Baseball Tuesday NJSIAA Scoreboard, 5/30/17

Tweets by @Matt_Manley

NJSIAA Tournament

Sectional Semifinals

North Jersey 2, Group III

(1) Chatham 8, (4) Middletown South 1

Andrew Bergman and Tyler Brock each went 1-for-3 with two RBI and Chris Delsandro clocked a solo home run to lead the Cougars (18-6) past the Eagles (14-11) and into the sectional final Friday against No. 3 Cranford.

(3) Cranford 7, (15) Red Bank 1

The Bucs' run through the North Jersey 2 Group III bracket as a No. 15 seed came to an end in the semifinals Tuesday at the hands of the Cougars (19-7). John Juco was 2-for-3 with two doubles and the lone Red Bank (11-12) RBI and Mason O'Mara lasted three innings in taking the loss before Will Grant came in and pitched three shutout frames.

Brian Oblachinski went 4-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBI to lead Cranford, which will take on top-seeded Chatham in the sectional final.

Central Jersey Group IV

(4) Freehold Boro 1, (1) Montgomery 0

Senior Tom Holdorf pitched a one-hit shutout and drove in the only run of the game to carry the Colonials (18-8) past the top-seeded Cougars (20-11) and into the Central Jersey Group IV final.

Holdorf struck out eight, walked two and threw 98 pitches to nail down the shutout and knocked in a run on an out in the fifth inning. Pat White was 2-for-3 with a double, while Phil Marcantonio, Matt Granato and Dan Chiusano were all 1-for-3.

Freehold Boro will be making its first sectional final appearance since finishing as the runner-up in all of Group III in 2012 and will travel to play either No. 2 Manalapan or No. 3 Hunterdon Central on Friday. Manalapan hosts Hunterdon Central in the other semifinal on Wednesday.

(3) Hunterdon Central at (2) Manalapan - PPD, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

Central Jersey Group III

(14) Neptune 8, (7) Jackson Liberty 7

Ron Cole hit a grand slam in the fourth inning that proved to be the difference and pitched the final 3 2/3 innings to close out the game as the Scarlet Fliers (10-12) continued their Cinderella run by beating the Lions (17-10) and advancing to the Central Jersey Group III final. Neptune will travel to play the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between No. 1 Toms River South and No. 4 Allentown.

Cole's grand slam in the fourth gave Neptune an 8-3 lead, but Jackson Liberty climbed back into the game when Matt Hickman belted a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Scarlet Fliers lead to 8-6.

Jackson Liberty scored on an RBI single by catcher David Melfi in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Neptune lead to 8-7 and pushed the tying and winning runs to second and third base with two out. Cole shut the door by inducing a game-ending ground out.

Neptune put up four runs in the top of the first inning, which included a two-run double by freshman John Gannon. Jackson Liberty answered with two in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Scott Wierciszewski and Rich Dordas and sliced the Fliers lead to 4-3 on an RBI double by Melfi in the third.

Matt Pickus pitched three scoreless innings of relief to keep Jackson Liberty in the game.

(4) Allentown at (1) Toms River South - PPD, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

South Jersey Group IV

(11) Southern 3, (2) Egg Harbor 2 (8 Innings)

Joey Robertson doubled and scored on a one-out single by Nolan Watson in the top of the eighth inning and the Rams (17-8) took down the Eagles (20-5) in extra innings to reach the South Jersey Group IV final. Southern will go for its first sectional championship since 1967 Friday when it travels to play the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal between No. 8 Lenape and No. 4 Rancocas Valley.

Robertson finished 1-for-4 with an RBI and Watson was 3-for-4 to lead the Southern offense. Zach Oddo and Vaughn Walker also went 1-for-3 each, with Oddo knocking in a run and Walker scoring one.

Zach Fillmore earned the win with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief after taking over for starter Pat Barrett with two out in the fifth. Fillmore allowed two hits and struck out three without walking a batter.

South Jersey Group III

(4) Deptford 6, (9) Central 5

The Golden Eagles (12-11) appeared to tie the game with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning, but an appeal to third base was upheld and the runner called out to end the game and propel the Spartans (17-6) to the South Jersey Group III final on a controversial double play.

Deptfor will travel Friday to play the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal game between No. 3 Lacey and No. 2 Highland Regional.

Tyler Aires was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead Central, while Ryan Galati was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the loss. Colin Stacy also went 2-for-3 with a run scored and Mike Bickford was 1-for-4 with a double and two runs scored for Central.

Jared Morris went the distance on the mound for Central and struck out seven while allowing five earned runs on six hits and three walks.

(3) Lacey at (2) Highland - PPD, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

South Jersey Group II

(4) Manasquan 7, (8) Cedar Creek 1

Pitching

Top Hitters

Ethan Thompson and Dylan Dinn each hit two-run home runs over the left-field fence and Tommy Antonucci added a two-run triple in the sixth to back up a dominant performance by Tommy Sheehan that carried the Warriors past the Pirates and into the South Jersey Group II championship game Friday at No. 3 West Deptford.

Sheehan allowed a run on two hits and a walk in the top of the first inning and did not allow a hit the rest of the way. In the bottom of the first Thompson lofted a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left-center after Antonucci walked, which gave Sheehan a 2-1 lead that would prove to be enough for the Notre-Dame-bound left-hander.

Finn connected on his two-run homer in the bottom of the third to make the score 4-1. In the bottom of the fifth, Antonucci worked the count full and one pitch after fouling a ball off his left foot, he ripped a shot to the left-centerfield gap to plate two runs and scored himself after an errant throw to third bounced out of play.

Sheehan put at least one runner on in five of his seven innings thanks to five walks, but struck out the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win. In two state tournament starts, Sheehan has allowed one run on three hits and 10 walks with 27 strikouts in 13 innings.

Sectional Quarterfinals

South Jersey Non-Public A

(3) Red Bank Catholic 5, (6) Notre Dame 3

Pitching

Top Hitters

Steve Turk broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run double to left-centerfield in the bottom of the third inning and the duo of Blaise Panzini and Austin Nappi combined to hold the lead and secure the Caseys a spot in the sectional semifinals. RBC will play either No. 2 St. Augustine or No. 10 St. John Vianney, whose quarterfinal game was postponed to Wednesday.

(5) St. Joseph Metuchen at (4) CBA - PPD, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

(10) St. John Vianney at (2) St. Augustine - PPD, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

South Jersey Non-Public B

(2) St. Rose 4, (7) Trenton Catholic 0

Brandon Mology allowed two hits and struck out nine over 6 2/3 shutout innings to lead the Purple Roses (22-4) past the Iron Mikes (14-8) and into the sectional semifinals on Friday against the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 3 Holy Cross and No. 6 Rutgers Prep.

Will Gannon came on to record the final out in the seventh and also went 2-for-4 at the plate. Brendan Hueth was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Riley Maypother also drove in a run for St. Rose.