms River South and Toms River North to improve to 8-2 over its last 10 games.

Simone won just over 50 percent of the vote to beat out Jackson Liberty right-hander Matt Pickus in a two-horse race. Pickus picked up just shy of 40 percent of the 5,850 votes cast.