Nissan World Friday NJSIAA Baseball Scoreboard, 5/24/19

NJSIAA Tournament

Sectional Quarterfinals

Central Jersey Group IV

(6) Old Bridge 2, (3) Middletown South 1

Junior Jack Sheridan doubled in the bottom of the seventh and moved to third base on a wild pitch with one out, but Old Bridge (22-6) right-hander Matt Baker induced consecutive ground-outs to shortstop to squash the Eagles (17-7) rally and end their season.

Senior Trevor Brey went 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot and junior Chris O'Connor tripled and scored Middletown South's only run in the bottom of the sixth.

Junior Chris Lotito doubled in the second inning and pitched a round-about 6 2/3 innings in suffering the hard-luck loss. Lotito threw 42 pitches before the game was suspended on Thursday and was moved from the mound to center field in favor of Pat Marinich.

Marinich recorded the second out of the third inning on Friday and Lotito went back to the mound to finish the game at 106 pitches. He capped his stellar season on the mound by allowing two earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking  out six in a losing cause.

Central Jersey Group III

(2) Jackson Liberty 5, (10) Allentown 4

Senior catcher David Melfi hit a solo home run to right field on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the seventh and the Lions (23-3) walked off with a win over the Redbirds (14-10), ending Allentown's two-year reign as Central Jersey Group III champions.

The home run was the second of the game by Melfi, who hit a two-run blast in the top of the first inning on Thursday before the game was suspended due to rain and lighting. It was also Melfi's 10th homer of the season, which puts him in sole possession of the Shore Conference lead.

Jackson Liberty will host No. 11 Northern Burlington Tuesday in the sectional semifinals, looking to advance to the sectional final round for the first time in program history.

Pitching

Top Hitters

Central Jersey Group II

(6) Robbinsville 4, (3) Manasquan 1

Jack Gillmer sparked a four-run seventh inning with a go-ahead two-run triple and the Ravens (17-8) rallied in their final at-bat to stun the Warriors (17-5). Tyler Provost and Justin Penzone each added an RBI single in the big inning.

Manasquan had just seized a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by junior John Foreman. Senior James Harmstead started the rally with a walk and senior Spencer Bauer set the situation for Foreman by doubling to put runners on second and third.

Bauer struck out seven in three scoreless innings on Thursday before the game was suspended due to rain and lighting. Senior Mike Anthony took over on Friday for the top of the fourth inning.

South Jersey Group IV

(5) Cherry Hill East 5, (13) Howell 2

Cherry Hill East (17-3) scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-out error and a passed ball - enough to deny the Rebels (12-11) another road win and end their season.

Two of the five runs allowed by sophomore Chris Ellison were earned and he allowed three hits and four walks while striking out five.

Junior Chris Acampora was 1-for-3 with an RBI and senior Kyle Brex finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.

South Jersey Group III

(1) Triton 1, (9) Pinelands 0

Matt Woods smacked a line drive to deep center to score the winning run from third base with two out in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Mustangs (19-3) a walk-off win over the Wildcats (10-10) in a classic pitcher's duel.

Senior Noah Dean pitched eight one-hit innings and struck out 12 in settling for the no-decision. Senior Joey Ventresca came on the ninth after throwing 83 pitches Monday at Toms River South and gave up the game's lone run.

Senior Mike Shannon earned the win with 2 1/2 innings in relief of classmate Colin Taylor, who pitched 6 2/3 scoreless while allowing five hits and striking out six.

Triton will host No. 12 Toms River East in Tuesday's sectional semifinal round.

South Jersey Non-Public A

(2) CBA 4, (7) Paul VI 1

Junior Jason Arnott hit a tie-breaking two-run double in the bottom of the fifth and scored on a wild pitch to account for all three CBA runs in the inning and the Colts (18-6) bullpen locked up a win over the Eagles (15-8).

Junior Pat Reilly worked five innings on 91 pitches to pick up the win and senior Evan Mahns and junior Braedin Hunt each fired a scoreless frame, with Hunt striking out the side in the seventh to secure the save. Hunt also doubled to lead off the fifth and scored on Arnott's double.

(1) St. Augustine 5, (9) St. John Vianney 4

Senior Luciano Fabrizzi went 4-for- 4 with a run scored and the Lancers (10-12) had runners on second and third with none out in the seventh but the three-time sectional champion Hermits (22-4) kept the tying run from scoring and advanced to the sectional semifinal round.

Sophomore Jacob Ramirez ripped an RBI double to cut the deficit to 5-4 with none out in the seventh and set St. John Vianney up with the second-and-third opportunity.

The game ended with a diving catch in left field by starting pitcher Jayson Hoopes, who struck out 13 over six innings in earning the win.

(5) Notre Dame 3, (4) Red Bank Catholic 2

For the second straight year, Robbie Bueker held RBC to two runs to pitch the Irish (24-1) past the Caseys (21-6) and into the sectional semifinals Tuesday at top-seeded St. Augustine.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Buekers walked, went to third on a hit-and-run and scored on an error on an attempted steal of second base. The Irish added to the lead in the top of the third when RBC right fielder Ryan O'Hara lost a fly ball by Nick Feretic in the sun with two out.

RBC evened the score in the bottom of the fourth when senior David Glancy rocketed an RBI triple to the right-center gap and scored on a ground out by senior Vincent Bianchi.

Notre Dame regained the lead on a sacrifice fly by Dan DiUbaldi in the top of the sixth and Bueker finished off a complete game with two scoreless frames.

RBC had runners on second and third with one out in the sixth and got the tying run into scoring position in the seventh before coming up empty in each threat.

South Jersey Non-Public B

(1) Gloucester Catholic 11, (8) Ranney 1

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