Ocean County Duo Shares Week 2 Player and Pitcher of the Week Honors

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Adrenaline Week 2 Player of the Week

Mike Damato, Manchester

Last week, for a Manchester team very much in the hunt in the Class B South divisional race, Damato did it all last week as a two-way contributor for the Hawks. The junior was locked in at the plate, going 7-for-10 with a double, triple and a home run, including a game-tying triple in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 6-5 win over Toms River East. In that win alone, Damato went 3-for-4 with a home run and a triple to carry the Hawks offense.

Damato also pitched six strong innings to beat Jackson Liberty on April 29, allowing only one unearned run while striking out six in helping the Lions salvage a series split with the Lions after they walloped Manchester, 11-1, earlier in the week.

Damato cruised to the Player of the Week win with 31 percent of the votes cast (167 total), with runner up Matt Scrivanic of Red Bank Catholic collecting 20 percent.

Adrenaline Week 2 Pitcher of the Week

Brandon Valles, Toms River North

Valles turned in two impressive starts to open his senior year and after losing a pitcher’s duel to Red Bank Catholic’s Shane Panzini on opening day, he finished on the winning end last week. The senior left-hander spun a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Brick Memorial, with three walks and six strikeouts to outduel Mustangs No. 1 starter Cole Manfro.

Valles has stepped up in a big way for Toms River North, which is still without the mound services of injured returning senior ace Brandon Feigin. With a win over Central this week, he improved his record to 2-1, with the loss coming to the MLB-Draft-hopeful Panzini.

As the top overall vote-getter with 377 votes, Valles is the winner of this week's prize - a $25 gift card to Burger 25 in Toms River. Valles beat out runner-up Danny Frontera of Middletown North, who finished with 25 percent of the vote to Valles winning total of 27.