Baseball – SSN Players of the Week, April 18 to April 24

Shore Sports Network Player of the Week

Joey Rose, Sr., Third Base, Toms River North

Rose has been an elite hitter among Shore Conference players since his first varsity season as a sophomore two years ago and his last week has been the best of his career. Rose hit two homers in a 23-6 drubbing of Lacey and then hit two more in an 11-2 win over Central. The Oklahoma State recruit also drove in eight runs in that win over Lacey and was also 3-for-4 with two doubles in a 13-12 loss to Brick Memorial, including an intentional walk with the tying run on second base in the bottom of the seventh.

After hitting a walk-off home run to beat Jackson Memorial on Monday, Rose now has six homers, 24 RBI and a slugging percentage over 1.100 – all of which lead the Shore Conference.

Pitcher of the Week

Noah Dean, Fr., Pinelands

Pinelands has been competitive in B South thanks to the freshman trio of Dean, Joey Ventresca and Anthony Diaz and this last week was Dean’s turn to step up on the mound in two marathone wins of the Wildcats. He threw a scoreless inning in a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Barnegat in 11 innings, then threw nine scoreless, one-hit innings in a 12-inning win over Lacey. In the Lacey win, Dean struck out 11 and walked only one, although he did not get a decision.

With this week’s performance, Dean has now thrown 21 2/3 scoreless innings to begin his high school career. He has allowed just 10 hits during those innings and has struck out 23 while walking 11.

Divisional Players of the Week

Class A North

Player of the Week

Kyle Capo, Sr., Third Base, Middletown North

The Lions extended their winning streak to seven games with four wins last week, thanks, in part, to Capo’s offense. The senior went 7-for-14 with a home run, four doubles, 5 runs scored and four RBI in the four games, including a walk-off double in a 6-5 win over Marlboro on April 18.

Pitcher of the Week

John Pudder, Jr., Manalapan

The junior shut down one of the state’s top teams on April 18, throwing a 66-pitch complete-game shutout in Manalapan’s 4-0 win over CBA. The win ended CBA’s 21-game winning streak against N.J. competition, dating back to last season.

Class A Central

Player of the Week

Mike Frissora, Sr., OF/P, Rumson-Fair Haven

The Bulldogs have been on a roll thanks to a host of heroes, but Frissor gets the nod among the Rumson contingent for his work both on the mound and at the plate. He went 2-for-2 with an RBI in a win over Wall in the Monmouth County Tournament preliminary round and then recorded the final two outs in an 8-5 win over Raritan the next day. He capped the week with a complete-game, six-hitter in a win over Holmdel while also going 3-for-4 at the plate with a stolen base.

Pitcher of the Week

Brandon DeKovics, Sr., St. John Vianney

DeKovics struck out 10 batters or more for the second straight game when he fanned 10 Blue Devils batters in St. John Vianney’s 6-1 win over Shore. In that victory, DeKovics allowed one unearned run on four hits while issuing just one walk.

Class A South

Player of the Week

Joey Rose, Sr., Third Base, Toms River North

Pitcher of the Week

Mike Soldo, Jr., Brick

The Green Dragons junior allowed one earned run in 10 innings of work last week, picking up a win over Southern and a no-decision against Manchester. Soldo also helped his cause in both games by going 2-for-3 with a runs scored in the 2-0 win over the Rams and 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI in the win over Manchester.

Class B North

Player of the Week

Brian Kochenash, Sr., Shortstop, Ocean

Ocean’s senior shortstop went 10-for-15 with a double and five RBI last week to help the Spartans go 4-0. Kochenash also scored the winning run in Ocean’s walk-off win over Long Branch.

Pitcher of the Week

Alec Keezer, Jr., Ocean

Keezer makes it a Spartans sweep in B North thanks to his two wins in relief last week. He threw two scoreless innings to pick up a win against Neptune and threw five one-hit innings in a win over Long Branch. In total, the junior allowed two hits and one walk while striking out 11 over seven scoreless innings.

Class B Central

Co-Players of Week

Kyle Dowlen and Cole Hardy, Mater Dei Prep

The Seraphs had a big week and Dowlen and Hardy had nearly identical contributions at the plate. Dowlen was 8-for-15 with eight runs and eight RBI while Hardy was 8-for-14 with eight runs and seven RBI. Dowlen’s big game came in a rout of Asbury Park in which he went 3-for-3 with a double, two homers and six RBI. He also hit the game-tying RBI single in a come-from-behind, 8-4 win over St. John Vianney in the Monmouth County Tournament.

Hardy sparked that win over Vianney by belting a three-run homer to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the sixth inning, then delivered the go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh. He finished that game 2-for-4 with five RBI.

Pitcher of the Week

Brandon Mology, Jr., St. Rose

The junior right-hander tossed a gem in the Monmouth County Tournament preliminary on Saturday, limited Long Branch to a run on three hits and a walk while striking out 10. Mology also went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI in that game and also stood out at the plate in wins over Ranney (1-for-1, double, two runs and two RBI) and Point Beach (2-for-3, run, RBI).

Class B South

Player of the Week

Frank Graziano, Sr., OF/P, Point Boro

The Panthers continued to roll through the opposition last week and Graziano was among the many Point Boro players who had a key role in those three wins. At the plate, we went 4-for-10 with a double and four RBI for the week and twirled a six-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts in an 8-0 win over Holmdel.

Pitcher of the Week

Noah Dean, Fr., Pinelands