NJSIAA Tournament

Sectional Semifinals

Central Jersey Group IV

(6) Old Bridge 4, (15) Marlboro 2

Old Bridge buried Marlboro in a 4-0 hole by the bottom of the second inning and the Mustangs (10-13) could not climb all the way out in a sectional-semifinal loss to the Knights (23-6).

Junior Josh Schliefman shook off a rough start to fire four consecutive scoreless frames and pitch his second complete game of the tournament. He gave up 10 hits and three walks while striking out a pair.

Old Bridge used all three of its headline pitchers, beginning with senior Matt Baker for 4 1/3 innings. Baker (78 pitches) earned the save in Friday's win over Middletown South and allowed both runs - one of which was earned.

Friday's starter, sophomore Jason Gilman, recorded the final two outs of the fifth on 18 pitches and St. John's commit Sonny Fauci (13 pitches) closed out the win with two scoreless frames, surrendering a pair of hits while notching a strikeout.

Sophomore Mark Capell dunked in an RBI double in the bottom of the third to pull Marlboro within 4-1 and the Mustangs added a run in the top of the fifth when senior Anthony Brienza singled, took third on an overthrow by catcher Andrew Decigle and scored on a ground out by senior Justin Kapuscinski.

Brienza finished 3-for-4, Kapuscinski was 1-for-3 and Jeremy Briskin went 2-for-3 in the loss.

(4) Manalapan at (1) Hunterdon Central - PPD, Wednesday, 2:45 p.m.

 

Central Jersey Group III

(4) Wall 4, (1) Hamilton West 1

Senior Trey Dombroski allowed his second earned run of the year in the second inning, but shut down the Hornets (24-4) thereafter to pitch the Crimson Knights (24-3) into the Central Group III final for the second straight year.

Dombroski's 12-strikeout performance earned him a school record 23rd win for his career and also gave head coach Todd Schmitt his 400th career victory.

Sophomore Jay Bant drove in a run with an RBI single in the first and made it 3-0 in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly. Junior Sean Nocera also drove in a run in the first that made the score 2-0 and junior Teddy Sharkey doubled and scored on Bant's sacrifice fly.

Wall picked up an insurance run in the top of the fifth on a bases-loaded balk with a 3-2 count and two out in the inning.

The Crimson Knights will play the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 2 Jackson Liberty and No. 11 Northern Burlington in Friday's sectional final.

1234567RHE
Wall (24-3)2010100451
Hamilton (24-4)0010000161

Pitching

WallIPHRERBBSOPC
Trey Dombroski (W, 9-1)761101290
Hamilton WestIPHRERBBSOPC
Nick Diaz (L, 7-2)45441477
Nathan Rodriguez30000343

Top Hitters

WallStats
Teddy Sharkey2-3, 2B, 2 R
Johnny Volpe1-3, 2B, 2 R
Jay Bant1-2, 2 RBI
Hamilton WestStats
Kiefer Gross2-3, R
David Zamora1-2, RBI

 

(11) Northern Burlington at (2) Jackson Liberty - PPD, Wednesday, 2 p.m.

 

 

Central Jersey Group II

(5) Point Boro at (1) Governor Livingston - PPD, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

 

Central Jersey Group I

(3) Point Beach 3, (2) New Egypt 0

Sophomore Hunter Alia went 4-for-4 with a big, two-run single in the top of the sixth and junior Will Baranello and freshman Phil Trebour combined on the shutout to propel the Garnet Gulls past the Warriors and into the Central Group I championship game on Friday.

Point Beach will play the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 4 South Hunterdon and No. 1 Middlesex.

Sophomore Matt Van Brunt opened the scoring with an RBI single to score Trebour in the top of the first and Alia capped it with his one-out single through the left side that plate both sophomore David Terra-Nova and freshman Colin Matuschat.

New Egypt mounted a serious threat in the bottom of the sixth by loading the bases with one out. Matuschat scooped up a grounder and fired home for the force and out No. 2, then freshman Andrew Banick saved the game with a diving catch on a line drive to right field for the third out.

After working his way into trouble in the sixth, Trebour retired the first two batters in the seventh and after a single by Connor Healy, he ended it with a ground out to Matuschat.

1234567RHE
Pt Beach (13-10)10000203111
New Egypt (14-6)0000000083

Pitching

Point BeachIPHRERBBSOPC
Will Baranello (W, 5-3)55003384
Phil Trebour (SV, 6)23001020
New EgyptIPHRERBBSOPC
Chris Fernicola (L, 6-3)6103237104
Justin McKnight11000113

Top Hitters

Point BeachStats
Hunter Alia4-4, 2 RBI
Alec Glen3-4
David Terra-Nova1-4, R
Phil Trebour1-4, R
Matt Van Brunt1-4, RBI
New EgyptStats
Mike Dolan2-3, 2B
Connor Healy2-4

 

South Jersey Group III

(1) Triton 6, (12) Toms River East 5 (9 Innings)

John Scarborough hit a game-tying three-run home run with two out in the bottom of the sixth and Colin Taylor won it in the ninth with a game-winning sacrifice fly as the Mustangs (20-3) ended a Cinderella run by the Raiders (10-14).

Toms River East stormed in front by scoring four runs with two out in the top of the fifth. A two-out error allowed seniors Tyler Toth and Logan Sommerer to score the first two runs of the game. Toth led off the inning with a double and Sommerer singled to set Toms River East up with runners on second and third and none out.

Mike Shannon struck out the next two batters and coaxed a ground ball off the bat of junior Robert Pero, but the Mustangs could not handle it and the first two runs of the game scored.

Sophomore Joe Ussery followed with an RBI double and junior Ryan Goodall capped the four-run rally with an RBI triple. Sophomore Aidan Meola then extended the Toms River East lead to 5-0 with a solo home run to lead off the sixth.

Junior Reece Miller took a shutout into the top of the sixth before giving up a double to Shannon, a walk and a single to Taylor to load the bases with none out. Senior Brandon Coyle took over on the mound and gave up a two-run single to Nick Woods before bouncing back to retire the next two batters.

With the Raiders one out from escaping the inning and four from a trip to the South Jersey Group III final, Scarborough launched a three-run shot to left field that tied the game at 5-5.

Junior Matt Santos - who hit a go-ahead seventh inning home run and pitched seven one-hit innings on Thursday - allowed one hit and one unearned run over over three innings in taking the loss.

 

South Jersey Non-Public A

(6) St. Joseph Metuchen at (2) CBA - PPD, Wednesday, 2 p.m.

 

 

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