Baseball – Vote: Week 4 Player and Pitcher of the Week

00

Each week during the baseball season, Shore Sports Network selects select both players and pitchers of the week from each of the six Shore Conference divisions and open up the voting to the readers in order to pick an overall Player of the Week of Pitcher of the Week. In addition to the six pitchers and players from each division, there will be two wild cards in each category who will be placed on the ballot. Vote early, vote often, and vote until Wednesday at 10 p.m., when the voting will close and the winners will be posted.

 

Class A North

Player of the Week

Tom Holdorf, Freehold Boro

The Seton Hall commit churned out double after double last week and also spun a gem on the mound in a 9-2 win over Manalapan that essentially locked up a share of the Class A North championship. Holdorf pitched a four-hitter with one walk and six strikeouts against the Braves and also went 3-for-3 with four runs and three RBI in the win. He added a double earlier in the week in a loss to Freehold Township and was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI in a Monmouth County Tournament win over CBA.

Pitcher of the Week

Dillon Pellecchia, Colts Neck

There were a handful of candidates for the best pitching performance of the week in A North, but Pellecchia proved he was the clear-cut choice with his two-hit shutout against a hot Freehold Township team. The senior right-hander struck out two and walked one to shut down the Patriots.

A North Honorable Mention: Anthony Galason, Colts Neck; Phil Marcantonio, Freehold Boro; Nick Coluccio, Freehold Twp.; Ryan Ford, Freehold Twp; Ron Cole, Neptune; Jack Harnisch, CBA; Dan Chiusano, Freehold Boro

 

Class A Central

Player of the Week

Tom Collazo, Matawan

Matawan went 1-2 last week, but Collazo did his part for the Huskies by going 7-for-12 with a double and five RBI. The damage came in two games, as Collazo went 3-for-4 with an RBI in a loss to St. John Vianney and 4-for-5 with a double, two runs and four RBI in a 13-3 win over Shore.

Pitcher of the Week

Jack Povey, Red Bank

Povey got it done with his arm and his bat in a 5-1 win over an Ocean team that was coming off 10-3 wins over both Monmouth and Middletown North. He pitched a three-hitter with eight strikeouts and one walk and also knocked in the game-tying run in the sixth inning.

A Central Honorable Mention: Sebi Bellone, St. John Vianney; John Juco, Red Bank; Christian Lanzalotto, Rumson-Fair Haven; Jake Tennant, Raritan; Mike Shirvanian, Shore; Jackson Hercek, Matawan; Mason O’Mara, Red Bank

 

Class A South

Player of the Week

Craig Larsen, Toms River North

Larsen was a scalding 11-for-17 in four games last week with four doubles, a triple, six runs and six RBI for a Mariners club that went 4-0. He also got the job done on the mound with six strong innings with seven punchouts and no walks in the second of two wins over Jackson Memorial during the week to improve to 4-1.

Pitcher of the Week

A.J. Smith, Central

Smith turned in the rare 2-0 week that included two complete games, the second of which came against Jackson Memorial in the Ocean County Tournament. Smith pitched a six-hitter and allowed just two runs in a hitter-friendly environment in Jackson and began his week by beating a surging Jackson Liberty team. Against the Lions, Smith allowed one earned run on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

A South Honorable Mention: Matt Shiffer, Toms River South; Pat Barrett, Southern; Connor Takacs, Jackson Memorial; Justin Schaff, Toms River North; Tom Ruscitti, Central; Matt Stadelberger, Brick; Mike Soldo, Brick; T.J. Scuderi, Toms River South; Marcos Matias, Southern; Tyler Aires, Central

 

Class B North

Player of the Week

Aurellio Licata, Middletown South

Middletown South’s sophomore shortstop came up big in a pair of wins last week with the Eagles scratching and clawing to stay in the Shore Conference Tournament picture in the dog-eat-dog B North division. Licata was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI in a win over Long Branch and then turned in a career game against Wall when he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI, including the game-winning long ball in the top of the seventh.

Pitcher of the Week

Connor Muly, Manasquan

Muly pitched what has to be the best pitching performance of the season considering it came against a Red Bank Catholic offense that stacks up against any in the Shore Conference. The Old Dominion commit spun the Caseys into the ground with his sidearm fastball and breaking ball, striking out 16 and walking two in a one-hit shutout against one of the Monmouth County Tournament finalists.

B North Honorable Mention: Austin Nappi, Red Bank Catholic; Tommy Sheehan, Manasquan; Paul Birzin, Monmouth; Josh Jackson, Monmouth; Shane Richey, Wall; Matt Mincieli, Long Branch; James Harmstead, Manasquan; Jack Roesch, Middletown South; Grant Shulman, Wall; Vin Bianchi, Red Bank Catholic

 

Class B Central

Player of the Week

Brody Maypother, St. Rose

In two games last week, Maypother was 6-for-9 with two doubles, a home run, five runs scored and seven RBI as St. Rose scored 39 runs in two games. The Purple Roses catcher hit the only home run in a 24-2 beatdown of Mater Dei and was 4-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI in a 15-2 win over Keansburg.

Pitcher of the Week

Christian Smith, Keyport

The Red Raiders ace made two appearances last week and threw a total of seven scoreless innings while allowing five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. He pitched five shutout innings to pick up a big win over Point Pleasant Beach and closed out a win over Henry Hudson with two shutout frames. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate in both of those games, with a double and an RBI against the Garnet Gulls and three RBI against the Admirals.

B Central Honorable Mention: John Nista, Point Beach; Phil Antoniotti, Point Beach; Vinny Stanziale, Mater Dei; Kyle Dowlen, Mater Dei; Matt Gibney, Keansburg; Justin Alessi, Keansburg; Mario Bove, St. Rose; Sean Turner, Mater Dei; Chris Russo, Point Beach

 

Class B South

Player of the Week

Lucas Torres, Barnegat

The Barnegat freshman was cruel to the two Brick schools last week, doubling and driving in two in a win over Brick Memorial early in the week and hitting a big go-ahead home run against Brick in the fourth inning of the Ocean County Tournament first-round game on Sunday.

Pitcher of the Week

Nick DeCarlo, Jackson Liberty

The Jackson Liberty sophomore had a breakout start against the newly-minted B South champion Lacey Lions last week. Before Lacey clinched the division, DeCarlo and Jackson Liberty put the champagne on ice, with the right-hander pitching a five-hitter with eight strikeouts in a 4-2 Liberty victory.

B South Honorable Mention: Matt Morro, Donovan Catholic; David Melfi, Jackson Liberty; Don Zellman, Lacey; Tyler Suydam, Barnegat; Tayon Conover, Lakewood; Nik Caputo, Barnegat; Justin Diefenbach, Barnegat; Billy Hart, Jackson Liberty; Zach Mann, Donovan Catholic; Chris Burke, Pinelands

 

Wild Cards

Player of the Week

Anthony Galason, Colts Neck

The Colts Neck junior wrecking ball was found his swing recently and put together a 6-for-13 week at the plate as the Cougars went 2-2 against a tough schedule. That week also included a double, triple, seven runs scored and seven RBI, as well three innings of relief against Freehold Boro that kept the Cougars in the game.

Matt Shiffer, Toms River South

Shiffer has been the rock at the top of the order for the Shore’s No. 1 team and has also emerged as a reliable closer at the end of games. Last week, he pitched in two of Toms River South’s three games, picking up a win against Toms River East after giving up the lead in the seventh and closing out an OCT win over the Raiders on Saturday with two scoreless innings. He also stayed red-hot at the plate by going 7-for-9 with two doubles and five runs scored for the No. 1 Indians.

 

Pitcher of the Week

Tyler Suydam, Barnegat

The Bengals made it to the OCT quarterfinals for the fourth straight year, this time as a No. 12 seed, thanks to a three-hit gem by the sophomore right-hander. Suydam gave up a pair of runs early Sunday against Brick before settling in and pitching scoreless ball over the final five innings to earn the tournament win. Suydam struck out six and walked one.

Mason O’Mara, Red Bank

The Bucs got big pitching in early-week wins over Rumson and Ocean, with Povey pitching the gem against Ocean. Before that, O’Mara struck out 10 with just two walks and one hit allowed in a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs, in which O’Mara allowed just one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings.