Shore Conference (NJ) Baseball Thursday Scoreboard, 5/27/21

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Shore Conference Tournament

Semifinals

(5) Middletown South 5, (8) Rumson-Fair Haven 1

Junior Evan Wood's swinging bunt in the bottom of the third scored three runs with two out and Wood closed out the game with 1 1/3 strong innings of relief to send the Eagles to the Shore Conference Tournament final for the second time in six seasons by beating the Bulldogs.

With the bases loaded, two out and a 3-2 count, Middletown South's runners were in motion on the pitch and all three scored when Wood hit a dribbler up the first-base line, beat the play and moved to second when pitcher John Goodes tried to make a play and threw the ball into right field.

The RBI infield hit was one of three hits in the game for Wood, who took over with a runner on first and two out in the top of the sixth after sophomore starter Ben Schild reached his single-game pitch limit. Wood gave up a double to Rumson senior shortstop and Monmouth University commit Andrew Schmid before striking out the final batter of the inning with a 3-2 fastball on the edge of the zone.

Wood then worked a one-two-three seventh inning to close out the win.

Schild was not initially slated to start the SCT semifinal round, but the postponement of the game from Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon meant that he would be eligible to pitch, which would not have been the case on Wednesday. Schild labored through the first three innings on 74 pitches, but got through his last 2 2/3 on 38.

In the top of the second inning, Rumson opened with an infield single by junior Matt Rigby, followed by an RBI double by junior Johnny Bruno to trim Middletown South's lead to 2-1. Schild then walked the next two batters to load the bases with none out, but responded by retiring the top three hitters in the Rumson order, including two with a strikeout.

Middletown South jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by senior Joe Stanzione and a sacrifice fly by Will Christopher.

With Thursday's win, Middletown South is set to play No. 3 Red Bank Catholic for the Shore Conference Tournament title Saturday morning at Count Basie Park in Red Bank. Middletown South defeated RBC, 12-10, in the second game of the season for both teams.

Pitching

Top Hitters

Monmouth County Tournament

Opening Round

(16) Matawan 2, (17) Holmdel 1

Mike Caldon broke a scoreless deadlock with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth and Jake Brigandi drove in what proved to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly one batter later as the Huskies topped the Hornets in a pitcher's duel between seniors Tim Egan of Matawan and Jake Umans of Holmdel.

Freshman James Vallilo cut the Holmdel deficit to 2-1 with an RBI single in the top of the seventh but Egan recorded the final out on a fly ball to centerfield. With Thursday's win, Matawan advances to the round of 16 Thursday, when the Huskies will travel to play top-seeded Manalapan.

Pitching

Top Hitters

(10) Marlboro 8, (23) Manasquan 7

Frank Talarico and Alex D'Ambrosio each went 2-for-2 with three RBI and Mark Capell suppressed and Manasquan rally by striking out the side in a scoreless seventh inning as the Mustangs (12-7) held on for a win of the Warriors (6-13).

D'Ambrosio tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single in the second inning and hit a two-run single in the third to extend Marlboro's lead to 5-2 after Talarico had hit a go-ahead RBI single earlier in the inning.

Talarico later made it 7-2 in the fourth with a two-run triple. Alex Jankowski went 1-for-3 with two runs and Capell was 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

Capell made his presence felt in the seventh - one inning after Manasquan rallied for five runs in the top of the sixth to pull within 8-7. Brett Patten punched a one-out single off Capell, but Capell came back to strike out the next two hitters to finish with three in the inning and close out the game.

Trevor Wells hit a two-run single as part of the five-run fifth, with Mike Antonucci also hitting an RBI single in the rally. Wells finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, Antonucci was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and Patten finished 3-for-4 with two runs. David Frost also went 1-for-2 with an RBI single in the top of the first inning.

Tyler Villa lasted 3 1/3 innings, during which he allowed two runs on four hits and five walks while striking out five. D'Ambrosio allowed five runs (three earned) in relief before Jake Kalfayan came on to get the final two outs of the sixth via strikeout.

Sean McWalters took the loss for Manasquan, with both McWalters and Zac Lavigna throwing three innings apiece to account for the Warriors' pitching.

(9) Colts Neck 13, (24) Long Branch 1 (5 Innings)

Senior Brendan Whalen allowed only one hit on a fly ball that got lost in the sun and settled for a one-hitter to pitch the Cougars past the Green Wave and into the MCT round of 16 Thursday against No. 8 Ocean.

Juniors Joe Cilea and Christian Rice each hit a run-scoring double in the four-run first that got Colts Neck's offense started.

Pitching

Top Hitters

Class A Central

No. 5 Ocean 10, St. Rose 0 (5 Innings)

Sophomore Shane Garrett fired a five-hitter to improve to 5-0 and the Spartans blanked the Purple Roses to clinch the public division championship in Class A Central and put the pressure on Red Bank Catholic (10-2 in the division) to finish off the Class A Central race.

With one Red Bank Catholic loss in its final two divisional games against Rumson-Fair Haven and Raritan, Ocean will clinch a share of the division championship along with the Caseys. If RBC loses both games, Ocean would win the division title outright.

Pitching

Top Hitters

Monmouth 11, Shore 0 (6 Innings)

Pitching

Top Hitters

Class A South

Toms River South 7, Southern 1

Senior Joe Schifilitti pitched a complete game to move to 5-2 and the Indians (9-10, 7-7) beat the Rams (5-13, 3-11) for their fifth straight win. Schifilliti scattered seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out two to earn the victory.

Aidan Folsom opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first and Ryan Mackle added one of his own in Toms River South's three-run second that made the score 4-0.

Austin Beard made it 5-1 in the sixth inning on an RBI single and Tyler Madeo capped the scoring with a two-run single in the seventh.

Jack Plesniarski hit a pair of doubles to lead Southern, which scored on a fielder's choice ground out by Xavier Hendricks in the third.

No. 1 Jackson Memorial 6, Brick 0

Junior Zach Crotchfelt allowed one hit over 6 2/3 shutout innings and senior Matt Potok came on for the final out to help the Jaguars (15-5, 11-2) pay back the Green Dragons (10-9, 6-6) after dropping the first of two games to Brick on Tuesday.

Crotchfelt struck out 15 and walked two before reaching the single-game pitch limit with two-out in the sixth inning. With Crotchfelt at 113 pitches following his final batter, Potok took the ball and after giving up a walk, struck out the final batter to complete the shutout.

Crotchfelt also belted a two-run home run in the top of the third inning to extend Jackson Memorial's lead to 5-0. Junior Chris Cartnick opened the scoring with a three-run triple in the top of the first inning and later drew a bases-loaded walk to cap the scoring and complete a four-RBI day.

Sophomore Charlie Meglio also went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored for Jackson Memorial, which snapped a three-game losing streak with the win.

Crotchfelt took a no-hitter into the sixth and John Wade broke it up with a chopper over the mound the Cartnick had to charge and could not handle cleanly with Wade bearing down on first base.

Toms River North 4, Toms River East 3 (8 Innings)

Senior Zach Goodale punched an RBI single into right field to chase home Brandon Valles with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth as the Mariners (7-10, 5-7) walked off with an extra-inning win over the Raiders (6-10, 5-9) to snap a five-game skid.

Goodale also reached on an error and scored the tying run on an RBI fielder's choice by senior Nick Mortellito in the bottom of the seventh. Junior Ryan Baker also came through with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh as part of the last-inning rally by Toms River North.

Mortellito also tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Lucas Malave to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning.

Toms River East jumped on top in the top of the first when Bobby Sabatino doubled and scored on an RBI single by Joe Ussery. The Raiders went back up, 2-1, in the top of the second on back-to-back doubles by Elijah Santiago and Aidan Gallipoli and extended the lead to 3-1 on an RBI single by Sabatino in the top of the fifth. Sabatino finished 3-for-4 for Toms River East.

Joe Loalbo earned the win in relief of starter Branden Lavallee, throwing three scoreless innings to finish off the game. Loalbo struck out four, walked two and surrendered two hits.

Gallipoli allowed one run on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts over five innings in taking the no-decision for Toms River East, with Evan Mills absorbing the loss for the Raiders.

Class B North

No. 10 Wall 11, Red Bank 0 (5 Innings)

Junior Andrew Fischer hit hits third home run in the last five games and classmate Nick Lovarco also went deep to back senior pitcher Jimmy Bertrand in a win over the Bucs (8-14, 4-10) that clinches the Crimson Knights (17-5, 12-2) a share of the Class B North championship for the third straight season.

Both Fischer and Lovarco finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI and Fischer also checked in with a double. Junior Ryan Legere was 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI while both sophomore Gabe Cavazzoni and senior Max Kaplan were 1-for-2 with two runs scored. Kaplan also drove in a run and Cavazzoni doubled for his hit.

Bertrand pitched a five-inning three-hitter with no walks and four strikeouts while throwing just 49 pitches.

Class B Central

Point Beach 12, Keyport 0 (5 Innings)

Senior Matt Van Brunt pitched a five-inning perfect game with eight strikeouts and the Garnet Gulls (10-7, 8-2) beat the Red Raiders (7-6, 6-4) to wrap up the Class B Central public division championship.

Junior Andrew Banick was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI to lead the offense and Connor DeLorenzo added a triple, two runs and two RBI for Point Beach. Hunter Roselli was also 2-for-2 in the win.

Class B South

Donovan Catholic 11, Manchester 0 (5 Innings)

Senior Matt Colucci pitched a three-hit shutout over six innings and the Griffins (14-6, 9-3) ran away with a win over the Hawks (9-9, 6-6) that clinches Donovan Catholic a share of the Class B South championship along with Jackson Liberty and Barnegat.

Colucci struck out nine and walked three while throwing 79 pitches.

Sophomore Ryan Butchko was 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, sophomore Gavin Degnan went 1-for-1 with a triple, two runs and an RBI, and sophomore Rocco Scarpitti was 1-for-2 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.

Non-Division

Keansburg 6, Henry Hudson 4

Junior Matt Keelen hit a tie-breaking two-run single in the fifth inning and the Titans held on for a win over the Admirals in a non-divisional game that came after Keansburg swept the regular-season series with Henry Hudson.

Postponements and Cancellations

Class A North

Howell at Middletown South – PPD, TBA

Non-Division

Ocean at Wall – Canceled