Builders’ General Shore Conference Baseball Saturday Scoreboard, 4/6/24

Saturday, April 6

Class A North

Marlboro 4, Colts Neck 2

Senior Nick Scaff led off the top of the seventh with a double and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by senior Joe Santos as the Mustangs executed in the final inning to earn a win over the Cougars.

Junior Gavin McCarthy, who followed Scaff's double with a walk, scored on a wild pitch for an insurance run, which senior Anthony Martino did not need. Martino took over for senior starter Danny Trentacosta and pitched around a Nick Hayden single for a scoreless seventh, as well as a save.

Santos also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and junior Nick Diadema hit a game-tying RBI double in the top of the fourth inning.

Seniors Anthony Vallaro and Casey Gardiner each hit RBI singles in the two-run third inning that put Colts Neck ahead, 2-1.

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Manalapan 6, No. 13 Howell 3

Senior Erik Johnson tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the third and delivered a two-run single during a four-run Manalapan fourth as the Braves topped the Rebels for their first win of the season.

Howell jumped out to a 2-0 lead on two-run single by junior Logan Koeppel and Manalapan chipped away with a run each in the second and third innings.

Senior John Pecoraro gave Manalapan a 3-2 lead with an RBI single in the fourth after the Braves loaded the bases with one out. Howell was one out from getting out of the inning with a one-run deficit, but Johnson came through with a two-out, two-run single to make it 5-2. Pecoraro then scored on a passed ball to cap the rally.

Senior Joe Dionision earned the win and senior Kevin Rusinak recorded the final four outs to earn the save in a scoreless outing.

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Class A Central

Monmouth 2, Wall 1

Sophomore Beckett Langdon drove in the winning run with an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Falcons walked off with an opening-day win over the Crimson Knights after a dominant pitching effort by junior Collin Denton.

Denton struck out 17 with just one walk while pitching a two-hitter and completed the seventh inning with his 112th and final pitch. In order for Denton to earn the win, Monmouth had to score in the bottom of the seventh and junior catcher Bobby Davidson helped his battery-mate with a leadoff double to start the bottom of the inning.

Davidson gave way to courtesy runner Alejandro Ocelotl, who moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior Brandon Geiger. Langdon then smacked a line-drive single to center on a 0-2 pitch from sophomore starter John Catanio to plate Ocelotl with the winning run.

Denton took a perfect game into the fifth inning and struck out the first two batters of the fifth before running into trouble. The perfect-game big ended on a two-out error on a ball in play by senior Greg Desserich, followed by a single by sophomore Davis Harr to break up the no-hit bid. Austin Harr then reached on another error and Denton followed by issuing his only walk of the game, which senior Jon Cafone worked on four pitches to force in the game's lone run.

Monmouth struck back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by senior Joe Alfano to drive in Geiger, who led the inning off with a single.

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Class A South

No. 9 Brick Memorial 8, Toms River South 7

Senior Nick Garbooshian hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the top of the seventh inning and freshman Zach Pirnick struck out the final two batters of the game with the tying run on second base to help the Mustangs close out a thrilling win over the Indians.

Pirnick struck out six in three innings of relief work and allowed just one earned run, which came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior Tyler Kopin led off the seventh with a single and sophomore Jaden Jeremiah followed with a double off the wall in right-centerfield to set up runners on second and third with none out.

Toms River South pushed a run across on a sacrifice fly by freshman Christian Mascaro to cut the Brick Memorial lead to 8-7 before Pirnik reached back for the back-to-back strikeouts.

Toms River South built up two different three-run leads. Kopin and sophomore Ben McEwan each hit RBI singles in a three-run first inning for Toms River South and sophomore Evan Schmidt took a shutout in the fourth inning.

Brick Memorial blasted its way back with back-to-back home runs by sophomore Tyler Garbooshian and his older brother, Nick. Tyler's two-run shot got the Mustangs on the board and Nick tied the game with a solo blast.

Geremia broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth with the first of his two doubles, which drove in the go-ahead run. McEwan followed with a two-run single to make it 6-3 in the fifth.

Nick Garbooshian drove in another run in the top of the sixth with an RBI groundout before  Dan Golembewski came through with a game-tying, two-out, two-run double to make it 6-6.

Brick Memorial took its first lead on the two-run double by Nick Garbooshian with one out in the top of the seventh.

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No. 11 Toms River East 5, Brick 0

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Class B North

Matawan 14, Neptune 0 (5 Innings)

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Manasquan 3, St. John Vianney 1

Junior Dylan Vowteras cracked a two-run double in a three-run third inning and the Warriors bounced back from an early 1-0 deficit to beat the Lancers in their season-opener.

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No. 7 Ranney 8, Red Bank 5

Freshmen Justin Kauffman and Brody Mauro made dazzling debuts for Ranney, helping the Panthers on the mound and at the plate in a come-from-behind win over the Bucs.

Kauffman earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief and drove in a team-high three runs, while Mauro tripled, drove in a run and set down the final five Red Bank hitters of the game to secure the save in the 6-foot-3 left-hander's high-school debut.

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No. 6 Matawan 7, No. 14 Ocean 2

Junior Bryan McCartin continued his hot start with a three-run triple that broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, as the Huskies handled the Spartans to win their third straight to open the season.

Sal Cassano, Jack Sasso and Mark Kovach each drove in a run during a three-run Matawan second inning, which also proved costly to Ocean. Cassano and Kovach each hit an RBI double in the inning and on each hit, Ocean lost a starting outfielder to injury. Junior Michael Chowning injured his hand diving for Cassono's double down the leftfield line and later in the inning, centerfielder Will Walsh and rightfielder Bodhi Lettieri collided while trying to catch Kovach's ball in the gap. Lettieri suffered a cut near his mouth had to leave the game.

Senior right-hander and NJIT commit Brandon Falco struck out five of the eight batters he faced in his first start of the season for Matawan. Junior Jayce Thoroughman cruised through two innings to earn his first win before Kovach finished off the game.

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Class B Central

Henry Hudson 9, Keyport 5

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Class B South

Game 1: No. 2 Donovan Catholic 6, No. 12 Point Boro 1

Junior Ryder Simpson turned the game around with a go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning and the Griffins rode left-handed ace Jake Marciano to a season-opening win over the Panthers in the first leg of the double-header between the Class B South rivals.

Point Boro scratched an unearned run across against Marciano in the bottom of the first inning, with senior Ryan Acquisto reaching second on a dropped fly ball and moving to third on a bunt single by senior starting pitching Bryson Kirby. Senior Jayson Bennett then delivered a sacrifice fly on the seventh pitch of his at-bat to plate Acquisto.

Kirby mowed down the first nine batters he faced with six strikeouts, but Donovan Catholic got to him in the top of the fourth. Freshman Henry Rezai broke up the perfect start with a seven-pitch walk, which was the first three-ball count of the game for Kirby. After a strikeout by Kirby, Rezai moved up to second on a groundout to the catcher by senior Joe Maier and the over to third on senior Dave Yorke's infield single.

Simpson then stepped in, waited out a 2-1 count and launched a fastball to dead-centerfield that cleared the wall for his first career home run.

Marciano backed up his team's offensive breakout by striking out the side in order in the bottom of the fourth. He issued just one free pass in the game, which came on a 3-2 slider to Kirby in his final at-bat before turning it over to Liam Scallon to finish off the win.

Donovan Catholic added two runs in the fifth on three walks and a hit-by-pitch and tacked on one more in the sixth when junior Mike Santise tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Lucas Affa.

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Game 2: No. 12 Point Boro 17, No. 2 Donovan Catholic 6 (6 Innings)

Freshman Jake Clayton introduced himself to the No. 2 team in the Shore Sports Network rankings with a 4-for-4 game at the plate that included two doubles and five RBI as the Panthers routed the Griffins to bounce back from a game one loss in a big way.

Clayton had a hand in Point Boro's first three runs of the game. He singled, stole second and scored on a two-out single by senior Jayson Bennett put Point Boro up, 1-0. In the top of the second, he slammed a two-out, two-run double to put the Panthers back in front, 3-1, after Donovan Catholic tied the game on an error in the bottom of the first.

Donovan Catholic pulled even again in the bottom of the third on a two-run home run by senior Dave Yorke, but Point Boro had an answer in the fourth. Senior Bryson Kirby singled home the go-ahead run and Bennett followed with a two-run double for a 6-3 Panthers lead. Senior John Ward tacked on the fourth run of the inning with an RBI single.

Clayton made it 8-3 with an RBI double as part of a two-run fifth inning that gave Point Boro a 5-3 lead. The freshman shortstop then delivered a two-run single in the Panthers' eight-run sixth that turned a high-scoring game into a 17-4 rout before Donovan Catholic pushed two across in the sixth.

Junior left-hander Nick Kowalewski fanned 11 in 4 2/3 innings to pick up the win for Point Boro.

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Jackson Liberty 16, Manchester 2 (5 Innings)

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Non-Division

Barnegat 10, Freehold Boro 5

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Toms River North 12, Pinelands 2 (6 Innings)

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No. 5 Middletown North 20, Long Branch 1 (5 Innings)

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Non-Conference

No. 15 Jackson Memorial 16, Millville 8

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Postponements/Cancelations

Class A North

Freehold Twp. at No. 3 CBA -- PPD, TBA

Non-Division

Lacey at Brick – PPD, TBA

Shore at St. Rose -- PPD, TBA

Jackson Liberty at Toms River South – PPD, TBA

Non-Conference

Southern at Ocean City – Canceled

Cherokee at Brick Memorial – Canceled

Manalapan at Lenape – Canceled 

Millville at Jackson Memorial, Noon

Donovan Catholic at DePaul – PPD, TBA