Nissan World Friday NJSIAA Sectional Final Baseball Scoreboard, 5/31/19

Friday, May 31

NJSIAA Tournament

Sectional Finals - Preview

Central Jersey Group IV

(4) Manalapan 3, (6) Old Bridge 2

Manalapan strung together three consecutive two-out RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth and senior Ben Levine stranded the go-ahead runs to complete the game and give the Braves their first sectional championship in seven years.

Junior Nick DiPietrantonio lined a game-tying RBI single to right field to score senior Jake Pellecchia from second base to tie the game at 1-1. Sophomore Joe Mazza followed with another line drive to right, which scored courtesy runner Kyle Sciallo from third to give Manalapan a 2-1 lead.

With runners on second and third, senior Mike Kuver plated what proved to be the game-winning run with a check-swing dribbler up the third-base line that he beat out after it stayed fair.

Old Bridge mounted a threat in the seventh with three consecutive two-out singles of their own, with senior starter and St. John's commit Sonny Fauci cutting the deficit to 3-2 with an RBI single on the third of those hits. On the next pitch, Matt Herbstman struck a well-hit fly ball to right field but Mazza camped under it and squeezed it for the final out.

Manalapan will take on South Jersey champion Eastern in the Group IV semifinals Monday at Monmouth University.

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Central Jersey Group III

(4) Wall 10, (11) Northern Burlington 2

The Crimson Knights scored nine times in the first three innings in support of junior Teddy Sharkey on the mound and rolled to the program's first sectional championship since 2008.

Junior Sean Nocera opened the scoring with a two-run single in the top of the first and sophomore Jay Bant ripped a two-run single of his own to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the second before Wall added a fifth run on a double-steal with runners on the corners.

Senior Grant Shulman highlighted a four-run third inning with a two-run single as part of his perfect 2-for-2 game at the plate. Shulman also came on to close out the win on the mound.

Wall advances to Monday's Group III semifinal at East Brunswick Tech vs. South Jersey Group III champion Cherry Hill West.

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Central Jersey Group II

(5) Point Boro 2, (7) Robbinsville 1 (8 Innings)

Junior Sam Young laced an RBI single to left in the bottom of the eighth to score Nick Guzzi with the winning run as Point Boro (21-6) claimed its first sectional title since 2006 and third overall in dramatic walk-off style.

Guzzi ignited the rally with a single to center leading off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt perfectly executed by Paul Franceschini. Young hopped on the first pitch he saw from Robbinsville reliever Danny Frascella and turned on a curve ball to lace it inside the left-field line, plating Guzzi from second.

Sam Collins went the distance for Panthers, who authored a different ending from a year ago when they bowed in the sectional final. The right-hander tossed a six-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks to improve to 5-2.

Point Boro grabbed a 1-0 lead in the in the fourth on a run-scoring single by Ryan Jasaitis, who went a blistering 3 for 3 with a trio of singles.

Robbinsville (18-9) got even in the sixth with a two-out rally, Nick Matt and Frascella each singled ahead of Joe Barnaba, whose hard ground ball eluded the backhand of Guzzi at third, driving in the tying run.

Point Boro will next take on South Jersey champion West Deptford Monday in the Group II semifinal at Toms River North.

Central Jersey Group I

(1) Middlesex 6, (3) Point Beach 1

Big swings by Jared Zimbardo and Jarrett May in the bottom of the fourth broke a 1-1 tie and left-hander Raiden Yost closed out a five-hitter as the Blue Jays topped the Garnet Gulls to claim the Central Jersey Group I title.

Zimbardo gave Middlesex a 2-1 lead when he legged out a triple and scored on an overthrow to third base. May followed with a shot beyond the fence in left for a genuine home run, a solo blast to make the score, 3-1.

Point Beach jumped on Royce with a run in the top of the first, which came on an RBI double by sophomore Alec Glen to center field to score junior Will Baranello. Zimibardo answered with an RBI double of his own in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1.

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Shore Conference Tournament - Bracket

Semifinals

At Count Basie Park

(4) Red Bank Catholic 5, (9) Manasquan 2

The Caseys solved Manasquan right-hander Spencer Bauer in the bottom of the fourth and claimed the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth to back starter Vincent Bianchi, beat the Warriors and advance to the SCT championship game Sunday night vs. Manalapan at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood.

Bauer pitched a one-hit shutout to beat RBC 1-0 in the Monmouth County Tournament quarterfinals and maintained that dominance through the first three innings on Friday.

In the fourth, the Caseys broke through on an RBI single by junior Chris Sparber that cut the Manasquan lead to 2-1. A second run scored when junior Rob Gonzalez beat out a potential double-play ball for an RBI fielder's choice and a 2-2 score.

RBC grabbed the lead with two more in the fifth, with junior Anthony Borrielo scoring the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Junior Jack Scrivanic added a sacrifice fly in the fifth and the Caseys scored their fifth run in the sixth on a throwing error.

Manasquan also opened the scoring on an error in the top of the second and extended its lead to 2-0 on an RBI single by junior Alex Galvan.

The Warriors loaded the bases against Bianchi in the top of the seventh but the St. John's commit struck out his pitching counterpart, Bauer, on a 3-2 pitch to end it - his 109th pitch of the game.

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